VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1971-1979 Trailer Hitch- 76 C20

Greetings all. I'm interested in putting on a good quality hitch, trans cooler, and trailer wiring harness on my '76 C20 2wd longbed. I want to be able to pull a full-sized car or truck in the future, and don't plan on doing that often. I would not trust the current bumper hitch to do that. I also will likely get a utility trailer for house work & parts hauling :) so I can bring home parts the wife doesn't want me to have.

I'm pretty new to the towing thing, although I have pulled home a few cars in other previous trucks with factory-installed trailer packages.

My questions are:

* What type of hitch should I get? What class would you recommend? I don't need to pull a house, but a stray '47 Chevy may follow me home one day.

* What are some ways I can do this while still having the truck appear mostly stock? I don't forsee ever needing electric brake controllers or anything of that nature. But I'd like to have this hitch install look pretty OEM.


Thanks in advance for everyone's help & suggestions.

I would get a 2" receiver hitch installed and also while you are at it get an electric brake controller and trailer connecting cord installed. Don't go small, be sure that the hitch is the right capacity as for your truck. Most RV and Trailer sales yards do that kind of installiation. Also some U-Haul dealers do that kind of work. If you are a do itself person J.C. Whitney and Northern Tool sell what you will need.

Whoops, I just realized I posted this in the wrong forum! I should have been over in Chevy Trucks. Doh!

Thanks for the reply though. Moderators feel free to move or delete this! Apologies for not paying attention.

Hi Daryl,

Could not help but notice your post - because I also have a '76 C30.

Here is a link to a company I highly recommend for trailer hitches....
http://www.etrailer.com/hitch-1976_Chevrolet_C%2FK+Series+Pickup.htm

You can shop, choose, and determine what suits your needs. Buy enough and you get free shipping.

I would recommend a Class IV since you may tow a '47 Chevy and when looking at electronic brake controllers - consider the Tekonsha PRODIGY. It is an outstanding controller with several nice features that come in handy when towing empty or going for the "full load".

One last tip.... when installing the hitch you may want to consider using highly quality American made fasteners with a Grade 8 rating. I have seen too many CHINESE bolts fail due to poor material, or grading and that is the last thing you need when towing a trailer.

...By all means if you use a custom (made for your specific truck) use at least a grade 5 bolt and grade 8 would be better, also be sure to use multiple bolts for redunancy. I did my own 76 4x4 surburban back in 1976 and I bought the 2" receiver hitch with a Reese load equalizer hitch since I was pulling a 10,000 pound RV travel trailer. I bought special 1/2" nuts with long handled lock washers that allowed me to slide the nuts up into the interior of the box frame section and it made starting the bolts easy, in the pre-drilled holes for mounting the hitch cross member. I got them from a local trailer shop in OK city. I have wished I had several of them since then.