Alright today on this 1998 Ford Ranger, we are going to install part number 13019 from Curt. Alright this is what the hitch looks like when it is on the vehicle. And next we will give you some measurements to help you out in selecting accessories. From the top of the receiver opening down to the ground on this particular vehicle is 13-1/2 inches. And from the center of the hitch pin hole to the outside edge of the bumper is going to be 3-1/2 inches. Alright, the first thing we need to do is go ahead and remove these bumper bolts at the very end of the frame. We are looking at the driver side and it is going to be the same on both sides. We will go ahead and remove that bolt. And you can also see when we release the bolt, the bumper came down a little bit. We still need a little bit more room, so we are going to loosen up this second bolt going towards the front of the vehicle just enough to let the bumper come down some more. And we are going to do this on both sides of the vehicle. 0:46
What you want to do to pull this j-nut is kind of pull down from the back side of it and push it out this way. Use a screw driver to help you pry out the bottom tab. There is a little edge right here that you have to push it down past the frame and then you can slide the j-nut out. And this will be left alone. We will not use this again. And now we will go ahead and tighten up that forward bolt for the bumper bracket. Alright, next we can start installing hardware. We are going to start with this block right here, with the offset hole. I think all of the hardware is going to be the same in this kit. And then the carriage bolt. It is going to look like this inside the frame. So we need to install it in the hole right here. Do that on both sides. Alright, now we can go ahead and put the hitch onto the vehicle, using the bolts that we had just installed. 1:29
And it is a good idea to have an extra set of hands at this point to help hold everything up and install the flange nuts. Just to point out, when you install the hitch what you are going to have to do is actually push the bolt up a little bit and then slide the hitch up towards the front of the vehicle. And when you get past this bolt right here, from the bumper bracket, then pull it forward and this will fall in place like that. And then you can install the flange nut. Then we can go ahead and snug these nuts down. And that will position the hitch on the frame of the vehicle because we need to drill out this second hole going towards the front. Alright, with our hitch snugged up into place, this is the spot where we are going to need to drill out our hole for the forward location. There is a space in between and there will be a spacer that will take up that area. We will go ahead and drill out a 1/2 inch hole in this location here. We are going to start off with a 1/2 inch bit just to mark our hole and then we will start off with a 1/4 inch bit as a pilot hole and then follow it back up with a 1/2 inch. We are going to take our spacer. We are going to slide it in between the hitch and the frame, just like that. And then our hardware is going to be the same as the front, the carriage bolt and the block. Then we will install our flange nut. And we will repeat for the other side. 2:57
With all of the hardware installed, we will go ahead and snug down the bolts and then torque them down as specified in the instructions. With the hitch torqued down, that will finish it for our install. And there you have it for part number 13019 from Curt.
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