Curt Class V install

[Freeheel4life]

So I know this is a basic install and the odds of anyone installing a new class 5 on 21 y/o trucks are low around here, but there were a few lessons I thought I'd share that could hopefully help someone down the road..

1) The 9/16 bolts that start the install per instructions were at least a half hole off. The closest it would come to fitting was about a half a bolt hole off (where the hangup is I don't know as frame looks straight)and obviously wasn't going to fit in between bumpermounts. Since the hitch already had a slotted hole the best option was the dye grinder and carbide bit to slot the frame rail holes.

2) The backer plates that hold the head of the carriage bolt were too wide and would always ride on the radius of the frame causing them to never sit flush, unless you turned them short side in and left the rest hanging in space, hence defeating the purpose of spreading surface area. I chose to strip a bit off with a thin cut on an electric grinder and now they sit flush.

3) Curt used a flanged nut with some knurling machined into it. I added some red Loctite. The goal is to have this be the last hitch this truck ever sees and even when torqued to spec the lack of a nylock or split lock washer was unsettling to me.

Overall a huge improvement. The hitch that was on the truck had a max rating of 5000#(lesson learned buying a used TV and taking the hitch for granted). The only real gripe I have at the end of the day is the cutouts for the safety hooks have too much material and will require either changing my safety cables or being happy with using 3/8" quick link because there is a ton of steel that wont allow any normal sized hooks to close the latch.

Otherwise great product for the price. Took a few hours but most of that was cutting off the old hitch(was welded so required a fair amount of grinding and chiseling) and wrestling the spare back into place.