> None of the local hitch places will even consider working on the
> truck. Anyone have any suggestions of how I can get this truck into
> shape for towing for less than $1000?
I like the suggestion of taking it to a welding shop rather than a hitch place.
But IMO, you are responsible for whether the repair is strong enough. The
welder is responsible for making welds as strong as the steel, but he's not a
ME.
I don't know just what the back of a Suburban frame looks like, but I would
guess that a couple of plates, next step heavier than the frame, maybe with a
few holes to weld through, and welded all around the edges, would be stronger
than the original frame. Then you can bolt your trailer hitch to the new
plates/extensions.
Another alternative, I would think, is to just fabricate a hitch to mate to the
existing frame. That's SOP when adding a hitch to a vehicle where a pre-fab
hitch isn't available, so any good hitch place should be able to do it. And
usually it's not far above the price of a pre-fab hitch.
Randall
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