hitch interchange

[therieldeal]

i bought a used hitch from someone on RPS...

he took it off his 03 fx4 i believe.

i'm trying to put it on my 89 single cab long bed.

the hitch is a little too narrow to bolt up... were there width changes between years or did UPS manage to bend this thing? the box was mangled but i figured there was no way they could have hurt it... lol

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

UPS did not bend the hitch.

your talking several body redesigns between '89 and '03, im sure something was changed somewhere along the lines.

 

[therieldeal]

http://hitchsales.com/

they list the same part number for both the 89 and the 03...?

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

ah, wait. your truck is 2wd. that hitch came off a 4wd. that explains it.

2wd frames are a hair wider than 4wds.

 

[therieldeal]

ah, crap

hopefully i can make it work...

 

[Crunchy]

My hitch came off an 89, and fit right on my 03. In fact, the hitch I have, when I looked it up, was made for all rangers, 2wd and 4wd.

It should fit.

 

[therieldeal]

hmmm

it must be bent then, it's definitely like 1/2" too narrow. i'll have to park on it and use something to pry against the uprights to bend them out a smidge.

 

[Crunchy]

1/2" too narrow is 1/4" on each side

Maybe there is enough "meat" on the hitch to just enlarge the holes a bit? Maybe 1/8" on the hitch, and 1/8" on the frame of the truck to get things aligned.

When I bought my hitch, they guy sent me measurements, and I went outside and measured mine. I could have sworn it would not fit, and it would be an inch too wide.

But low and behold, it bolted in. Even though I measured like half a dozen times, I guess I screwed up half a dozen times measuring it.

In the end, I believe the magic number was 29.5" center to center on the hitches mounting holes - but not 10000% sure on that number.

 

[therieldeal]

i'm going to try bolting it up of course before i modify anything. just have to wait till its more than 3 degrees outside...