Truck: 03 GC, 4.7L, 2WD, stock. \

I am trying to find a class 3 receiver hitch to properly fit this truck. I bought the Reese 36047, which says it will fit, but itfits in the area currently filled with my spare tire. has anyone successfully installed an aftermarket hitch on one of these, if so what hitch did you use.

I contacted the Dodge dealer and they have a hitch on the shelf which they claim will fit all dakota's through 04' (that is what Reese said)

am I missing something here, does the spare move forward to install the hitch???

Help

 

Sounds odd.
are you sure they sent the right hitch?
I would call reese, they are a good company
I got my hitch off a 94 ram.

 

I tried 2 different reese hitches, I don't have the number of the second one handy. the first was a universal fit, Advance auto's computer says it would fit, the reese sight says it would fit, but the instructions that came with the hitch said quadcab to 01 only. sure enough when I tried to mount the brackets per the instructions they would not fit the frame, and if they had, the main bar of the hitch would run right through the rear of the spare tire.

the second hitch was a reese premium hitch specificaly for the dakota pickup. din't even take it home, opened it in the store and took the brackets out to the truck. this time the bracket matched the holes in the frame perfectly, but again the main bar of the hitch would have run through the spare.

I would call Reese, but I need this hitch on the truck yesterday and will buy any brand that will fit correctly at this point.

 

I wish I could help
other than taking the tire out I don't know how you would get a hitch in yesterday

 

can anyone post a pic of the factory hitch on a dakota from under the truck? or confirm this???

I googled and found an image of what the factory hitch is supposed to look like and it is a receiver that bolts onto the bumper not onto the frame. all of the aftermarket hitches I have seen mount to the frame.

www.autotrucktoys.com/dodge_dakota/OEM-Dodge-...

 

those are significantly weaker, the frame mounts are stronger therefore, you could tow more than the weight limit so they don't offer real hitches
I'm sorry I don't have any pics, can you post one of the hitch you got? maybe I can think of something

 

I put a Reese on my 2000 QC although it is a 4wd. The part # is 37042. I don't know how different if any the rear of the frames are between the two trucks but I have a 31" spare under there and it all clears perfectly.

 

i have a hidden hitch under my truck, the spare got in the way, so i basically took it off, installed the hitch, then reinstalled the spare, so it rests against the hitch

 

i had a hitch reciever which mounted onto the frame of my truck, but i thought that it was a stock part on my truck(98 dakota sport) it mounted on the frame and was sitting under the bumper, but i took it off and it did not affect the spare tire at all so idk how it could, i would just take the spare down, install it and then put the spare back up around the hitch if i needed it that badly just my .02

 

Why would you want to install a class 3? The stock hitches are class 4. At least that's what I got on mine and mine came with it from the factory. The class 4 is rated for higher wieghts.