Some of you may have been following the Front Receiver Mount threads, where I have posted pictures of my new front receiver hitch. I had hitch installed at a local hitch dealership about a 1 1/2 weeks ago. Well, just the other day I decide to get under the truck and take a close up look at the installation. Well, to my surprise, I found that the hitch company had cut about a 1.5" x 1.25" square hole in the side of each of my frame rails. They must have did this to get the bolt in there. I went to Hidden Hitch and downloaded the instructions, and the instruction specifically say not to do this. I then proceeded to call Hidden Hitch and talk to their technical service people, and he validated that the hitch dealership shouldn' t have done this.

I'm furious, they were not authorized to do these cuts. They should have asked me first before they did. I originally bought the hitch as a winch receiver mount, and now I'm a bit worried if the frame strench has been comprimised. I want it fixed, but to fix it I would have to weld a plate over the holes. DC explicitly states to no weld anything to the place.

I'm not sure what to do now. I called the hitch dealership today and let them know my problem. They said to bring it in. What should I ask them to do to correct this problem?

 

I'd go to the dealership or give DC a call. Hopefully they can tell you what is worse, the cut out or the weld.

 

If the hole is in the center of the frame section and not too close to the top/bottom, I would squirt a little primer on there and not worry about it. DC gives drilling guidelines that are not too much different from the size of your holes. I would take a round file and smooth the 90 degree edges out some so that there are not any stress concentrations. As a structural engineer, looking at DC's drilling recomendations, and factoring in the "low stress location", I don't see any reason that it would cause a problem.

However, get a ticked off as you feel needed with the installer. They should not have done this without your consent. May be worth a discount or more...

 

BTW...there are also recomended welding proceedures as well...search the posts. DC has released info about frame drilling and welding. Steel is steel...some common sense will prevail.

 

Take a look at TSB 13-001-03 as I think this may give you the guide you need to properly evaluate the fix.

 

take the truck back to the Hitch installer, hand them the keys and tell them to enjoy their new truck. Make sure you take your lawyor with you or at least the paperwork telling them that you are sueing them for the price of a new truck, OH yeah make sure you include all of the accessories that you have already added

 

Well I know I would be PO'd and I don't mean injectors.
I agree with supergewl.
How can they guarantee that they still be in business 5 years from now if that frame cracks or splits.
If they keep doing work like that........ They won't be in business.
I've done alot of welding and cutting on frames too, installing wrecker bodies, accessories and such, but anything cut away must be re-inforced in another way.

 

Weld a cover plate...1/4" over the hole...paint it and call it good. It is not rocket science. I would give up my truck and chase a useless lawsuit on this one.

 

like any welder/fabricator or anyone knows not to add any type of substained heat to the frame. it will weaken the integrity of the metal. that motor is one heavy sucker and with bumps in the road that frame wont like that stress. especially if you add a winch and start pullin yourself out of 2-3 foot mud holes... more than likely they used a plasma cutter to cut the holes, but i dont think its a good idea to weld a plate over the holes... thats just more heat... i would be going back andd win something big out of this deal... just my .02

 

Welding would prove to be worthless if what you just said is true?

Heat (way too much of it) will cause the piece to become brittle. The amount of welding...probably a 1/4" fillet around a 2" square 1/4" cover plate is not enough heat to distress the larger portion of the frame.

BTW, as any welder/fabricator/CUMMINS OWNER would know, the mounted behind the area in question...almost directley besides the coil spring mount.
Only the truck body, anti sway bar, various accessories, and the bumper are mounted ahead of the spring perch. The motor weight will cause minimal stress in the frame due to is location and the support location (spring perch).

Any other educated opinions?

 

OUCH!!!!

Well, I do thank everyone for their opinions on this matter. This morning I took it to the hitch dealership. I brought the instructions to install the hitch, as well as a phone number to Hidden Hitch's technical support guy, and the name of the person I talked to at Hidden Hitch.

Immediately the instructions were dismissed by the hitch dealership as they said that instructions were written by guys who never installed the hitches, and therefore were mostly wrong.

We then proceeded to pull my truck to one of their lifts so that they could show and tell me why it was better that they cut the holes in the frame, rather than following the directions. I proceeded to tell them how the installation should have been done on that part.

They looked at the holes and said that they were harmless, that they install ALL Dodges that way. They said that the holes weren't big enough to cause any weakening of the frame and that I was the FIRST owner to raise this issue. They said to take it to the Dodge dealership and ask them if it would be an issue, and they said if it was an issue, then the dealership was crazy.

So, lets talk possibilities here. Here is the link to the installation instructions.

http://www.hiddenhitch.com/images/pr...tions/5020.pdf

Locate the holes on the bottom of the frame rail where bolts 1 and spacer C are supposed to go. Now, at that same location, go up to about 2/3 up on the frame, and imagine a hole about the size of a matchbox cut out on the inside of your frame, on each rail.

Lets assume that the hole is not signficant enough to cause any weakening of the frame. What recourse do I have? The dealership still improperly installed the hitch. There could be a potential for frame cracking later down the road. The argument here is that we are discussing what could potentially happen, which is not a very strong argument.

Now lets assume that the hole is significant (Dodge drilling guidelines recommend a 3/4" max hole to be cut in to the frame). Both holes exceed the recommended hole diameter by Dodge. Now lets assume that the dealer does concede that they need to make things right. What can be done? Welding a plate is probably not the right thing to do, because it goes against Dodge's ruling of welding stuff to the frame? What should I ask for? Are there other ways of fixing the holes?

Thanks for hearing my rant.

 

Weld or leave it. Only two options...either is fine.

Dodge does allow welding to the frame...read the TSB.

The entire frame is welded to gether during fabrication...guess it is going to fail according to some opinions.

 

Also, my company stretches big rig frames all the time for config changes.

The DOT mandates that the frame can't be welded on the flange only (the top and bottom of a tube in this case). The web is an acceptable place to weld.

 

The dodge frame is probably heat trerated after welding! Heat treatment after welding is oftentimes necessary for one of two reasons:
1.) The steel may get it's strength from the heat treatment process
2.) Heat treatment relieves the residual stresses that occur as a part of the welding process. In addition, heat treatment minimizes the possibility of hydrogen embitlement in the steel (which causes cracking). Without proper post-welding heat treatment, many welded steels will crack!

To determine the best course of action, you need design and manufacturing details. Dodge will probably not provide that information to you. As such, I would explain the situation to Dodge & have them give you a response.

 

cquestad calm down dude, i was just makin a comment. dont get all uptight, i guess youve been around it all your life, from expeirece and stuff so makes more sense to listen to you. sorry for my educated opinion!