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65 m37 project

John Mc

John Mc

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Monkton, VT
What model hitch is that? I could find nothing that had so little "drop" down from the frame, so ended up modifying a hitch. Can you post a side view, so I can see where the end of the receiver tube is in relation to the pintle hitch?
 
John Mc

John Mc

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Explorer0863 said:
Thanks! I am going to buy one for my 63 M37B1 but before I install it, I’ll try it on my 55 FFPW and see if it works. I may end up buying 2. Appreciate the info and pictures.
Click to expand...
The hitch Drew65 used is a Reese Towpower 37042 (link is to Amazon, but you can find better deals). It's rated for 500# tongue weight and 5000# towing with a standard weight carrying hitch (it will do 600# tongue / 6000# tow with a weigh distribution hitch, but it's not very common to see that light a trailer with a weight distributing set-up).

That hitch is HIGHLY adjustable for width and the amount of "drop" (how far down it drops from the truck's frame). I had no idea it could be set up to have as little drop as Drew shows in his installation. It makes for a nice, tight installation with minimal loss of ground clearance. @Drew65 - did you end up having to modify the hitch at all to make things sit that high? Does the receiver tube stick out far enough to leave the ball on a standard insert in the clear?

On my hitch installation, I did not tuck the hitch cross bar up in front of the truck's rear cross member, but that's a good idea. Mine hangs just a bit lower. I described it, and some other options in this thread:
2" Receiver Hitch on M37
 
Last edited:
Explorer0863

Explorer0863

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Orlando/San Juan
John Mc said:
The hitch Drew65 used is rated for 500# tongue weight and 5000# towing with a standard weight carrying hitch (it will do 600# tongue / 6000# tow with a weigh distribution hitch, but it's not very common to see that light a trailer with a wieght distributing set-up).

That hitch is HIGHLY adjustable for width and the amount of "drop" (how far down it drops from the truck's frame). I had no idea it could be set up to have as little drop as Drew shows in his installation. It makes for a nice, tight installation with minimal loss of ground clearance. @Drew65 - did you end up having to modify the hitch at all to make things sit that high? Does the receiver tube stick out far enough to leave the ball on a standard insert in the clear?

On my hitch installation, I did not tuck the hitch cross bar up in front of the truck's rear cross member, but that's a good idea. Mine hangs just a bit lower. I described it, and some other options in this thread:
2" Receiver Hitch on M37
Click to expand...
I was about to ask him the same question. Wanted to know if in addition to drilling, any other mod was required. I called my local PepBoys and they don’t have it, but the warehouse has it so I bought it and I’ll pick it up Monday.
 
John Mc

John Mc

Well-known member
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63
Location
Monkton, VT
BTW, if you are towing anything near the rated weight of that hitch, you'll want a break controller in the truck. Since my truck is 24V, and all of my trailers are set up for 12V, I had a problem. I did not want to run the trailer brakes & lights off of just one of the truck's batteries (not great for the battery, as you end up with one battery constantly undercharged, and another over charged.)

I found two things that helped:

Redarc Tow-Pro Elite Trailer Brake Controller This controller accepts either 12V or 24V input, and outputs a signal appropriate for 12V trailer brakes. Two other features I really liked: (1) It offers either proportional braking (best for on-road: it applies trailer brakes in proportion to how you are decellerating) or user control (also referred to as time-based braking: the braking force ramps up to a user-set maximum when the brakes are applied, regardless of how hard the brakes are applied. This works better in off-road/rough-terrain situations, which can "confuse" proportional brake systems) - trailer brakes can be manually applied in either mode. and (2) the controller mounts remotely, with just a single knob to mount on the dash, so you minimize messing up the look of your vintage dashboard.

24V to 12V Trailer Lighting Converter I ordered the Ruggedized Frame Rail Mounted Converter, which is permanently installed and hardwired into the truck. This draws power from the trucks 24V system, but converts it to 12V output for the trailer lights. They also sell converter cables, which are electrically identical, but are designed to just plug into the existing 24V NATO trailer plug on your truck.
 
