Curt Manufacturing 31302 Front Mount Receiver

went on as described, easy install instructions, does lower clearance on front end

Installed on my 2004 Suburban 4wd. Super nice unit, top notch quality welds and overall finish. You'll lose your tow hooks, but the bolt holes could probably be drilled out for the hitch bolts to drop through... that or get different bolts at the hardware store. Bottom fascia rests on top of the hitch. I'm not going to modify mine ultra I have to. There's no pressure on it at this time so it shouldn't crack, it's pretty plyable. I'm super happy with it. Took about 45 minutes to install by myself. It came with all grade 8 hardware. I used a 18mm to remove tow hook bolts and needed a 3/4 wrench and socket to reinstall supplied hardware. Torqued to 110ft lbs per instructions.

This is a nice well built hitch. Installation took about 20 minutes by myself. It attaches with (2) supplied carriage bolts fished through existing holes in the frame and the original lower tow hook bolts. Tow hooks remain after installation. I couldn't find any reviews for how it would look in a Yukon Denali bumper but as you can see it fits perfectly between the existing tow hooks when flipped. You can leave the lower grill out completely or cut a small square in the middle like I did to give it more of a factory appearance.

The hitch manufacture quality is excellent. Perfect fit on a 2002 Tahoe Z71 - installed in minutes; took longer to unpack and get out the tools than to install in the 'lower' position. The hitch uses two oem bolts that go thru the tow hooks on the Z71; you may want to get longer bolts at the tow hooks. The tow hook bolts are metric and are 'grade' bolts - they were a little hard to find. Installed in the 'lower' position the receiver fits tight up against the bottom edge of the plastic air damn no cutting needed. Installed in the lower position it does not reduce the Z71 ground clearance, the bottom of the receiver is higher than the Z71 skid plates; however the Z71 approach angle is significantly reduced. Installed in the 'upper' position the receiver is a couple inches below the steel bumper and the bottom edge just touches the inside of the air damn without cutting a hole in the damn. I installed it in the 'upper' position then cut a small 2-inch square hole in the damn where I can insert the hitch tube; you can reach the receiver pin hole by reaching up under the air damn. This is a little inconvenient, but I will rarely use the front hitch - mainly for a winch. I made a receiver insert with an angled end plate, painted grey, to cover the hitch hole in the air damn. Overall a pleasing installation.

Bought this for a 2005 suburban stock 2wd. Initially installed it with just the cut-out for the receiver hole. After about a month the plastic started to deform on either side where the bar mounts to the mounting brackets that attach to the vehicle. The pic where the lower shroud and the actual bumper come together show what I had to do to make it stop deforming. It wasn't noticeable from outside, but it is extra work that had to be done to preserve the bumper and shroud. Next, if you have it mounted like the pic shows, you aren't gonna have much ground clearance. I installed the intended way originally and kept bottoming out. I ultimately became scared to take anything that looked potentially too bumpy for fear of bottoming it out, making an unforgiving "thud". So I inverted it and cut a hole in the upper bumper and threw away the bottom shroud. I had to move the license plate up a couple inches, but it looks pretty good and it actually has enough clearance now to not hit the ground. The pic also shows the tow hooks that are generally stock on the 4wd models. I installed these previously on my 2wd and had to drill out the threads on them to accomodate the hitch bolts. It was easy since they are a soft metal. If you have a drill press or manly hands on a hand-held drill, it won't be a problem. If you want to keep the tow hooks you're gonna have to do this. They do go back on tight. The hitch itself is bulletproof. I initially had reservations with a bar that bolts onto mounting brackets, but this makes it possible to invert the mount, where the Reese and Drawtite models can't be inverted. So I would recommend this. Chances are that if you're buying it, you're not too concerned about having to do the things mentioned in this review. 2/7/17 update: Bought this primarily to put a bike rack on the front. If your intention for this is bikes, consider if you will have enough ground clearance once bikes are on, how high the seats and handlebars will be once mounted, and if headlights will reflect off the chrome rims. I had issues with all three of these things. Resolved the first two with creativity, but the reflection in the dark was too much. If you're trying to balance a trailer by not having so much weight on the rear, consider the above issues before jumping in. Again, the receiver is great, but other logistics got in the way of my plans.

