I was under my truck and looked at my trailer hitch and noticed that there are two cracks in the mounting frame on each of the bolts furthest back on the truck. I was reading some threads regaurding cracking hitchs, there was a recall, but i looked my vin up and my truck doesnt have a recall on it? After a certain amount of time do recalls go away? I was going to pull it off and weld and reinforce it, but if its a known problem, id like them to fix it.
I tow my 4000 lb. enclosed trailer 4 days a week, and i dont want it falling off!

Dave

Ill post pictures later,

 

Take it off and weld it. If you think something needs reinforced then do so. Use your own judgment.

 

Im going to reinforce it and weld it all together, it should be alot stronger then stock when its all done. I'll post some before and after repair pictures.


Dave

 

Just buy a stronger hitch. If you look at the after market hitches you'll be surprised at just how weak the factory hitches are. I was. I believe that the class V hitches are around 200-250 and they are very easy to install.

 

Im going to weld it and just keep an eye on it. Im more interested in saftey and strength than saving money, however im confident in my welding to make a good sound repair, and I wouldnt have to shell out $250.00.

Dave

 

Dealer will honor the recall on the receiver hitch. I took mine in 3 mo ago. The dealer stated it had already been done but they took the old brackets off and installed new ones. $0. From what I understand this recall does not expire and if the brackets bend/break, they'll install new ones again. In my case it wasn't the hitch, it was the slide in receiver that was bent.

 

Will the honor it now that i welded and reinforced the heck out of it?

 

NO..

(taking up space)

 

I built a new receiver tube for mine. It now is a 2.5" reciever with 5/16" plate. Has two large rings attached to it and I still need to weld it to the tube. The tube will get gusseted better also.




The stock hitch isn't much to brag about. Not as heavy as the 10,000 lb units on my gas trucks.

 

Im not impressed with the factory hitch at all, however all i intend to tow is my enclosed tool trailer and my little boat, so welding was an economical decision. Your hitch looks pretty good, post some pictures when you get it all welded up

Dave

 

Ok, my question is, has anyone had problems with the dealer not wanting to fix it. I saw this thread and then looked at my hitch and it was cracked. So I call my dealer to arrange an appt. and he tells me there is no recall on this. I hate dealers with a passion

 

Las time I looked that recall up, all I could find was for 98 model year trucks. I know other years had the problem, but the recall didn't seem to exist for them. Not sure why. You can do a search at dodge.com for outstanding recalls on your truck if you have the serial number handy.

Mine hasn't cracked yet, but I plan to simply replace it with a Putnam XDR to have a higher rated hitch.

 

Thanks, mine is a 98' but I might just go buy one as I am moving to col. on fri and have to tow my trailer and 4runner.

 

1998-2000 (BR/BE) Dodge Ram Truck


NOTE: This recall applies only to trucks equipped with a trailer tow package (sales code AHC) built from January 1, 1998 through September 29, 1999 (MDH 0101XX through 092919).

They didn't fix your hitch because it must not apply to the recall. Chrysler will charge back any repair that is not authorized. I work for a dealership for over 20 years done hundreds of these recalls. I inspect every hitch on every truck I work on. If I find one that is cracked I inform the service writer to let the customer know. They run the vin for any recalls that apply for that truck. If it is covered we will do the repair. If not the customer is notified that his hitch is cracked. His option to repair it or not. This is more then any lube shop would do for you.

 

Ok, thanks, I am now shopping for one, ofcourse noone has one in stock