The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 1/2 ton AD trailer hitch, bolt in!

TBRT Engineering offers a bolt in trailer hitch for '47-'55.5 1/2 ton trucks(#61030). It slides right into the frame rails and uses the existing bumper bracket holes and the rear two bed mount holes. This thing mounts right up close to the bottom of the bed and sits back out of sight. It would have taken 10 or 15 minutes to install mine if my frame rails were'nt boogered up at the ends. Just a heads up for those of you looking for a hitch.

thanks, ive been looking for a supplier of these. very helpful.

cheers

http://www.tbrtengineering.com/catalog-1.html

Straight out of the frame means it will not allow for a stock bumper. If its in far enough, I suppose there could be some circuitous way to make the hitch addon bend down below the bumper. They also sell a 81030 that drops below the bumper.

This one:
http://s1312.photobucket.com/user/Deve1958/media/DSC00598_zpse731a8ea.jpg.html

This one lets the original bumper set on top of it without modification and the center bolt on the bumper matches up to the hitch. It also uses the bumpers mounting holes with an added benefit of allowing the underbed spare tire carrier to work without interference. I made it myself since at the time TBRT probably didn't exist. Glad there is a viable offering out there!

I wish they had pics of the drop hitch installed on a rig with stock bumper. Also what if you have a under the bed spare tire? Will any of their hitches still work?

I think I'm going to go with a hitch from Deve enterprises for my truck.

John

If I can get a decent 3 speed floor shifter going, THEN MAYBE, I can go back to that. The hard part about the hitch was the bending of the square tubing. I wanted THICK, but sadly, thick is hard to bend properly. Seriously though, the other problem is, you would be surprised at how different the measurements are between chassis members. Just measure across and ask others to do it, and watch how many different measurements you get. This is problematic since it needs to fit snugly inside the C channel.

Could a person cut the angles then weld up the square tubing or would this weaken the hitch to much???

John

Proper welds would be as strong or stronger than bending square tubing. Bending stresses the metal. Having said that, there is virtually no threat of failure of either method if it is done properly, given the fact that no one is going to haul a huge load behind one of these trucks, at least I hope not.

Yeah, its just fine to weld it up instead of bending as long as you understand the welding process for thicker metal. 3 passes, grinding each piece to the proper angle, etc. Its how I would do it now. Problem is the same tho.. measure across the C-Channel and 20 others do it on their trucks and you will have about 10 different measurements. Hard to manufacture mass quantities that actually work that way unless you sold shims to go with them then made them short on purpose.

I even made this hitch for my current project about 7 years ago. Today, it doesn't fit. It fit just fine 7 years ago. It went right into the C-channel. Now? Its too long and I have to figure out what to do. I think a few pieces of wood, a hydraulic jack and a little pressure and it will go right in, but I feel sorry for anyone manufacturing these for 'AD Trucks'. More than half of their customers are going to be mad about the fit.

This is of course fixable, like anything else by designing the hitch with telescoping members, or by including different sized shims, etc. Fun stuff. Wish I had more time!

The idea of using the C Channel and the bumper bolts on the back of the frame is an excellent way to ensure you have the very best strength and stability. Like Carl says though, you wont be pulling very much with a 1/2 ton. Nonetheless, I want this capability on all my vehicles just because. But I wont sacrifice bumper placement nor the underbed spare tire carrier to do it.

Guys,

Thanks for the feedback. We are always looking for guys to test out our hitches. Glad some of you like them. The newer drop hitches allow for the spare tire to be mounted underneath.

Thanks!
Jon
TBRT Engineering

I'm assuming this is the place Denny.

Jon,I had a look at your site,now I want to build a trailer!

Just a heads up,in your catalogue you offer hitches for Advanced Design trucks. There's no 'd' it's actually 'Advance' Design.

It can be quite a contentious issue here.
Just sayin'.....

We don't want to upset the purists eh?

Keep up the good work.

1.13.2021
Hi, from Buda Tx.
So.. Just read an article, on-line HotRod, by Johnathan Martinez dated 11.12.2013. on TBRT Engineering Trailer Hitch for 1st Generation GMC/Chevy product/model # 61030
I've been internet searching and nada/zip/zilch. Can't locate it or TBRT engineering. Any help would be helpful.

Martillo
1952 GMC 100.

Apparently they have vanished into the internet graveyard.

You're reading a thread that is seven years old.

This bolt on hitch worked well for me for several years. picture attached.

I have the same “fulton” hitch as above. It came on a junkyard bumper. I took it off for a cleaner look but I do like having it as a option incase I want to tow something .

I have one of those in the shed! I used it as a front hitch on the '72 chevy 4x4 I had. But it won't clamp on the bumpers of more modern trucks. It may see use again when my '51 gets on the road.