Blue Ox Diamond Hitch - Underbed Gooseneck Trailer Hitch - 30,000 lbs

Video Transcript for Gooseneck Trailer Hitch Installation - 2012 Dodge Ram

Today on our 2012 Dodge Ram 2500 were installing the Blue Ox Gooseneck part number DH1102. To get started weve already removed the spare tire both rear wheels and the exhaust from the catalysts back. Next, well go ahead and remove the rock shield for the spare tire. This will give us more open room access when installing our gooseneck. Now with that done well go ahead and move to the bed of the pick-up. We need to go ahead and drill a pilot hole and then our 4-inch hole to allow for the gooseneck head to come through the truck bed.

Using the measurements provided with our installation kit well go ahead and measure out from the end of the bed to find our length and from the inner wheel wells of the bed to find our center. First well drill a small pilot hole and double check to make sure were over the center of the axle. With that done we can go ahead and drill out our 4-inch hole. Now that weve got the 4-inch hole drilled out were going to get underneath the vehicle and on the drivers side on the outside of the frame rail. We need to relocate a ground wire.

Once we remove the ground wire it will need to be reinstalled. However, well do that later after the hitch is installed. Next, well move to the inside of the frame rail and go ahead and loosen the wires attached here. We want to make sure that they dont get pinched during the installation of our hitch. With that done, were now ready to go ahead and start preassembly of the head unit.

Well go ahead and take the drivers side Z bracket and attach it to the head here on our cart. Now with the drivers side Z bracket installed well move over to the passengers side and put our bolts in place. Now well get an extra set of hands to help us install the head unit and Z bracket on the passengers side. As we put the head unit up into vehicle on the drivers side well bring up in contact underneath of the bed to allow for room to install the passengers side Z bracket. Now with the passengers side on and all of our hardware finger tight were ready to move on to installing the table plate.

The table plates have four offset holes to indicate that they will be facing forward of the vehicle. They also have welded spacers on the bottom side to compensate for the variance in the frame. Youll notice the wider spacer will face the rear of the vehicle. Now were ready to install the table plate. It will slide underneath the Z bracket and be sandwiched between the Z bracket and the frame. To fasten the table plate to the Z bracket well be using the 2-inch bolts, flat washers, and flange nuts. Keep in mind that each one of the fasteners for both the head unit, the Z bracket, the table plate and clamp will all get red lock tight. Lets go ahead and do that now. Here on the passengers side well have two fasteners for the Z bracket, the table plate on the inside of the frame and two on the outside of the frame. Well leave each one finger tight this time. Now well go ahead and repeat the same process on the drivers side. During the assembly we did not install the red lock tight with the head unit and Z bracket so were going to go ahead and do that now. Well go ahead and unscrew one nut at a time, tie it on the threads and then tighten it back down. Both table plates now installed and our hardware finger tight, well move on to installing the frame clamps. The frame clamps will sit on the bottom side of the frame just front and back of the table plate. Well run the 8-1/2 inch bolt with red lock tight through the frame clamp up through the table plate and install a flange nut on top. There are two 8-1/2 inch bolts and flange nuts for each frame clamp and there are two frame clamps per side. Now that we have the passengers side installed well go ahead and repeat the same process on the drivers side. The only exception being on the inside front bolt for the frame clamp, you may need to relocate the brake line slightly so that its not touching the bolt. As you can see here were going to gently pry out on the brake line bracket which will pull it away from the frame. Now with our assembly installed were ready to go ahead and start tightening and torquing our hardware. Well start with the head unit bolts first. With all the head and unit bolts tightened down we can now go ahead and torque to specifications as indicated in the instructions. Next well go ahead and tighten and torque the fasteners from the table plate to the frame clamp. Now with those tightened down we can go ahead to torque to specifications as indicated in the instructions. Next well tighten down the Z bracket to the table plate hardware. Again, well repeat the same process of tightening and torquing to specifications. Now that all of our fasteners are tightened and torqued to specifications we need to go back and reinstall the wiring that we removed from the frame rail earlier. Now with our wiring reinstalled we need to go ahead and select a new location for our ground strap. To install our ground strap well first need to bend the tab out on the ground terminal and now well go ahead and take our self-tapping screw and attach it directly to the frame. Im going to go just above the wire plugs that we just reinstalled. Now with that done we need to move back to the head assembly and install the chain hold down. To do this well use the head assembly as a template and drill out four 1/2-inch holes through the head. Now with our holes drilled out we can go ahead and take the U bolts and drop them into place. A quick tech tip, if you add some weight to the top of the U bolts it can make it easier to install the hardware underneath. Now that were underneath we can go ahead and start installing the hardware. Well first install a flat washer and then the spring then another flat washer then the nylon lock nut. Well go ahead and repeat the same process for the other three attachment points. Now as we begin to tighten them down we want to make sure theyre even at each point and that we have just a little spring tension so that our U bolts dont rattle when not in use. Now with that done well go ahead and reinstall the rock shield, our spare tire, exhaust and rear wheels and this will complete the installation of our Blue Ox Hitch DH1102 on our 2012 Dodge Ram 2500.