Adding Bumper Pull Hitch to RIG

It depends what you want the end result to be and how much fabricating you really want to do.

I don't have a photo of it but I made one a long time ago for an FLD 120.

What I did was I removed the rear crossmember and replaced it with a much heavier tube. Then I fabricated the hitch to that heavier tube. That is the simplest and quickest way to make it.

It was a while back that I made that, and I don't exactly remember what I did, but I think I fabricated it in such a way that you could take it off of that truck and put it onto another one if you needed to. I did not weld on to the frame. The crossmember was bolted up exactly where it originally was.

Make sure that your hitch is at the right height so that your trailer sits level.

What kind of trailer or trailers are you planning on pulling? What GVW?

 

Do it right the 1st time, and mount it below the cross member rather than in it. If the receiver hitch is too high, it requires an extreme drop. Past 8" is special order only and gets stupid expensive. The greater the drop, the less weight it will handle.

 

...and if you're starting from scratch and fabricating it, go with the 2-1/2" receiver. You can always use an adapter insert to use 2" hitches, but if you're going to pull a larger trailer (which is fully within the capabilities of a class 8 rig), you'll get far more rating out of 2-1/2" hitches.

Also, consider adding an air-to-electric brake converter. Plumbs into your air lines, and applies electric brakes proportionally in relation to the air pressure applied, as opposed to the cheap time-delay brake controllers you'd buy off the shelf at your local auto parts store. Most states require brakes on trailers over a certain size.

 

I agree. The Blue Dot system is the way to go.

 

Draw bar off the front of a Ford Ranger is angled up about as much as it can. I've had to dump the airbags to get it hooked or unhooked if the ground is less than level. Considering that was my primary reason for putting it on there, yeah, I'd say it was too high.