reese hitch professional 33051-- need a little help

[ryf]

I went and bought a reese hitch professional 33051

OK... So I was putting this thing on.. and put it on, marked the front holes, pulled it off, drilled the holes out, put it back on, seemed easy enough, torqued the top bolts.. heres where my problems start, I can't reach either of the front bolts, I'm considering pulling the bumper, or very agains the directions, flipping the carriage bolt to the bottom and putting the nut on top with a, my problem with this is the metal plate it comes with on "looks" like its for load distribution..AKA wide and thick, like using a 3/16" thick fender washer (problem is it has the notched square hole for the carriage bolt)....

not 911, but I'm trying to get it done this weekend.

94 xlt, 4 door, no lift

 

[DeRocha]

Are you having problems getting the bolts installed, or being able to get a wrench on the nut on the inside of the frame?

 

[ryf]

the nut is up under the bumper and partly covered by the hitch, I can get to the top of the frame no problemo, but the instructions show the carriage bolt plate on top, possible for weight distribution... but the nut seems impossible to get a wrench to, without cutting a notch outta the bumper, which I'm ok with, but not my first option...

 

[DeRocha]

Ok I just found a pic of your hitch. Does the hitch mount on top of the frame rail like: Hitch->Frame rail->load washer->nut? If you need to you can loosen the bumper brackets and move the bumper up and down and inch or so to give you any additional clearance. The bumper is held on by 4 bolts. You just need to loosen the nuts but keep them on the bolts. Tap the nuts to drive the bolts out alittle and the bracket should loosen up.

 

[ryf]

well... thats the product line picture, but as per reese website its a round tube, and honestly looks alot like this curt that you own... hehe.. its 1 vertical plane bolt to a side, and 1 horizontal plane bolt per side... its like a 3 inch tube... actually looks almost exactly like your Curt from those pics... I think I even bought the same Master hitch lock set...


http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=112999&highlight=hitch+curt

 

[ryf]

well, I went out to take some pics of the problem, but the digital camera seems to have been broken... not suprising I think it spent a month in my fiances purse...

 

[ryf]

well, pulled the bumper off, was trying to avoid this as I live in an apartment right now, and was working alone today, so doing anything that constitutes major vehicle work is strictly prohibited (and of course they decide basically anything that looks bad is major). I was mostly afraid I wouldnt be able to put it back on by myself. with that off it was easy, I slotted the bumper mount bracket a little more and mounted the bumper about an 1/4 out on the bottom, you can't tell unless you really stare at it... the reason behind this is to be able to check or retighten the bolts a little easier next time.

thanks for the help, and making me stop and think about the problem.

if you guys keep being useful I'll have to go elite... just for using all the bandwidth trying to keep up with all these messages.

 

[DeRocha]

Glad to hear you made out ok. As always pictures are worth many words, so if you do get a digital camera posting a few pics would be very helpfull..

 

[ryf]

the pic on the left is what it looks like, on the right the white line shows the approx. old bumper line. I honestly think looking at this spacing that the bumper must have been tweeked by towing by the previous owner. its now moved enough that I can get a 7/8" socket on a wobble extension, barely.. but barely got the job done.

went and got a new digital camera this morning...its invaluable for wedding planning.