55.2-59 Trailer hitch for a 1955-59 3100 4x4

[1957Napcofan]

I have a 56 3100 4x4 that I restored and need a trailer hitch, receiver type,
that I can tow a car trailer and Dune Buggy with. Anyone know of what would work?

[Hcb3200]

On my 56 I went with a 37402 reese hitch
it allow me to move it around and adjust with ease.
It is direct bolted to frame and has hauled big to small loads.
The nice thing is if you want to remove it that is easy to.

Only thing I did not do was bolt the receiver bar to the side bracket bars that is welded only because i did not like the location when the holes lined up.

The side brackets to arms and frame are all bolted.

Clay

[1957Napcofan]

Great, thank you for the quick response

[mr48chev]

That Reese 37042 is rated at 5000 gross trailer weight with 500 lb tongue weight.

5000 lbs is probably all the gross trailer weight you want to pull with a 3100 anyhow. More than that and the tail starts wagging the dog all too quick.

The bummer on that particular hitch is that Reese doesn't say what the maximum width it is designed to handle is. That might be a viable choice for AD 3100 trucks if it will go 47 inches.

56 3100 frame rails are within a few frog hairs of being the same width at the back as GM pickups up through 1987. That if you want to do some used hitch hunting with tape measure in hand.

[_Ogre]

IDK. Fabricating a trailer hitch is probably the most basic thing to build. I have lots of scrap to fabricate with, but even buying all the steel new you can probably spend ⅓ the cost of the Reese hitch and end up with a better look and fit

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

IDK. Fabricating a trailer hitch is probably the most basic thing to build. I have lots of scrap to fabricate with, but even buying all the steel new you can probably spend ⅓ the cost of the Reese hitch and end up with a better look and fit

True but we actually don't know what 1957Napcofan has to work with as for welders, fab equipment or skills. You don't need the equipment to "restore" a truck as you do to "build" a truck. I've known a number of guys who have restored rigs to original who can't weld and don't own a welder but are very handy with wrenches.

I'd probably take measurements off my frame, check FB marketplace for some reasonable price used ones or check the local pull your own parts yard for one that may not need more than a couple of new holes drilled in it or a little grinder work. That doesn't work for everyone.

[leegreen]

I had one of those universal fit hitches off a '99 GMC, I could have bolted it onto the '64 frame under my '52 by drilling a new hole on each side to make it a tad narrower, - width adjustment was no problem.
But height adjustment was non-existent and it would have sat way too low. Cutting the side plates down would only partially solve that and would result in only having 2 of the 4 bolts that held those plates together on each side.

I cut up and re-worked the ends to fit, I'll probably never tow more than a small utility trailer or maybe a 2000lb boat but my main goal for putting the hitch on was to protect the gas tank under the back of the bed.

You might get into difficulties towing if you have a home brew hitch and get pulled over? In RV season here it is not uncommon for them to target any rig that looks sketchy, like too small for the trailer. A visibly old vehicle towing a heavy load might also catch attention.

[mr48chev]

I towed my 15 ft camp trailer and my grandfather's old camp trailer all over the PNW with my 48 and my 51 Mercury and never had law enforcement look sideways at it. Part of that with a ball in the step bumper on the 48. The same step bumper I towed a 16 ft U haul from Texas with in 1977. That was a mistake because the loaded trailer was way too heavy for the truck. The hitch didn't look sketcy and I had coil spring overloads between the axle and the frame though. We built a hitch for the Merc and used the same overload springs off the truck on it. I never went into Canada though.

I'm not going to tow anything very heavy with it anymore though. We have been thinking about getting a small newer camp trailer that is self contained to travel with and the ones I am looking at aren't that heavy.

My plan is to build my hitch in with my tube rear crossmember and actually have the hitch hidden behind the license plate when I am not towing and the hitch will come out over and past the bumper

[G&R's57GMC]

I came up with a U Haul reciever for a Chevy Venture Van Part # 75133 . It bolted up to the lower part of the frame rail . I would recommend boxing that area or adding L brackets to it and securing to the side of the frame .

The reciever lands just below the stock bumper nicely tucked in .

[G&R's57GMC]

More pic's

[1project2many]

When I added a hitch to my '57 I started with one from a square body Suburban.

Here are some towing and some hitch threads for reference.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=640981

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=515646

https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...d.php?t=591844

https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...d.php?t=628784

[dsraven]

if you start off with a hitch that has roughly the correct width for your frame, wider would be better, and it has roughly the correct drop from the frame, and it has the frame brackets with the cut out for the square tube cross piece to slip through and weld, similar to the one G&R has n his pics, then those welds can be grund off so you have the brackets loose on the cross bar. then mount it to the frame, center the cross bar tube so the receiver is centered, and weld the ends to the cross bar again. remove it, paint it, bolt it back up and you're done

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by dsraven

if you start off with a hitch that has roughly the correct width for your frame, wider would be better, and it has roughly the correct drop from the frame, and it has the frame brackets with the cut out for the square tube cross piece to slip through and weld, similar to the one G&R has n his pics, then those welds can be ground off so you have the brackets loose on the cross bar. then mount it to the frame, center the cross bar tube so the receiver is centered, and weld the ends to the cross bar again. remove it, paint it, bolt it back up and you're done

A 56 3100 frame makes that a lot easier than what we with 47/55.1 3100's have. You should have 34 inches outside to outside on the rails Here is more frame measurement info than you might want. Some jacked from a 2008 thread.

[dennislbrooks]

If in need of a whole tow bumper 59 4wd - 5 inch channel, My 42 and 46 are the same. My 67 4WD has the reese behind a 69 Chevelle license bracket upside down (Chevelle gas fill under license) to cover the reese when not in use.

Many ways.