Vannin' Home Forums Dodge Troubleshooting (Dodge) Trailer hitch Removal for rust treatment and repainting

While installing my trailer wiring last week or the week before, I noticed how rusted my trailer hitch is, and thought how I would like to treat the rust, and how much easier it would be to do it when not installed.

I am not sure which class trailer hitch it is, but it attaches to the frame rails as well as the rear bumper.

One would think this is straight forward, but it appears there is are 4 inaccessible bolt heads inside the frame. I can no doubt spin the easily accessible nuts, But I expect the bolt head will spin inside the frame where I cannot access it and get a tool on it.

Were these installed in the factory before the body was welded to the frame? I don't really see how these would be attached afterward.

Any insights on this matter?

T

I believe it depends on the brand, model, and rating of the hitch.

Worst case scenario- slot the end of the bolt for a flathead screwdriver and hold that steady while the nut is spun off. You may have access to the bolt head inside the box chassis if you pull the rear bumper.

I was recently looking at some different brand hitches for my Dodge, and they all had flat steel p,antes with nuts welded to then that slid into the frame to bolt it up. He steel plate kept the nut from spinning.

As far as I can tell, there is no easy access to the inside of the frame even if the bumper is removed.

As for slotting the bolt for a flathead screwdriver, I would have to drop the Gas tank to get at the nut from the side as right now, only a deep socket could get on the nut.

As much as treating the rust in place would be harder than removed from the Chassis and on a table, it seems like just getting it off is more work than just working upside down on the ground, and I need to expend such efforts on rebuilding my rotted windshield areas before tackling this anyway.

The Hidden Hitch brand hitch I installed on my old 83 Dodge a few years back used nuts inside the frame. The nuts came wrapped in wire to fish the nuts into place and hold them while the bolt was first threaded in. Once the bolt was started, I believe the nuts somehow could be held with a wrench and then the wire pulled off once the bolt was tight.

i put a hitch on my 86 and my 75 Dodges. they both had the bolts welded to a plate then slid through a square opening in the frame. the nuts were on the bottom (outside) holding the hitch up. when i got the hitches off the donor vans i just pushed the bolts welded to the plate up into the frame and out the square hole.