so... it's been a productive weekend on a long overdue project.... the hitch was purchased from Early Classics. It included the hitch, drawbar, wiring and the flip down/up license place holder...

Tried several scenarios for fitting and finally ended cutting off the original mounts completely and just using the crossbar and receiver. added 1/4" plate that bolts to the outside of the frame rails. just too much in the way inside the rails. The tank and frame had to be moved forward as far as possible ...which was about 1.5". Of course that means new mounts and new holes and more grinding/welding on pretty paint... but it's done. BTW I will address no comments about my ugly welding... it ain't purdy... but it's layed in there pretty good... multi passes and it ain't going anywhere..

I cut a hole in the license plate insert in the roll pan and the mount sticks out about 3/4" SOOOOO the license plate mount will be spaced out an equal amount to compensate.

In retrospect, I wouldn't have bought the Early Classic hitch... It WOULD have fit if I wanted it mounted under the frame rail...but it would have ridden very very low. I just butchered it up to fit. Been a better idea as Bobby mentioned I think to just junk yard it and find one with a cross arm long enough and fabbed it to fit. The plus side of the early classic hitch was the short receiver (from crossbar to end where the draw bar inserts... lots of the mare 5-7" this one was very short 2.5".
pictures below...

john

 

NICE LOOKING JOB !!!!! JOHN

 

Dale,

thanks and thanks for the info the other day... the deed is done...

Happy Birthday !

j

 

Now Dad-burn-it John, don't go around telling people that I might have been right on something.
I do have a reputation to keep you know

Glad to see you're making some progress, I wish I could say the same.
The hitch looks good
Bobby

 

Very impressive John. The fit looks factory. How did you hold up the hitch while you measured, and then installed it? I just went through this and would share that I mounted my ball mount to the floor jack with the 2" tubing pointing forward kind of like a rhino's horn. Then I placed the hitch on the ball mount, rolled it under the truck and lifted it into place. Thanks for this very nice "how to" article. Are you going to submit it to some of the truck mags for publication? Jag

 

Thanks for the nice word Jag...

most of my work is done by my installation/fabrication crew... me. so, I'm familiar with the floor jack helper. I've had to fabricate some jigs and such for installing stuff... one in particular was for the rear-end install... that was a bear. I have a piece of plywood about 12x18 with a plate and 1" shaft bolted to it... it fits in the floor jack and has been used dozens of times in fabricating and assembling... worked really well for the tank install and for the hitch.


I fabbed up the end plates, drilled them and bolted them to the frame. I had cut the drop down sections larger... Then I raised the hitch crossbar up to the frame, made a couple of adjustments... measured/centered and tack welded it in... then removed the whole thing and welded the crap out of it. before welding I put in an angle iron crossbar at the outer end of the end plates to keep things as square as possible and prevent any heat related changes.

Don't know about an article yet... I'm working with True Blue Ford Truck guys about some older stuff I've done... I'll offer them this and see if they are interested. The pro-published guys don't really want do-it-yourself stuff anymore... they just like 1.5" pictorial assembly stories of their sponsor products. Nothing like 25 1.5" pictures to show you how to do something, right ???


EDITORIAL ADDITION: People.... please disregard my previous post stating that Bobby was responsible for something... he ain't. END OF EDITORIAL ADDITION

later
John

 

Jag, et all

here's the first draft on trailer hitch article... needs some refining...but the basics are there

installing a trailer hitch in a '53 f-100

later
j

 

Whew!!!!

Thanks John, I narrowly dodged that bullet

 

Don't know if this any help but pic #15 in my "floors and scoops" gallery shows the recess for a hidden hitch. It's a universal fit, big mother from U-Haul, don't know exactly what class. I built it in before boxing the frame back there. The licence plate is mounted to a dummy receiver thingie

 

I needed a class III/IV hitch to handle my 7000# GW enclosed car hauler. I used a Drawtite 40050 hitch, it bolted right in place, even used some of the original frame holes. You can see a couple pix in my "making changes" gallery.
If you plan on hauling a large size and/or heavily loaded trailer such as car trailer make sure your hitch is rated for the weight. With all the race tracks around here there have been a couple times where the police set up a nearby check point and were weighing trailers and checking the certified rating on the hitch and vehicle. I personally know several racers who got citations for overloaded trailers and/or tow vehicles. If the hitch includes a 4 prong flat wiring plug, it is not rated for more than a light utility trailer. All heavy duty hitches and wiring will use a round plug that includes a trailer brake circuit. Any hitch without a DOT rating stamp, homemade or that has been noticably modified automatically is rated a class I.