John Lee's Tow Hitch Install Keeping the Under Bed Spare Tire In Place

[Sharps40]

Good news...Deer hauler (Tow Hitch) is installed in time for the first trip to the Low Country. Keeps the ice and weight down low where me and Dad don't have to lift it up and in or out.

The hitch is Reese, multifit, 6000 lb rated and for Jeeps Cherokees, Astro Vans, Dodge Rams and some Chevy Trucks....it fits a 1965 perfectly and retains the Factory spare tire mount in the factory bolt holes (assuming yer runnin a 225/70R15 like John Lee) and its tucked in and under and not visible when the draw bar is not installed. Nice....like it was made for it.

Now, got this one at Wall Mart but if ya order it from Advance Auto, online with code P20 ya get 20% off and free shipping bringing the delivered price for this good hitch to $104...good price by any measure.

Heres the part number and specs....



Tucks in there pretty nicely and not too many holes to drill, 5 total, 4 in the frame, one in the PS side attachment plate and details below.



Here on the driver side frame horn, three of the four factory holes in the attachment plate can be used....I lined up hole two (carriage bolt head) with the rearmost hole in the frame, drilled holes three and four in the frame and bolted it up...



Here on the passenger side I used the same alignment...but modified attachment plate hole two to allow pass over on the tire carrier bolt.....drilled a new hole two in the attachment plate (right of the tire carrier bolt). This new hole lined up with a rivet in a crossbar....blew out the rivet and replaced it with new bolt in new hole number 2. Drilled the frame for holes three and four and snugged this attachment plate up tight.



Some heads up, some heads down, depends on the amount of clearance from the inside rear bumper brackets.....close up of the PS attachment...

Note with these brackets I kicked hole number one just off the frame, gave me another inch to install the tire in its original mounting holes and still clear the PanHard Bar on the axle...neat...



Its all in there, tire looks tight but plenty of wiggle room and I just remembered, gotta go back down and snug it up after typing this!!! The ball sits out just far enough from the bumper to drop on the small trailers I plan to be pulling...I think a big hitch from a uhaul will fit fine too.



Big Sexy has his Draw Bar on....



Big Sexy chillin with his Draw Bar tucked away behind the seat...

[TJ's Chevy]

What type of hitch is that? If you don't mind me asking. Wanting to get one for mine.

[Woogeroo]

Uhm... he lists the manufacturer and the part number... what else do you want?



-W

[Sharps40]

Reese #37042...

$125 on the shelf at walmart

Use code P20 and order it on line from Advance auto, you get free shipping and the price will be closer to $100.

Enjoy...brought three deer home on my hitch hauler last month!

[AUS64c10]

I don't mean to nit pick but the back bolt hole on the hitch needs to be bolted directly into the chassis. They are the most important bolts attaching the hitch. By not using the those bolt holes you have drastically reduced the load carrying ability of the hitch.

I have the same problem with my truck but I would rather have my spare wheel sitting in the bed of the truck than risk loosing my hitch and what ever is attached to it because it's not fitted properly.

[Sharps40]

Appreciate the comment and I even went back and relooked at the install instructions from Reese. A quick look at the instructions for the hitch indicates numerous installations where the front hole/Hole 1 is not used for the install.

The short list not useing the specified hole in the hitch, (and in some instances only useing 2 bolts per side instead of 3 per side as in this install), includes variously: Mazda, Ranger, Windstar, Sonoma, Nissan, Ram Charger, S10, S15, Isuzu, Suburban, Tahoe, Yukon, Yukon XL, Astro, Safari...


I doubt its a problem for the install on a 65 Chevy truck. I'll be quite confident pulling trailers, cars, etc up to the capacity of my engine and trans and vehicle weight/breaking capacity.

[Sharps40]

My sister spent 8 months Down Under touring the country in a beat up car. Opal mining in Cooper, some ranching....basically drove up the middle and around the continent a couple times living on ranches, shareing a room with folks she met or was sent to, working the cattle ranches, ect. Loved the country, still does. Even wrote several books and a suspense novel (Message Stick) from her experices there. I still have the RedBack Spider shifter ball she sent me....puttin it in the truck this fall with the T5....even still have my kangaroo skin. Best story she tells is gettin out of the car for a walk, crossing the Dingo Fence and walking into the bush and she sees the dust comeing....All Kangaroos, the big reds...they part and go around and she's surrounded. A big one stops in front of her...it looks down, she stares up and they both stand there stareing while the rest continue around....finally, the big red moves around to one side and continues on....nothing like stareing down a 7 footer. She says she didn't cross the dingo fence much after that.

[familyfast64]

Cool story! Love the truck. I'll be fabbing a hitch on mine soon. If that's what you call it. I don't have the bumper and id like to hide it behind the license plate. Which happens to be like this......

[familyfast64]

Originally Posted by Sharps40

My sister spent 8 months Down Under touring the country in a beat up car. Opal mining in Cooper, some ranching....basically drove up the middle and around the continent a couple times living on ranches, shareing a room with folks she met or was sent to, working the cattle ranches, ect. Loved the country, still does. Even wrote several books and a suspense novel (Message Stick) from her experices there. I still have the RedBack Spider shifter ball she sent me....puttin it in the truck this fall with the T5....even still have my kangaroo skin. Best story she tells is gettin out of the car for a walk, crossing the Dingo Fence and walking into the bush and she sees the dust comeing....All Kangaroos, the big reds...they part and go around and she's surrounded. A big one stops in front of her...it looks down, she stares up and they both stand there stareing while the rest continue around....finally, the big red moves around to one side and continues on....nothing like stareing down a 7 footer. She says she didn't cross the dingo fence much after that.

Thanks for sharing all your write ups!

[markeb01]

Great story! Nice hitch installation. Thanks for sharing all the detailed photos and numbers.