For a while I've been looking to get a class III hitch for my '74 LeSabre but couldn't find one anywhere. I've been keeping an eye on ebay, craigslist, searched all the yards around here, and posted on the wanted board. I appreciate those that have been on the lookout for one for me, but it seems they've all been crushed or something. I suggested the idea of picking up a truck hitch and modifying it to make it fit. Someone said it would take my countless hours...well, it took my two nights and it wasn't fun, but it worked out pretty well... I picked up this super dooper universal Reese class III hitch from my local Advance Auto Parts...commercial discount didn't take any off so the counterperson knocked off 15% from it's $130-or-so normal price. Its made to fit a crapload of small and fullsize pickups, vans, and minivans. Because of that it comes with a crapload of seemingly random hardware too...who the hell decided to include some SAE AND metric nuts and bolts? Seems as though they grabbed a couple handfuls from the bin at the factory and threw them in the box...sorry for the rant. It seems to be of good quality. Rated at 5k lbs or 6k lbs with load distribution. oh, and yeah, "DO NOT CUT, WELD, OR MODIFY". oops my bad. While I do have a welder I don't trust my own welding much and so I didn't weld anything BUT I did cut, and I did modify...again, my bad, I guess I didn't read the instructions I apologize if these photos don't show anything good I lopped off my left tailpipe cuz it was in the way. I need to bring it in for some exhaust work anyway on the other bank. I made sure that my mounts allowed for the tailpipe to go back in about the same position it was. I used some heavy angle steel I had laying around (white, from a previoius use I guess) I took 1 3/4''-2'' of the top of the hitch's mount off (at the top) so I could mount it higher into the car. It was otherwise going to be closer to the ground than I would like it to be. But there's around 9'' of ground clearance from the bottom of the hitch. I think it's higher than the diff actually. The black L-bracket that's forward of the white bracket came with the kit. I don't know its intended purpose but it seems strong enough to be worth putting in too. I had to drill all 3 holes for the white bracket into the frame...PITA, but I used an existing hole for the black one. My car has a coating of rust on its undercarriage but its body and frame are solid; no structural loss. Only drawback is that I will have to use a receiver extension due to how far the hitch is from the rear bumper. It fits nicely between the gas tank and the goofy bent-looking reinforcement. I don't believe in attaching a hitch to the bumper, so I didn't. I've measured and made sure it's straight and centered. I'll be doing wiring tomorrow.
Now Phillip, since you went through all that trouble to make your own, you know that in a day or 2 a NOS one will magically pop up right? ou: :rant: And when it does, will you be ever so kind to send it on down?p Thanks in advance!:beer
