front hitch substitute; front frame rail (tow hook removed) 99-06 Chevy Silverado

[workingonit71]

• About three years ago, I made a weird front trailer pushbar (as an experiment, a welding practice piece, and a back-saving device), I never did get around to buying a factory - made front receiver hitch. I haven't used the trailer much since, nor had to move it a lot, either, but it still saved my bad back (though the contraption was time-consuming to attach, and by itself, was very heavy). Well, I'm older and my back and knees are worse; I'd never be able to move the trailer alone, so I still need to use the contraption - or replace it.
• So, I recently went to Northern Tool, with coupons in hand. I bought a replacement wheel, for my spare tire, a yard wagon for my wife (she has two, now), some flashlights. and a 2" x 18" receiver tube. I used a "$20 off $100 purchase" coupon, so I only spent $10 bucks (or so I told the wife) on it.
• I removed one of the truck's factory tow-hooks from the frame rail, cut part of the receiver tube away (to fit over and around a round frame tube intersecting the longitudinal frame rail), and drilled three corresponding holes in the tube to match those of the tow-hook. Using grade 8 hardware, I used the three holes to bolt it in. It comes straight out of the original bumper space of the tow-hook, so I could replace it if I wanted to. Now, no heavy lifting , and I will always have it available wherever I may be (possible for other uses, maybe a winch mount- you could do the same to the other side, and bridge them for a sturdy platform or whatever).
• front receiver to move trailer at home
• front receiver substitute made with this
• homemade pushbar (not for pulling), my old contraption

 

[rayra]

It's clever work and a good use of the open frame rail ends where the factory hooks mount.
The receiver tube just fits in the open end of the frame rail, and you use the hook bolt to secure it?


But I have to say that a sturdy bolt-on front receiver hitch is $140, for those not inclined or incapable of making their own -
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00076RLB...UTF8&colid=QWZ1BSZYG6VW&coliid=I3FKNDHHC4GNUE

 

[workingonit71]

further explanation of my ad hoc (and "hack&quot engineering

It's clever work and a good use of the open frame rail ends where the factory hooks mount.
The receiver tube just fits in the open end of the frame rail, and you use the hook bolt to secure it?....

• Actually, I used my angle grinder with a cut-off disc to roughly carve out an opening in the receiver tube, to fit over/under the round frame section that runs thru the sides of the frame rail running front-to-back. I then flared the opening, cut in the receiver tube, to be about 1/2" wider on both sides; then I hammered it in as far as I could, and used 2 of the 3 existing frame rail holes (where I had removed the tow-hook bolts from) to secure the tube.
• The rear hole (on the bottom) was not used, preferring to use a larger hole, further back, thru which I used a self-drilling 1/4-14 x 1.5"HWH Tek screw to drill thru the bottom of the receiver tube, and into the round frame piece (intersecting and inside the main frame rail). This locked the receiver tube in place, so I could use the other two holes to drill a 1/2" hole to insert a 1/2"x 6" grade 8 bolt horizontally thru the receiver tube, using G8 washers inside and outside the frame rail to shim and secure the work. I used my impact to slightly crush the frame rail inward, and then used another G8 nut to double-nut the bolt. It isn't going to pull out.
• I think the Tek screw into the inner round frame piece will hold fast, but if not, I'll hammer some shimming in under the receiver tube to eliminate any vertical flex (I don't see how it could, with the receiver tube over/under the inner crosspiece).
• I'm only intending to move my 1700+ lb trailer 50 feet down my sloping gravel and sand driveway (too soft in places) into a bay in my garage. It has a concrete apron/ramp that is hard to roll onto, as well. When I've tried to back it in, I can't see the sides of the bay to clear, as I have to start at an angle. Pushing it in by hand requires more muscle than I (even with my wife helping) can muster. So, using the pushbar contraption was needed. Now, with the new receiver tube mounted on the right side of the truck, I'll be able to size up the proper angle on approach and clear the outside edge of the garage bay, that I couldn't see before. This should work for me.
• 

 

[rayra]

That's a good sturdy solution for what you are doing with it. The cross tube should take much of the sheer load off the bolts, if the hitch tube is seated on it. I've seen much flimsier solutions. My uncle in Yuma used to use a hitch ball merely mounted thru the top of the front bumper (center) on his old F150 for shoving his sand rail trailer around. And it looked about like you'd expect. But the whole truck was a beater. The kind of vehicle some Hipster these days would pay a fortune for, for all the 'patina'.