Check out the Putnam class V hitch. Bolts on, no frame welding or drilling. Only trick is that you need to visit a muffler shop (or a friend with a torch) and get the OEM receiver tube cut off - takes about 15 minutes. Keep the crossmember tube intact as it's integral to the frame. A little clean up with an angle grinder, plus some touch up black paint and you're golden.

 

Got a link to place that has a good price on this?

 

http://www.hitch-web.com/ is where I bought mine.

This is the hitch I have - data from the hitch-web web site:
***********
PUTNAM XDR SERIES RECEIVER
(Extra Heavy Duty 2" Square Receiver. Ballmount not included.)
Factory Step Bumper.

WEIGHT CARRYING RATINGS
GROSS WEIGHT CAPACITY 15,000
TONGUE WEIGHT CAPACITY 1500
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WEIGHT DISTRIBUTING RATINGS
GROSS WEIGHT CAPACITY 16,000
TONGUE WEIGHT CAPACITY 1700

FOOTNOTES
NO Drilling required !! ...
Will NOT Fit Models with OEM Hitch UNLESS Receiver Tube is Cut Off Flush with Bottom of OEM Hitch Structure…

STATUS:
Current Production Item.

A LITTLE ABOUT APPEARANCE:
Crossmember of This Hitch is Nestled Behind the Vehicle Bumper or Fascia.
Physical Weight: 70

 

OK, checked out that Putnam hitch...
Looks like it's got the mounting height I'm looking for, BUT it can't accomodate extensions to get the ballmount out from underneath the truck camper.

Daimler/Chrysler in the '05 model year was putting warranty disclaimers in the pickup gloveboxes that said "use of a slide in camper is NOT recommended".
(I saw/read one on the dealers lot, and asked them WTH?)
NOW they've engineered up hitch receivers so that you can't use these trucks with a truck camper AND tow a trailer on an extension.

Looks like *I* won't be buying a new Dodge truck anytime in the future- they don't want my business, looks like.

 

FWIW, it does appear that Tork-Lift does offer a Super Hitch for 03 and up Dodges that is designed to use some very long extensions......there are no specifics about this hitch for the Dodge application that I can find but I think it would be worth a phone call to them to find out more about it as it sounds like the type of hitch you might be looking for to fit a 3rd gen. As for DC not rating their trucks for slide-in campers, that is irrelevant really......they are no less capable than a 2nd gen for hauling a slide-in......lots of guys around here with big slides in 3rd gens without problems.

 

Thats thing is little overkill to me (and 400$, OUCH). I just want something that I know is rated for 10K weight carrying and at most needs the rec tube cut off (not the whole X-member).

 

Overkill?!?! That is a typical class 5 hitch rating....14k-15k is the industry standard. If this seems overkill to you, you probably don't need a class 5 hitch. If you truely require 10k weight carrying and refuse to use a WD hitch then you have no other choice other than to use a class 5 receiver.

 

My other motivation for a class V hitch is that I have a 12,000# winch on the front end and when I'm pulling down trees out on the acerage I need to anchor the truck. Suprised that you can't get an extension - it's a standard 2# receiver tube?
Roadranger - As to slide-in campers, we have a camper that weighs in around 4500# when fully loaded and I'm a SRW configuration. With the various mods, I'm quite stable on the highway and sit level. Yeah, I got the same warning note in my owners manual, but that's the standard liability note covering DC's backside. No problem getting insurance coverage for truck & camper, and at the end of the day, that's what matters. By the way, the same letter was in with the '03 trucks.

 

FWIW, the Super hitch is designed to run extensions and is built specifically for the slide-in camper crowd - it does not use one 2" tube.

 

Thanks for the info, CTD NUT.

I'll get ahold of Torklift to see how their Superhitch applys to the 3rd gen Dodges.

I hear what your saying about DCX covering their rear with the camper disclaimer, but it just makes me that DCX does it, when Ferd and GM don't feel the need to.
Then Ferd goes out and raises their GVWR ratings to boot!
What the heck is DCX thinking?

 

Not to be a parts pimp, but I have a 3rd Gen rear bumper like that for a dually.. I'll let it go cheap, but no shipping, no way.. It's HEAVY!

(Bought it when I bought the truck, seller said it was for a 2nd gen)

 

What hitch do I have on my truck? It has the towing pkg.

 

the factory hitch is a class 4.

 

Thanks. I'm having trouble finding the ball mount to go with it. All I see are either class III stuff or stuff with weight figures on it.

 

Ive only seen this once, dont know what brand or if it was homemade or what but, it was on a motor home pulling a race car trlr, it was dual wheels mounted on the ball mount, it looked like a real heavy version of the wheel on the back of a brush hog, but anyway it was probably a 12" wheel or so that swiveled, Id say you could probably mount something like that on the front of the trlr tongue, not to take all the wt but just enough to reduce the tongue wt