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hitch

3K views 32 replies 12 participants last post by  93XJcountry 
#1 ·
would welding a hitch to my frame be just as strong of not stronger than bolting it? if so should i stick weld or mig weld it?
 
#4 ·
welding it would be fine. the frame has welds,the hitch has welds... no reason not to weld them together...
 
#10 ·
Why are cross members riveted or bolted on then?

well the most i will be hauling should only be a 18 foot hallmark trailer
the frame flexes every time you take off and every time you hit a bump its not about the weight of what you are towing, its just plain and simple what a vehicle does.

i would say bolt it, it took 20 minutes to assemble my hitch, drill the holes, and bolt it on, wont it take roughly the same ammount of time to weld it?
 
#5 ·
All depends on the quality of the welds. If the welder is not an experienced at overhead welds, I would go with grade 8 bolts. With the bolts, you know the integreity. With the welds you don't.

Not to be a jerk, but if you don't know which type of welder to use, it is an indication that you are not very experienced with welding. Leads me to say don't take a chance.
 
#11 ·
thats what i said above... i don;t think i would ever weld a hitch to a frame just because of the what if's can happen . like it breaks going down the road and hits the family mini van near you, not a good thing....i was just saying if you absolutly are set on welding a hitch to a frame don;t use a mig
 
#14 ·
just because i have been told that when you weld heavy steel of thick to use the stick welder over the mig... I could be wrong though, im not saying im 100% correct. but when they do weld thick stuff like say backhoe buckets and such they use stick .... correct me if im wrong though or teach me something i don;t know
 
#16 ·
MIG can weld things just as thick as a stick welder. It's just that a MIG machine that can do real thick stuff is relatively expensive.

Just bolt it on though, there's no reason to weld it. The rest of the world uses bolt on hitches and they seem to work just fine, why change something that doesn't need to be changed?
 
#17 ·
why change? 1. don't have a drill powerful enough to drill through frame, 2. i bought one off of a truck like mine but ext cab and the holes didn't match and it was about 1 quarter of an inch to wide on each side. but if anyone has a hitch that will work on a 1991 ford f-150 4x4 single cab short box for cheap let me know.
 
#18 ·
Now I kinda have the same question, except I popped out the bolts through the frame so was wondering about just welding it back up, I use it to haul my utility trailer but mostly as my real recovery point. This happened yesterday at the charity run...


 
#20 ·
please don't weld it.

If you don't know what stuff to use, you don't possess enough welding skills to keep that hitch/trailer attached to your truck and you'll probably kill someone.

Kthanks.
 
#24 ·
I worked at a hitch shop for a couple of years. I have cut- off numerous hitches that were "welded on" after the welds failed. I have never seen a bolt-on hitch fail (except one, but that was a legitimate case of retardedness). No hitch maker makes a weld in hitch for a reason. frames are dirty, and rusted, overhead welding is difficult, can it be done sure. do you want to do it no.

Do not bolt it. spend 140 bucks, go to a hitch shop, and buy the right hitch for your truck. it will come with the right bolts.

you will have to drill 8 bolt holes, and then tighten up 8 bolts. You can do it in under 20 minutes if you have a standard plug- in drill and a 1/4 and 1/2 inch drill. Keep in mind, that hitch manufacturers put those bolt holes in particular places on the frame rail where the strength is sufficient. I'm not saying that it really matters in your case, but you really dont want that liability on your hands.
 
#25 ·
I have a hitch from an 89 F150 (Rese class 3 hitch) that I can let go of. It will bolt upto just about anything, might even have most of the mounting hardware.

if you can deal with a last second call I might be swinging though that side of the state when I start work again, just depends on where the company sends me.
 
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