Does the Reese Titan or Drawtite Ultra install require drilling?

[zman]

I'm going to buy either a Reese Titan V or the Drawtite Ultra hitch in the next day or two and was wondering if either of these hitches require any drilling of the frame for installation. If not, I'll do the install myself, otherwise I'll have the shop do it. Thanks!

Steve


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2001 2500 SLT QC LWB 4x4, AT, 3. 54 anti-spin, tow package, camper special, snow plow prep, travel group, SRW, RKE, fog lights, bright white / agate
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Cody gooseneck hitch, silencer ring?, A-pillar mounted VDO Vision EGT/transmission temp/boost guages, Mopar Performance transmission pan, EZ, Westin nerfs, Alpine tunes

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

Yes, they both require drilling.

 

[metal tech]

I have a Reese Titan on my 01 3500 and I did not have to drill any holes. I found the instruction sheet and it states, "Some short bed models will need to have the front hole drilled". This is for part # 45010.

AL

[This message has been edited by metal tech (edited 02-19-2001). ]

 

[boatpuller]

My drawtite-ultra required drilling four 5/8" or 3/4" holes, can't remember which size, but that was on a 1st-generation truck.
Good Luck,
Caleb

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1993 LE W250 4x4 CC,Auto,3. 5's,LS. . Diamondplate,PowerWagon injectors,K&N,Egt,Boost,trans temp VDO Vision series, BD 3 1/2" Exhaust, 16cm housing,Mag Hytec Diff+ Trans pans,Transgo TFOD shift kit,Roadmaster Active Suspension.

Caleb Reese (per forum guidelines)

 

[ISB RAMBO]

Zman, no drilling for the Titan V. Easy to install if you have a good jack to push it against the frame while bolting it up. Looks awesome with the 2 1/2" opening - I use the 2" adapter for my hitch setup when towing. The tongue weight of my trailer is approx. 1100#'s so the Titan V leaves a good margine of safety.

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Stan

2001 2500 SLT+ Quad Cab, 6 speed, ETH, 4X4, LWB, 3. 54 LSD Trailer Tow, Camper Special, 241HD, Tow Mirrors, Bright White, Line-X Bedliner, Putco Boss SS running boards, A. R. E. K Series Truck Cap, Reese Titan V Hitch, 2WD Low, DD 4" exhaust, BD exhaust brake, Isspro Boost and EGT gauges, Mag-Hytec rear cover with Amsoil Series 2000 75W-90 synthetic, Amsoil Dual-Remote Cummins Oil Filtration System (full-flow & by-pass); Amsoil 2 Stage Air Filter

 

[David Muench]

Go with the Titan. . I had one on the back of my '85 D350, no drilling there, and from what I know my new one won't require any on my 2001. Massive, massive hitch. . Can't say enough about it.

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'97 Jeep TJ - Tons of stuff.
2001. 5 BR3500 Chassis Cab 4x4 163"wb - ETH/DEE, SLT, K&N in stock airbox, autometer boost/pyro, GTS clear headlight covers, no bed (yet). .

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

I'm surprised the Reese doesn't require drilling. The Draw tite upgrades the bolts to 5/8" (from 1/2") and you have to open up the holes, it also adds doubler plates on the back side of the frame to stiffen it, it also bolts to the bumper bolts with angle brackets. Does the Reese have any additional bolts or doubler plates or does it just bolt up just like the stock hitch?

-Steve

 

[Todd G]

I had to enlarge two of the holes in the frame when I installed my Titan. What a pain in the neck! It takes a while to ream out a 5/8" hole laying on your back.

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1995 Ram 2500,SLT,5-spd,4. 10,std cab,4X4,215 injectors,Banks Powerpack,boost and pyro guages,gutted CAT,33"/16. 5 BFG AT's,Outdoorsman cap,Reese Titan V hitch

 

[zman]

There seems to be some disagreement as to whether the Reese Titan requires drilling. I had two 2001 Ram/Titan owners tell me that no drilling was required, so I went with the Titan. I'll post my installation comments this weekend. Thanks for all the replies!

Steve

 

[Terry]

Has anyone had to relocate the spare tire when installing the Titan?

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99' 2500 SLT, Quadcab, Long Bed, 4x4, White/Driftwood, Agate Leather, 4WAL, Auto, 241HD, 3. 54 Limited Slip, Rancho 9000's, Air Lift Super Duty's, Hallmark Cachara LTD 9. 5ft Popup Camper, Boston Whaler Outrage 17'

 

[Todd G]

My tire fits fine with the Titan.

 

[John]

zman, I can state with absolute certainty that I had to drill two 5/8" diameter holes, one in each of my Reese Titan V mounting rails to match the existing holes in my '98. 5 LWB QC 4x4 2500 frame rails. The reason I state this is because tears almost came to my eyes #ad
when I discovered I would have to drill into my newly powder coated (GLOSS BLACK) Reese Titan V hitch. #ad
#ad
Unless you elect to omit these bolts you WILL have to drill the two holes... for a '98. 5 anyway. In addition, I had to slot (with a die grinder and carbide burr) two (one in each frame rail) existing holes in the frame to facilitate hole alignment. If memory serves, there are four mounting bolts on each side.

Terry, I did not have to relocate the spare tire because of the Reese Titan V hitch... and I have a new 285/75R16 BFG Radial All-Terrain T/A spare tire! #ad
#ad
At a later date, I did have to offset my spare with a custom offset mount (once I finally got around to mounting it under the truck in place of my OE spare), due to possible interference with my Mag-Hytec differential cover.

