Frame Reinforcement for Hitch Receiver/Rear Bumper

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Apex

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I broke my hitch bolts taking them off this past weekend, stealership cross-threaded 2 of 4. I put my thinking cap on and came up with this:

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I started by welding some 4x4x.25” angle iron onto each side of the hitch receiver, then knocking the factory hitch nuts out and retrieving them with a magnet from inside the frame rails. Next I drilled the holes all the way up through the floorboard, and fabricated the crush plates using 3/16” thick steel. I used self tapping screws to cinch the crush plates to the upper side of the frame rails. Four 5/8x6” bolts are in place of the puny factory ones, and I plan on adding a few more horizontally into the bumper frame with DOM crush sleeves.
 

Apex

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Grade 5 for now, have 8s on order. Those self tappers are the ones we use to build the big metal buildings and such, but I did use plenty on each side.
 

tommudd

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Grade 5 for now, have 8s on order. Those self tappers are the ones we use to build the big metal buildings and such, but I did use plenty on each side.

Great to see you are going to use Grade 8s, also plenty of LocTite
 

LibertyTC

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When it comes to hitch load and pulling a trailer, safety makes sense.
When you decide to fabricate or make changes to the structure, it may not be as strong as expected.
I would recommend having this modification inspected by a commercial hitch shop.
 
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Apex

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Safety always makes sense, and that’s a good idea TC. I’ll get it checked over.
 

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