removal of tow hitch

[johnwoo]

hey guys im trying to remove my tow hitch i got the center portion removed but how do you remove the side portions attached to the frame?? the bolts on there are pretty rusted out and i broke one off before i go and get it cut off by the welder was gonna see exactly how to remove it. the reason for the removal is rust and cleaning it up before reinstalling it. any help with pics would help greatly thanks

 

[t4r4life]

you suppose to remove it as one unit, take a impact gun to it that how i took it off, there are two bars inside the frame with nuts welded on to them thats what holds the tow hitch together, i think theres 4 bolts holding it.

 

[THEREALTOR1]

you suppose to remove it as one unit, take a impact gun to it that how i took it off, there are two bars inside the frame with nuts welded on to them thats what holds the tow hitch together, i think theres 4 bolts holding it.

There may be (2) additional bolts on either side that hold on the tow loops as well.

I know I had a total of 4 bolts per side on my factory hitch. My trucks' not that rusted out at all and there were still a bit of a pain to get off the first time. Soak it in some PB or something comparable and as t4r4 indicated above, an impact gun would be your best bet. If not get as big of a ratchet with some sort of extension pipe so you can get some torque on it because they are on there.

 

[PitbullRescuer]

Mine was rusted but the rest of the truck had no rust at all. I broke mine off with a lot of PB and a long breaker bar. The bolt furthest up on the passenger side was tough, had to undo the exhaust hanger and hold it out of the way to get the last bolt out.

 

[C C]

I am doing the same thing with mine (sanding it down and repainting), there are 6 bolts holding it to the frame 3 on each side. I couldn't remove mine since I didnt have a strong enough air compressor for the air tool so I took it to a shop and the guy removed them for $5 but broke 1 of the bolts since they were so rusted oh well :happens:

 

[trailhead98]

Does anyone know how to get the wiring harness thats bolted on the hitch? My bolts seems to be rounded off or i have nothing that will fit it. Any suggestions?

 

[johnwoo]

thanks for the replies and suggestions. anyone have pics of how they are mounted??? it seems that all of mine are rusted and my truck has no rust anywhere else. i broke off a bolt already with a breaker bar and thats with soaking the thing in pb blaster.

 

[johnwoo]

The 2 bolts closest to the front of the vehicle (one on each side) have a removable metal strip with a nut attached to it inside the frame. The other bolts have nuts simply welded directly to the inside of the frame. That's the way my '99 is at least. If you broke one or two bolts already you'll probably break them all.

can you explain more? i can look at the end and see a strip of metal like you are talking about but is it a bolt or a nut welded on? i've only broke one nut off trying to prevent others from snapping.

 

[TheDurk]

can you explain more? i can look at the end and see a strip of metal like you are talking about but is it a bolt or a nut welded on? i've only broke one nut off trying to prevent others from snapping.

There are two nuts welded on to each strip. Once they get old and corroded, they can easily break free of the strip and just rotate with the bolt which comes up through the hitch and then the frame from below. If you have a long box wrench, you can go in from the end of the frame and snag the first one. Not sure about the second. Might need a really long wrench.

I had to do this as one of mine broke free. I put it back on the same way.

 

[TheDurk]

Yeah, my OEM hitch has four bolts on each side, two into the strip and two into the frame. Strip looks just like that but with a another nut close to the bend. I'm guessing bootown has only three bolts on each side.

 

[johnwoo]

hmm im gonna snap some pics of mine as im not quite understanding how to access the metal strip and the bolts from the outside