Hi---I recently replaced my 2005 Yukon hitch with a Putnam, Part #25162. They are in Michigan. The hitch is a Class V, with a 2 inch receiver. It weighted in at 43 lbs on the scale while the OEM weighted 23 #. The Putnam does not have a built in holder for the elec umbilical. So I mounted it to the left of the license plate. It mirrors the spare tire lock and lowering port on the right. By the way, the paint job on the Putnam is outstanding. Looks to be power coated or something similar.
I took the hitch to a Chevy dealer and the service guy advised replacing it. It was covered on my extended warranty ($200 deductable) so I had it replaced.
I took the hitch to a Chevy dealer and the service guy advised replacing it. It was covered on my extended warranty ($200 deductable) so I had it replaced.
George
Did they replace it with the original type classIII?
__________________ SuEllyn & Brian McCabe WBCCI #3628 --- AIR #14872 2005 25' Safari FB (Lucy) with HAHA 2005 Suburban 2500 Quadrasteer (Olivia) & 2004 Suburban 2500 Quadrasteer (Daisy)
How about the reciever mount bolt's. After seeing a fellow camper's reciever separate from the frame of his p/u while backing into a site,(granted at a pretty sharp angle),our's is now taken off every Buffalo Winter, cleaned and stored in the basement. Still looks new after 12 years. After our first A/S season we replaced all six bolts with grade 8 stainless. On our 95 Burb the GM hitch seemed a little anemic, a H/S friend has a fab shop and he spent a couple hrs do'n some weld upgrades.<><>lesson learned<><> crawl under, inspect frequently<>be safe
p.s. the trailer plug also get's taken off, put in a zip-lock bag full of grease and zip-tied as far from the road salt as possible, we here in Bflo. learn the hard way.
Is true that in Fla. you can get a ticket for leaving the ball in the reciever when not towing. Can't count the number Iv'e seen here that are rusted so bad you'd never get 'em out!!!
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Last edited by ROBERT CROSS; 08-31-2007 at 11:48 PM..
Hi, ROBERT CROSS. Some good tips for Airstreamers in those parts of the country; On the west coast I haven't seen those type of concerns. [connector and receiver rust] On some Ford products, like my Lincoln, Ford had a recall to replace the receiver bolts with stronger ones.
This thread got me to thinking....
I went outside and crawled uner my one week old Chevy and looked at the hitch more closely.
My 2007 1500 Silverado Class III hitch looks different than the ones you guys have been describing.
I looked at 2500 Silverados while shopping for my new truck. The 2500 HD hitch is definitely beefier. That is only on the HD's though.
Mark---Delivered to the door it was about $150. The installation and elec mod I did myself, priceless.
The Putnam receiver is awesome. If I ever replace mine that is what I am going with.
Also, the paint on the Putnam as an "E-coating". It should last for a good long time under a TV.
This thread got me to thinking....
I went outside and crawled uner my one week old Chevy and looked at the hitch more closely.
My 2007 1500 Silverado Class III hitch looks different than the ones you guys have been describing.
I looked at 2500 Silverados while shopping for my new truck. The 2500 HD hitch is definitely beefier. That is only on the HD's though.
This thread has been an eye opener for someone like myself who has been working at a Chevy Dealer for the last several years. I checked with our service Mgr and he informed me that we have replaced at least six in the last year. As much attention as I pay to my own rig, It's more than a little embarassing that I have not extended that concern to our own customers.
I have though spoken to several in the last week, as a result of this thread > I have pointed out to them what I consider to be the shortcomings, not only is it a weak design, but the welding is not up to par. While talking to a customer on the service drive on Wed he mentioned that he pulls a racecar trailer with his 2500, he admitted that he really hadn't given the hitch a good look-see but agreed it didn't look very substantial. There were no cracks, but it was starting to rust pretty good. We both thought that his best and safest option was to remove and replace with a good class 4 or 5.
These concerns were not an issue in 95 when we got our 2500 Burb, but as I mentioned in a previous Thread the reciever still comes off every winter for a good cleaning, the bolts and mount holes get inspected and the frame gets covered with a nice thick layer of chassis grease. Granted some won't have to go to such extreams, but I think it's still a good idea to remove and inspect. STREAM SAFE
This post is a continuation of #34 and #44 in this thread. We now have about 1200 easy miles on the new hitch and the hole which takes the pin for the stinger is already starting to "egg out" (as the dealer called it). One problem may be the hole for the stinger which is about 2 1/8" on the outside. It looks a bit smaller on the inside (can't measure), but it still allows the stinger to move a bit. This may be the cause of the "egging." See the attached photo of the new hitch and compare it with the photo for the old hitch (2003). I will probably replace this hitch with some other brand.
George
P.S. The new hitch cost $200 installed. I have an GM extended warrenty and this was the copay.
could a high strength washer be welded to each side for support?
i've seen plates at Northern that keep the hitch from shifting in the frame.
I would thing you would want to be very carefull about any welding to an existing receiver hitch. Allot of engineering and design has gone into them such that any changes that involve the application of heat to them may not be a good thing. OK - I understand that they are failing in their current design but any changes we could do would be our own problem.
This post is a continuation of #34 and #44 in this thread. We now have about 1200 easy miles on the new hitch and the hole which takes the pin for the stinger is already starting to "egg out" (as the dealer called it). One problem may be the hole for the stinger which is about 2 1/8" on the outside. It looks a bit smaller on the inside (can't measure), but it still allows the stinger to move a bit. This may be the cause of the "egging." See the attached photo of the new hitch and compare it with the photo for the old hitch (2003). I will probably replace this hitch with some other brand.
George
P.S. The new hitch cost $200 installed. I have an GM extended warrenty and this was the copay.
The photo in your post is one of the effected hitch's that I refer too in my above post. The recommendation that I have made to several of our customers is to replace with a good quality aftermarket unit. The customer I refer to in that post called yesterday and set an appt. to have that done, from what I understand he is replacing with a Reese class four, to tow his racecar. There may be some who disagree with that decision, but I think It's better to err on the side of safety!!
You can see in your photo that the flange you secure your safety chains to is only welded with about a three inch bead on one side, the visible side has no weld at all. If you inspect other welded areas espicially on the round bar you will notice the same. IMHO not a very good design at all.
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2006 3/4 Burb 8.1
Hi, ROBERT CROSS. Some good tips for Airstreamers in those parts of the country; On the west coast I haven't seen those type of concerns. [connector and receiver rust] On some Ford products, like my Lincoln, Ford had a recall to replace the receiver bolts with stronger ones.
This thread has been an eye opener for someone like myself who has been working at a Chevy Dealer for the last several years. I checked with our service Mgr and he informed me that we have replaced at least six in the last year. As much attention as I pay to my own rig, It's more than a little embarassing that I have not extended that concern to our own customers.
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