John Mc

John Mc

Well-known member
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Location
Monkton, VT
BTW, I like your work on the hard top @Drew65 . I have one on mine, but it's looking a little ragged. It's been great to have in the winter, but I do like the look of my friends canvas top in the summer time (and his ability to put the top down in nice weather).

I wish I had your sheet metal skills!
 
John Mc

John Mc

Well-known member
218
305
63
Location
Monkton, VT
Explorer0863 said:
I was about to ask him the same question. Wanted to know if in addition to drilling, any other mod was required. I called my local PepBoys and they don’t have it, but the warehouse has it so I bought it and I’ll pick it up Monday.
Click to expand...
A picture of what orientation he bolted the end plates on to the rest of the hitch assembly would help. I'm also wondering if he had to cut an unused part of the end plates off for clearance.
 
Drew65

Drew65

Member
52
66
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Location
Decatur Illinois
John Mc said:
The hitch Drew65 used is a Reese Towpower 37042 (link is to Amazon, but you can find better deals). It's rated for 500# tongue weight and 5000# towing with a standard weight carrying hitch (it will do 600# tongue / 6000# tow with a weigh distribution hitch, but it's not very common to see that light a trailer with a wieght distributing set-up).

That hitch is HIGHLY adjustable for width and the amount of "drop" (how far down it drops from the truck's frame). I had no idea it could be set up to have as little drop as Drew shows in his installation. It makes for a nice, tight installation with minimal loss of ground clearance. @Drew65 - did you end up having to modify the hitch at all to make things sit that high? Does the receiver tube stick out far enough to leave the ball on a standard insert in the clear?

On my hitch installation, I did not tuck the hitch cross bar up in front of the truck's rear cross member, but that's a good idea. Mine hangs just a bit lower. I described it, and some other options in this thread:
2" Receiver Hitch on M37
Click to expand...
I flipped the two mounting plates and they rest on the inside of lower frame rail had to drill one hole on each mounting plate
 
Drew65

Drew65

Member
52
66
18
Location
Decatur Illinois
John Mc said:
The hitch Drew65 used is a Reese Towpower 37042 (link is to Amazon, but you can find better deals). It's rated for 500# tongue weight and 5000# towing with a standard weight carrying hitch (it will do 600# tongue / 6000# tow with a weigh distribution hitch, but it's not very common to see that light a trailer with a wieght distributing set-up).

That hitch is HIGHLY adjustable for width and the amount of "drop" (how far down it drops from the truck's frame). I had no idea it could be set up to have as little drop as Drew shows in his installation. It makes for a nice, tight installation with minimal loss of ground clearance. @Drew65 - did you end up having to modify the hitch at all to make things sit that high? Does the receiver tube stick out far enough to leave the ball on a standard insert in the clear?

On my hitch installation, I did not tuck the hitch cross bar up in front of the truck's rear cross member, but that's a good idea. Mine hangs just a bit lower. I described it, and some other options in this thread:
2" Receiver Hitch on M37
Click to expand...
I am using 8” drop hitch it lines up good with my boat trailer
 
John Mc

John Mc

Well-known member
218
305
63
Location
Monkton, VT
Drew65 said:
I am using 8” drop hitch it lines up good with my boat trailer
Click to expand...
When I mentioned "drop", I was talking about how much the crossbar drops down from the frame of the truck, not the drop of the insert you were using. None of the other commercially sold hitches allow for a set up like yours, with the hitch crossbar tucked up by the trucks rear cross member.

The other thing I was wondering about was how far forward mounting it as you did makes the ball on your receiver sit. Does it end up putting the ball UNDER yor truck, rather than out behind it. I'm guessing that has not been a problem for you.
 
Drew65

Drew65

Member
52
66
18
Location
Decatur Illinois
John Mc said:
When I mentioned "drop", I was talking about how much the crossbar drops down from the frame of the truck, not the drop of the insert you were using. None of the other commercially sold hitches allow for a set up like yours, with the hitch crossbar tucked up by the trucks rear cross member.

The other thing I was wondering about was how far forward mounting it as you did makes the ball on your receiver sit. Does it end up putting the ball UNDER yor truck, rather than out behind it. I'm guessing that has not been a problem for you.
Click to expand...
Cross bar is about 1/4” below frame
 
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