2004 Silverado Hitch Receiver Falling Off!!
 

Anyone ever had half of the mounting bolts and nuts just fall off over time???

Are you towing your Fountain with the factory setup? Anything over 7500 lbs. requires a Weight Distributing hitch.

Hitches need to be regularly checked. Search "thisistank" 's posts about his Putnam just cracking in half. They are not bulletproof, and should be a regular part of your towing setup checks.

No way. Got a little 27' with aluminum trailer. No weight at all - 5500LBS. Most of the mounting hardware was simply missing. Amazing.

Replace missing hardware with grade 8 fine thread bolts, waskers, lock washer and red locktight. And better after market hitch!!!!

2004... chances are someone took it off for some reason and forgot to put everything back on... or forgot to tork properly... or like I've seen once, a thief started to take it off, maybe he was seen and ran away! I've seen that for real...

I put a torque wrench on my hitch bolts a couple of times a year after having one come loose back in the 80's. Every so often I find a bolt that is under tight

Don't be surprised if the holes in the frame are metric and the bolts are not metric.... IOW, the bolts can work loose..

They are not threaded holes. Just a bolt on the other end.

SDFever, those holes were probably never meant for a bolt. I know there are several holes on my silverado frame that just sit empty.

They probelly fell out when you brought that forklift home

Negative. All of the holes in the hitch frame itself are threaded and they are all the same thread. Got a new bolt kit coming from chevy. Most hardware on the street isn't above grade 8. Suprisingly, the oem bolts are 10. Thanks for all of the replies. Thinking that I was the only one this ever happened to was driving me crazy.

I guess i dont know what you guys are looking at. My hitch is held on by nuts, bolts, and washers.

FWIW, the 10.x you see on the head of the factory bolts is the metric near-equivalent to a Grade 8. Metric bolts have numbers to represent their strength grade, SAE uses hash marks. 3 hashes = Grade 5, 6 hashes = Grade 8.

There's probably only 3 bolts/side on the frame rail plus a couple attaching to the bumper, above the receiver tube. Which ones were missing? Was it actually loose?

Only having bolts (essentially screws) that thread into holes in the frame? That must be a 1/2 ton thing.

I said HOLES in the frame, I never said anything about holes in the HITCH

The truck is a 2500HD-and yes it was loose...I got the call:eek:

Well, after you get out the German Torque Wrench... "Guudenteight"; maybe you can contact this guy for some zip-ties for additional support:

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/s...d.php?t=181258

:D

Do the bolts really screw into the frame, or are there nuts that are welded onto a piece of steel (like the factory Ford setup) or nuts welded to the back of the frame rails?

When I installed my Putnam, and upgraded to Grade 8 bolts, I got them long enough that I can double nut each bolt.

Its always better when you can get two nuts in one shot. :drink:

The bolts thread into ready-made nuts that are inside the hitch frame. Either way I did not want to start a nuts and bolts war. Only wanted to know if anyone had this happen to them. I see now that is has been a concern for some folks and should be a concern of mine for as long as I own a tow hitch. As far as opinons, I'm leaning towards thinking that perhaps someone wanted it and failed to remove it all the way for whatever reason... Not sure but the biggest problem for me is having to think of "who" & how many families would have been impacted if this thing came off at 60+ MPH. Make your hitch part of the maintenance routine. I am.

We'll see you at Desert Storm this year!!