This product is of great quality, a couple of paint nicks. I installed it on my 1999 Chevy Silverado 1500 LT (apparently there are two body styles for '99, the old 90's look and the 2000's look, mine is the 2000's look). My issue is that it didn't fit like pictured in the instructions. On the frame there are supposed to be two holes on each side that the brackets bolt to. One of those holes is used by the tow hook, the other is apparently unused. On my truck there wasn't a second hole as pictured in the instructions, only a large access hole (roughly 1" dia). The access hole lined up with the hole on the bracket though. There are instructions included that show you how to fish fasteners using the fishing wire, but in my case, the instructions didn't really apply. I removed the front bolts from the tow hooks. The tow hooks are tapped and act like a nut inside the frame rail. I removed the hooks, but you really shouldn't, just remove the bolt. I had to get the hooks back in place after removal...tricky, but not too difficult. Putting the truck on ramps or jacstands makes the job easier. There are two brackets that you position first loosely. The slotted hole in the front position matched up with the tow hook hole on the frame. The rear hole matched up with the big access hole. The fastener kit comes with these thick rectangular washers with a square hole in the middle that is used to secure the square neck of the supplied carriage bolts inside the frame; essentially making a stud that sticks out of the frame. In my case with the big hole, I used the fishing wire to push the carriage head bolt and the rectangular washer into the large hole and then pull them back down through the same hole. The wire pulls the bolts through the square hole in the washer. The washer is big enough to span the hole and also keep the carriage bolt from turning. I'd like to have more bearing surface under the washer, but I think it's enough to supply a good clamp load. I ran the nut onto the carriage bolt and spun the bolt into the front position threading it into the tow hook thats inside the frame. I got a little bit longer bolt for the front tow hook hole, but reusing the existing bolt will probably work. It's an M12 bolt, so you can't use the English SAE bolts in the kit for this hole because it has to fit into the tow hook which is tapped for M12. Once I loosely got the bracket bolts in place, the rest was easy. I laid on my back and got a couple bolts/nuts started while I used my knees to support the other end of the square tube. The other side was easier. This is the point when I notice that the receiver tube is interfering with the plastic fascia under the bumper. I also noticed a little interference with the vertical flanges too. I put the receiver in the low position by the way, but it seems to be about 3/4" too high to avoid the plastic trim and the bottom of the flanges is about 1/2 too low to avoid the same. So if you get down and look, the bumper is pushed down toward the ground and then contorts itself over the receiver tube. It's not too bad and I could cut a notch around the tube, but since the bumper's jacked from hitting a deer, I think I'll just leave it. To tighten everything to 110 ft-lbs, I tried a standard clicker wrench, but I couldn't get enough leverage to click them all off. I pulled out the impact wrench and I should have used that all along. If you have one, use an impact wrench to do the final tightening. I've used the hitch to back my boat trailer into a tricky spot and it worked great. Just wish it fit a little better, otherwise I'd give it 5 stars. Your truck may fit perfectly, but on my old '99 it didn't. At least I didn't have to drill holes.

I have a 1999 GMC Sierra 1500 and this receiver was an exact bolt on job that was quite easy to do--as easy as any job laying on your back under a truck! Seriously, there were no surprises. If your truck still has the tow hooks, the front hole of each receiver mounting plate will use the bolt that secures the tow hook. Just remove this (18mm) bolt, fish the included bolt and retainer plate up through the rear hole in the frame member (very easy if you follow the directions for the fish wire!), raise up the receiver mounting plate, reattach the tow hook mounting bolt and install the nut for the rear bolt. Keep everything somewhat loose until you mount the plate on the other side and the attach the receiver bar between the two. Then jiggle them back and forth until centered, and tighten down both brackets. This is a well designed and very solidly constructed receiver, and Amazon has the best price I could find anywhere. Shipping was very fast, and FREE....

Missing hardware