My old Chevrolet Blazer had a trailer hitch on it. That was one of the things that I liked about the small SUV besides the size and the fact that it was powerful and great on gas.
However once we got a larger trailer, the hitch just was not strong enough to do the trick safely. It was one of the old styles that bolted to the face of the bumper. So we decided to replace that with a receiver style hitch that was frame mounted.
Where To Find What You Need
We went to a local automotive parts store and after speaking with the sales person decided on a brand and after laying out $150.00 we were on the way home and getting ready to install the replacement upgrade to our aging hitch.
The first issue was removing the old one. This proved a little harder than we suspected because it had rusted on. A few squirts of some penetrating oil were applied and left to soak in over a couple of hours and we used our heavy box end wrench and were able to successfully remove the offending nuts, bolts and ultimately the old hitch assembly.
Putting On The New Hitch
The new attachment required that we find a way to lift and hold the unit in place so we could drill holes in the frame. This was done with the help of a scissor jack which was in the Blazer for lifting the vehicle to change flat tires.
We carefully cranked the hitch until it was in place and after making sure that everything was lined up properly and in the correct place we carefully drilled all four holes with carbide tipped drill bits.
Once this was done we placed the new bolts into the holes and through the hitch and finger tightened them in place to allow us to visually check the alignment of the new hitch.
After looking it over and making sure it was good I tightened down the nuts with a torque wrench to the manufacturers specifications, let down the jack and carefully slid in the new receiver hitch and we were done with the project.
How Long Did Our DIY Project Take
From start to finish including the shopping it took about four hours to complete. All of the tools were in my workshop so there was no added expense.
By doing it myself I saved about $200.00 and had the pride in a completed project that improved my vehicle.