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John Treibel
'98. 5 2500 QC 4x4 Sport, Glasstite Vision II, 285 BFG A/Ts on M/T Challengers, Warn 4X Boards, Mopar fender flares & tow hooks, NW Custom s/s-rubber mud flaps and accs. , Mag-Hytec diff. cover & trans. pan, Edelbrock IAS shocks, Reese Titan V hitch, SPA gauges (3), Dynamat, '00 Sport grille and headlights/PIAA Super White bulbs, PIAA Dual Sport 900 aux. lights, BD exh. brake, Amsoil Dual Remote Bypass, Optima Yellow Tops, DD3s and DD TTPM, Aeroquip AQP braided s/s fuel hoses, Banks High-Ram intake manifold and 14 cm2 turbine housing w/Big Head wastegate actuator, ATS 3-piece exh. man. , Banks 4" dia. s/s exh. sys. , DTT 93% TC, DTT custom tuned VB, BD modified trans. front pump (enhanced by DTT), Air Bulldog induction hood (with NACA ducts), plus MANY other trick modifications

 

[Powder Extreme]

For those of you with the Titan V, do any of you haul a camper and use the extension bar. I'm interested in purchasing this setup and wonder what kind of results you've had.

Thanks,
Jerry

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2001 Quad Cab Dually, ETH, SLT Plus, 275 injectors, Banks Power Pack.

 

[DocStressor]

Jerry, I haul a 3000 lb+ camper and pull a 3000 lb boat using the Titan extension bar. It works just fine. Did a 2500 mile trip to BC last Fall with lots of twisty mountain driving. No sway problems at all. I use a 2" hitch with a 4" drop that gives a tongue weight of about 300 lb. Because of my camper overhang, I have to extend the bar the maximum length. The setup is much more robust than it looks. The bar is hardened steel and will not flex.

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1999 Quad cab 2500, SB, SLT, 4X4, 5-speed, 3. 54, tow and camper package, Lance 820 camper, Lance cabover stabilizers, Rancho 9000s, Airlift airbags

 

[zman]

Well, the Reese Titan V hitch finally showed up at my door tonight. That thing is HUGE! The box indicates the model I bought (45010) fits '99 to present Rams. The instructions show a strictly bolt-on install. My truck is in the shop for the night getting some leaks fixed, so I can't tell for sure about the install. Probably won't be able to do the install till this weekend. I'll report back then. Keeping my fingers crossed. #ad


Steve

 

[Terry]

ZMANN, keep please keep me posted as I want to change out the hitch before I take my truck in for a leaking transfer case seal. As the dealer told me that they have to do the hitch recall if the stock one is on when I bring it in.

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99' 2500 SLT, Quadcab, Long Bed, 4x4, White/Driftwood, Agate Leather, 4WAL, Auto, 241HD, 3. 54 Limited Slip, Rancho 9000's, Air Lift Super Duty's, Hallmark Cachara LTD 9. 5ft Popup Camper, Boston Whaler Outrage 17'

 

[ARARAR]

Do yourself a favor and look into the Pullrite hitch. They're the next best thing to a 5th wheel. They are a little pricey, but well worth the money. I was towing w/the factory tow package and it was alright until I bought a new TT with a slide and front kitchen which put my tongue weight at 900 lbs. +. I was all over the road especially when it was windy. And, I even had trouble distributing the weight with 1k spring bars. Now I just cruise down the road and hardly even know the trailer is back there.

 

[John]

As stated above, I have the Reese Titan V hitch. I believe this is the strongest "bumper pull" hitch on the market.

That said, I also believe if you are going to haul a large camper ALONG WITH towing a heavy "bumper pull" trailer (where a hitch extension is required), the superior choice is the Tork Lift Super Hitch. The Super Hitch is a class 5 rated hitch, produced in Kent, WA ( www.superhitch.com ). What makes the Super Hitch so strong is the verticle, double stacked tandem design of the 2" receivers. Tork Lift sells a number of length specific hitch extensions that utilize BOTH reciver sockets for added strength. In addition, chain/turnbuckle assemblies are provided for lateral reinforcement between the hitch extension and the hitch. I have a number of friends with the Super Hitch, many of them repeat customers when they purchase new trucks. In fact, none of them will even consider a different hitch.

I'm not trying to take anything away from the Reese Titan V, as their 2. 5" hitch extension is MASSIVE in comparison to the others... just thought I would offer a choice that hasn't been brought up in this thread. Check out their website and draw your own conclusions.

 

[zman]

Well, I installed the Titan V hitch Friday morning. Easy install. The hitch mounted using all existing holes in the frame and included doubler plates. Probably took about an hour to remove the old hitch and put in the new one.

The only downside is that there isn't a good way to attach the factory plug to the new hitch. I used zip ties for now. Will need to fabricate something more permanent in the near future.

Steve


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2001 2500 SLT QC LWB 4x4, AT, 3. 54 anti-spin, tow package, camper special, snow plow prep, travel group, SRW, RKE, fog lights, bright white / agate
**********
A-pillar mounted VDO Vision EGT/transmission temp/boost guages, Mopar Performance transmission pan, EZ, Westin nerfs, Alpine tunes, silencer ring?, Reese Titan V hitch, Cody GN hitch, 20+5 14k gooseneck trailer

Great Lakes TDR

[This message has been edited by zman (edited 03-04-2001). ]

 

[David Muench]

Guess I have to eat my words. I installed my Titan friday. I had to drill the two front holes in the frame. The instructions say that's required "on some short bed models". Guess my 163" wb chassis cab is now termed a short bed. #ad


From what I can see, you'll need to drill holes if there isn't a hole on the bottom of the frame rail just forward of the rear shackle mount. There were 3 holes on each side rear of the shackle mount, but no holes forward.