Trailer Hitch Installation - 1999 Chevrolet Express Van

Installation of a Trailer Hitch on a 1999 Chevy Express Van

Today, on this 1999 Chevy Express Van, we will be installing Hidden Hitch part number 82580. This installation will also apply to the Draw-Tite part number 41521. We are underneath the vehicle, looking at the driver-side frame rail. You will note, here at the end of the frame, we have two existing holes. Those are going to provide our two rearmost attaching points for the trailer hitch. At those attachment points, we are going to be taking a 1/2 inch carriage bolt and a 1-1/2 by 2 inch block, combining the two. We will set them inside the frame and down through the holes. 0:35

And, if you look at more forward on the frame, we have two more existing holes. We are going to be using the rearmost of those two. But, at this attaching point, we will be using the 1-1/2 by 3 inch block and that is going to be the same for the passenger side as well. I do want to note before I put all of the carriage bolts in, that if at the bottom of your frame you have an excess amount of undercoating, that could prevent the hitch from attaching to the frame. You want to go ahead and scrape that off. As you can see here, I have some flakes of undercoating that I am going to scrape away first. 1:39

Again, we just want to repeat that set up for the passenger side and then we will go ahead and put the hitch up into position. We will be attaching the hitch to the frame using conical tooth washers and ½ inch hex bolts. And now that we have the hitch up and all of the hardware into place, we just want to go ahead and torque the bolts down. You want to verify with the directions the appropriate torque rating for each of the bolts. With the bolts torqued down, our hitch installation is completed . This will conclude the installation of Hidden Hitch part number 82580 on a 1999 Chevy Express Van.