Heavy Duty 10 inch Drop Bumper + Bolt on Receiver Hitch - also wiring questions?

[mrweller]

Hi Guys,

Back in December, I bought a 97 Chevrolet K1500 from a friend that had is since new. I am getting ready to go on a trip to the Black Hills in April to do some turkey hunting and ride atvs. After doing a couple of minor tweaks to my truck (adding step bars for wife and kids to climb it in easier and a complete tuneup), I am getting it ready for the trip. I will be pulling a 6'x12' aluminum trailer that will hopefully have 2 atvs on it (as long as they'll fit) out to the Black Hills National Forest.

It appears as though this truck has never pulled anything besides itself down the road. I read the RPO codes and it came without the bumper from the factory and they added a Luverne heavy duty 10 inch drop center bumper to it. There wasn't a ball installed on the bumper and it doesn't show any signs of ever having one on it. I also pulled down the spare tire last week and it was the first time it had ever been dropped down from the carrier. I cleaned out the gravel and washed off the spare to discover a never before used Goodyear tire that still has all the blue on the white outlined letters. I was looking for the trailer wiring harness when I took the spare off and was surprised to find the original wiring all zip-tied to the frame and wrapped in wire looming just like the day is was shipped from the factory.

To make a long story short, I would like to find a bolt-on receiver hitch that will fit my 12" bolt pattern on my bumper, but most of what I have found is either 8.5" or 10.5" bolt patterns for the hitch.

Another issue for me is how should I wire up the trailer lights? Do I just wire up a 4-flat connector and call it good? The existing wiring from the factory has the yellow, brown, light green, dark green and a large white wire in the harness.

I don't anticipate needing my truck to do a lot of towing, but the occasional trip like this with a lightweight trailer and the ability to pull other trailers around at the farm would be a bonus.

Feel free to add anything that you feel is appropriate for me to take into consideration. Thanks!

[burt]

if your going to the work to put in a trailer plug might as well put in the 7 pin and use an adapter for the 4 pin

as far as a receiver, you have a light trailer so I'd just put the ball in the bumper and call it good.
sounds like you are looking at receivers that bolt to the bumper with no extra braces to the frame so you wouldn't be gaining anything over just using the bumper

[ToyHauler]

http://www.etrailer.com/faq-wiring.aspx
good info for trailer wiring. i found the trucks wiring colors for my yukon in the owners manual. as far as the trailer i always figure 1k for each utility quad and 7X4 ft so unless you can side load the quads or they are little sport quads you are going to be in trouble. also you are going to be close to needing brakes on the trailer if its not your trailer find out if the trailer has brakes and what plug you are going to need. in NY state if the trailer is over 3000 gross or 1000 unladen it needs brakes.

not sure what you are talking about with the bumper but most stock bumpers i have seen are not rated for that kind of weight.

[Jmac72]

if your going to the work to put in a trailer plug might as well put in the 7 pin and use an adapter for the 4 pin

as far as a receiver, you have a light trailer so I'd just put the ball in the bumper and call it good.
sounds like you are looking at receivers that bolt to the bumper with no extra braces to the frame so you wouldn't be gaining anything over just using the bumper

Thats what I would do.

[mrweller]

Here is a link to the bumper that I have on my truck:http://luvernetruck.com/Product_Line...r_bumpers.html
It is the 10 inch model that I have so it is rated for 1,000 lbs of tongue weight and 10,000 lbs gross trailer weight. It's plenty strong for the towing I'll be doing and don't have to worry about any state requirements for trailer brakes.

The two reasons I am even looking for a bolt on receiver hitch is so that I'll have more control over the height of the hitch for the tongue height of the trailer and to be able to use the hitch hauler and other 2" receiver hitch accessories I already own.

I'll look at the 7 way connector for the truck and then I would have the capability to wire in a brake controller at a later date if needed.

[Nasty-Z]

I would look into a receiver designed for the 10" deep drop bumper you have , such as the Draw-Tite/Hidden Hitch 41528 or equivelent.

http://www.hidden-hitch.com/results....ep+Drop+Bumper

I would also do the 7 pin wiring and use the adapter as mentioned , that way with the receiver and wiring you could go heavier in the future, up to the trucks capacity .

Wiring on your truck is as follows :

Yellow - Left turn / brake
Dk Green - Right turn / brake
Brown - Parking lights
Heavy White - Ground
Lt Blue - CHMSL
Lt Green - B/U lights

If there is a 2 wire harness consisting of a Dk Blue / Red ; Dk Blue is trailer brakes , Red is +12v charge , this wiring terminates under the hood either by the steering column , or by the under hood electrical center , I have seen them both places.

