Hitches

coreylubahn · Post by **coreylubahn** » Wed Jan 26, 2005 7:21 am

So I'm currently using a bumper-mounted ball to do my towing but am planning on doing the BL as soon as my refund check from my extended warranty comes and I know that you can't use the bumper for towing after the BL. So what hitch does everyone recommend? I know that obviously the hitch will stay the same height but the bumper will be taller so will this look wierd? I assume they don't make hitches for installing with a BL.

Post by **HenryJ** » Wed Jan 26, 2005 8:00 pm

Do a search for the GM / Valley hitch. It can be raised 1.5".

killian96ss · Post by **killian96ss** » Wed Jan 26, 2005 8:49 pm

HenryJ wrote:Do a search for the GM / Valley hitch. It can be raised 1.5".

Is this the standard GM hitch for our trucks? The only GM hitch I can find is part # 12496770. Is this the one you have, and is this the best one for raising to match the BL?

Steve

Post by **HenryJ** » Wed Jan 26, 2005 9:03 pm

That is the one.
Raising hitch after body lift

coreylubahn · Post by **coreylubahn** » Thu Jan 27, 2005 7:06 am

So are you saying that instead of using the pre-existing holes in the frame rails that there is enough room to drill new holes 1.5" higher and mount it there instead....I wonder if the same could be done with the Reese hitch that I was thinking about buying. I know it's supposed to require no drilling so I would assume that it mounts the same way...unless I'm misunderstanding the procedure here for doing this.

coreylubahn · Post by **coreylubahn** » Thu Jan 27, 2005 7:15 am

Okay I think I answered my own question...I was looking at the wrong Valley hitch. You are talking about the 3 piece hitch where you mount a left and right bracket and then install the center section (which bolts to them). So you don't move the mount brackets up higher on the frame but rather move the holes to secure the center section up. This is the model I found...

http://www.valleyorders.com/Valley/Publ ... MNBR=81610

Would this be the correct model? Thanks.

Post by **HenryJ** » Thu Jan 27, 2005 6:15 pm

coreylubahn wrote:#81610

Would this be the correct model?

That's the one

Do yourself a favor and drill the holes before you install, and add a couple extras to mount recovery hooks.

NAPA sells Valley products, and their price was pretty close to GM's price. Mine was $120 with the plug-n-play wiring harness.

F9K9 · Post by **F9K9** » Fri Jan 28, 2005 5:21 am

The is a lot of GM parts on Ebay now. Perhaps due to the discontinuing of the platform. I got my hitch off of Ebay for something like $60.00 and even counting shipping I paid under $80. MIght be worth seaching for a couple weeks.

Post by **Walt** » Fri Jan 28, 2005 2:48 pm

I have the PA 2" on my truck, and the bumper mounts seem fairly stout. I've towed around 6K lbs. on two or three occaisions over a good distance with no problems. I've also yanked a few people out of stuck spots with it with no problem. Once I was pulling my trailer 16x5.5 tandem axle with 2 four wheelers on it, and turned down a gravel road. The back of my truck lost grip, and slid just a bit, which in turn slung the trailer from one side of the road to the other, causing my truck to slide further. It was a pretty violent jerk, but no bending, warping or shifting---so far