SUMRX4 wrote:

Hey folk if you don't mind me asking what is wrong with the OEM hitches? I drive a Ford myself but a close friend is pulling with a Chevy. Just wondering what, if anything I should warn him about.

pbar34 wrote:

I replaced my hitch (same as current models) but only did so because I wanted a lot more capacity for a dump trailer I use at my cabin. I went with the Titan hitch and doubled my hitch rating (I don't use the full capacity of the new hitch).

I have my stock hitch laying in my garage and was working with it to fabricate a hitch for the rear of my fiver. I decided to go from scratch but not because the factory hitch wasn't strong enough. It would have required too many modifications to make it fit my new application. I'm giving you some background because I studied the factory hitch looking for a hint of a weakness and couldn't find any. It is a very robust design. In high stress applications, I like to see the weld bead broken up so that if a crack in a weld occurs, it will stop at the end of a weld bead and not continue to propogate across the entire weld. The stock hitch has this. In addition, you would have to have more than one weld fail to drop something. Even if the entire weld broke along the tube to flat metal stock (the part that bolts to your frame), the tube isn't going anywhere. It is held by the cutout in the 1/4" flat metal stock and the weld on the other side. Yes, if you didn't hear the banging around, the weld on the other side could break but even then, the two bolts holding the receiver to your truck bumper would have to shear to allow the tube to slide out of the cutouts.

I'm sure you could imagine some failure mode that is "single string" but I couldn't find one. The receiver tube has multiple gussets keeping it welded to the round tube. Overall, my engineering assessment is that this is a pretty stout design.

The one thing you do have to be watchfull for is that the bolts, holding the hitch to the frame, are properly torqued. Mine did come very loose on one occassion.

BigToe wrote:

...That (insert amount) is "a small price to pay" does not address the larger economy of personal vs. product liability, especially if changing the hitch:
...
C) inspires over-confidence in a thick heavy hunk of metal hung to an 1/8" frame flange undeveloped for this addition, creating a sudden changes in section modulus that is highly discouraged when adhereing to best practices in truck frame system design

D) encourages a misconception that the hitch platform is the principal factor in towing capacity

E) creates a personal liability (for having altered/change hitch) where none might have existed if the stock hitch were kept in place and used within it's tested capacities.
...
One favorable aspect already mentioned about the GM hitch is the manner in which the cross tube is fitted through the doubled frame hanger brackets, trapping the crosstube twice per side, with base metal, not just weldment. Another aspect about the GM hitch that could be interpreted positively is the fact that it is lighter. Every pound of reduced weight aft of axle makes for a commensurate allowance of WC tongue weight without unloading the steer axle. Rather than just throw more metal at it, a higher strength to weight ratio might have been accomplished by using those two extra two bolts that tie in to the center part of the adjacent structure... the bumper.
...