Checked this hitch out from the underside after seeing some surface rust on the welds on the exposed backside. Was getting ready for a trip pulling my 30' RV. Could have been a bit of a problem. Replaced with a Curt stage V and Iron Bull bumper, BURLY!

Any body else have this kind of problem?

Yeah that could have been very exciting sometime during the trip. Lets see the new setup.

WOW, good find. Glad you found it before you hit the road. That reminds me of when I went with my friend to pick up his bad a** roush stang. We loaded up the car in his 32ft enclosed race trailer, and when we where turning aound in the back parking lot, we heard a loud boom. We got out to check the trailer connections and the coupler welds to the A-frame failed and broke. You could see rust half way into the weld. Very bad weld with no penetration at all. We where very fortunate that it broke when it did instead of going down the highway....

Just another reason for all of us to check out our equipment before each use...

Guess I should have thought of showing you guys the fix. Sorry here they are...

Wow! That could have been bad. I really like that rear bumper. Wouldn't mind sharing the cost of it would ya?

Got front AND rear from iron bull bumpers for 2500 including shipping. It was a special each was 1250, free shipping and no tax to me in CA, pretty sweet deal. Also the only company that specifcally has the fit for the 2003 - 2007 classic GMC front end. Completly coated in black liner included so no painting required. The construction/welding could have a bit more finesse, but they look good, and their bumpers. Bumpers get bumped, Right?

They were less than half of Fab Fours and Road Armors, so if I have to replace them in 3 years I'm still ahead of the game.

Thanks for the pics. I'll be sure to keep an eye on that area since I sled pull with my OE hitch. I like how the new hitch bolts to the center of the bumper like the OE part.

When I inspected it closely I suspected that it was likely damage from hard braking with a heavy load as it was peeling away from the bottom towards the top. I inspected it after noticing that it looked like the hitch ball had been pushed down and forward (rotated, really). I had already ordered the new hitch when my friend says "I think your bumper is bent down in the middle....Check out the bolts to the bumper...the heads are pulling through the 1/4 plate steel!!!" and sure enough he was right. That was when I went under and saw the damage. I had pulled my dump trailer out of the mountains a couple days earlier with a combined trailer and load of about 12K and that must have pushed it to make it noticeably bad. I have 4 trailers and tow a lot so from what I figure it had to have been there for a while looking at the rust in the break. But I also travel in the snow a lot in the winter so I could have developed quickly. I'll never know, but I'm just glad that it didn't become a trailer horror story.....

I'm going out to check mine. Pulling a 35ft camper and don't want any problems or being nervous either,thanks for the picks.

This is a common problem that I have seen posted on RV.net many times. If you are towing heavy with a stock GM hitch be careful.

I'm going out to check mine. Pulling a 35ft camper and don't want any problems or being nervous either,thanks for the picks.


I didn't think this was an issue with the '07.5+ trucks with the 2.5" hitches vs. the classics 2" hitch? Chris

Those are definately some sexy bumpers. I looked on their site though and it seems like all the ones they have, have those damn ugly *butt* pre-runner type bars around the grille and headlights. Not my style. I like yours alot better. Guess I gotta dig deeper.

They are made to order...so if you don't want pre runner guards, no worries!

I didn't think this was an issue with the '07.5+ trucks with the 2.5" hitches vs. the classics 2" hitch? Chris

Now you have me wondering as well :confused:

Wow, first time I've ever seen or heard of this. I might have to pull my factory hitch off and do some serious reinforcing on it.