Put a Gen 1 hitch on my Gen 2

My daughter needed to move last weekend (graduates North Georgia College on Friday), so it was time to get a hitch to pull a seven foot trailer borrowed from my father-in-law. I called the dealership, and they wanted $480 installed. Yikes. Ok, next step, was asking about parts ($185 for the receiver and $96 for the wiring harness). Still too rich for my blood. I found other nice receivers on some websites, but those were $230 to $260 each.

Being a cheapskate, I then looked on Craigslist, and did find a receiver for about $120, but would have had to drive nearly 100 miles round trip.

I had a Gen 1 Reese receiver in the garage that came with my '99 Tacoma when I bought it new, so I took a look-see, and decided to give it a try. It definitely is not a bolt on (the Gen 1 receiver is wider than the Gen 2 frame rails), but with some help from a friend, we cut out some adapter plates and welded them to the receiver. I was going to do a total bolt-on adapter, but he preferred welding the receiver to the adapter plates. We then bolted the unit onto the truck, using the existing holes for a receiver. My friend wouldn't charge me anything, but I also help him out whenever I can with his auction site stuff.

Then I found a Tow Ready Draw Tite brand plug in harness (4-flat) on the auction site for $39.95 with shipping. I would say the job went without a hitch..., but the hitch was kind of the point.

Bottom line, for $40 cash outlay, and a couple hours of work, I was able put on a receiver that allowed us to tow a small trailer to help her move. Also, I have been wanting to put a hitch on anyway for a while.

Tim Glover


View of driver's side looking in:






View of driver's side from middle of truck. Still working up courage to drill that extra hole in the frame.







View from the back. Built a spacer plate to adapt four inch apart holes on the reciver to 200mm apart holes on bumper.

 

Looks good to go. You shouldn't need the third bolt since you bolted the receiver hitch to the bumper which by itself is good for 3500lbs.