FWIW , Just because the literature for the bumper says 10,000 lbs , dosent mean it will really pull that much . Common sense needs to be factored in , I (and many others ) would never even consider pulling 10,000 on a bumper alone . Also , the 1/2 ton truck it is going on is not rated for 10,000 lbs anyway.

As far as needing brakes for a certain GVW on a trailer , it is real , and yes you do need to be concerned . Get stopped by the local Barney Fife who is having a bad day and you will find out the hard way . These weights vary by state , so be sure to reserch not only the state you live in , but the states you travel through also . http://www.towingworld.com/articles/TowingLaws.htm

Good luck with your adventure.

TOM

[mrweller]

Well, I may just go with the lightweight trailer and two atvs on the bumper. Atvs are roughly 700 lbs each dry weight so figure it to be less than 2,500 lbs for them and the trailer. Until I decide to get a hitch I'll just be wiring up the 4pin connection for this trailer.

[ToyHauler]

"dry weight" is why i figure at least 1k for each. that doesnt take into account the gas, oil, coolant, trunks, winch, and all the aftermarket crap most people have. aftermarket tires add more too

[bowtieguy101]

10 inch drop? What am I missing. Is the tow rig lifted?

As for using the bumper, i am certtain it will be in limits with such a light load, But I would install a reciever. Gives you versatility to level the trailer so it tows flat as it is intended. Extra bonus is the truck would already have it next time you tow.

[Jmac72]

Some times walmart has them.Farm&Fleet,any farm store should have them.

[Jon4x4]

on craigslist there is about 50 stock hitches in my area for my truck. Have you looked around for a factory hitch? Second best bet would be curt hitches. Or hell just take it to a local U-Haul lol

[mrweller]

To answer a few questions - no, the tow rig is not lifted at all. The 10 drop center bumper is called that because from the top part of the bumper to the mounting surface for the ball, there is a 10" difference.

I installed the ball onto the bumper last night and put the trailer onto the truck in the garage today to see what it looked like. The tongue is a little high on the trailer as it is unloaded but I think once we load a couple of atvs on it, the rear end of the truck will come down and everything will run smoothly.

I am thinking I'll just run the simple four wire connector for the trailer on this trip and at some point when I put a receiver hitch on the truck, I'll set it up with the 7pin connectors.

I need to figure out how to hook up the safety chains to this bumper though. If you look at the picture of the bumper on the manufacturer's website: http://www.luvernetruck.com/Product_...r_bumpers.html

I have the 10 inch model and the two holes are too far in from the rear of the bumper to be able to be connected with normal chains. I am thinking I may have to pick up a pair of clevises whose pins will fit the holes and give a strong enough point to connect the trailer's safety chains. I am open to ideas if anyone has suggestions.

[ToyHauler]

get a few chain links of the same size as the trailer and bolt them to the underside of the bumper through those holes and just let them hang. did you measure the quads, how high are the sides? its still going to be hard to get two quads on a 6X12, at least one will have to be sideways. which may or may not be possible depending on the machine and how much of its bumpers are higher than the tires, related to the trailers side height. i built my own trailer with no sides because its not the normal design to make it easy to load. and you need around 14ft if you want them one behind the other.

[ToyHauler]

first trailer i built was almost 7X10-11 long


my current trailer is 7X16

[mrweller]

Here is a picture of the trailer -

We may have to turn the rear atv sideways, or have to load the front one up and over the sides if possible.

[TiredFarmer]

For your safety chain question, go to a farm/fleet type store and get two clevis'

[mrweller]

I picked up a pair of clevis' last night and guessed wrong at what size to get - I grabbed a 5/8" clevis and the pin was too big for the bumper. I guess I'll try again.

[mrweller]

Alright, I picked up a pair of clevises from the store and this time got the ones that have the right size pin. Here is a picture of them installed:

For now, I just wired in the 4-flat trailer adapter to the existing truck wires. Here is the overall picture of both of the little projects I complete this morning:

The clevises are rated for 7,000 lbs which is more than I ever expect them to hold and they were $4 cheaper per clevis than the ones I had picked up previously.

[Jmac72]

Looks like your ready to roll.

[mrweller]

Looks like your ready to roll.

I think I have the towing aspect of the truck ready to go. I am going to hook up the trailer and see how I can load the atv at the farm to leave the most room possible for the other atv that is coming with me. I've also got a couple of other tweaks to do to the truck yet. I am going to try to connect the 3rd brake light on the topper so that it works and I am also thinking an interior dome light for the topper I have on the truck would be nice as well.