I'd have to agree with Rich, I doubt you would ever put any sort of load on that hitch that would stress it. And you could and probably would anyhow take it off, clean it up and reweld the welds so you know that they are up to snuff.
That hitch does look to be the work of a welding/blacksmith shop that probably did a bit of everything back then just like a couple of those shops still do around here. Weld up a plow, repair a combine and then build a trailer hitch on someone's truck after that, all in a days work.
A better idea though might be to have or build a receiver style hitch after you have the bumper you want on the truck.
I am gong to do that on my 48 which I will probably run a 54 rear bumper on so that I can tow the teardrop if I ever get that done.
54 bumper because I want to put the rear plate in the middle rather than under the tail light.
From seeing the license plate light on the hitch I'd say that the same person who built the hitch modified the tail light brackets. Personally I like the tail slights down lower like that but I am not a restorer either.
Last edited by mr48chev; 03/29/2011 3:24 PM.
