truckjunkie

OK - COOL - thanks - I appreciate the reply.

TexasCTD

Pourin,

It looks really sweet. AND STOUT!

Can I ask what the putnam cost?

I have been contemplating replacing my rear bumper with a Frontier diamond plate like this one.

http://www.frontier-gear.com/pages/Dodgebb.html

With a pipe bumper, you lose capacity. 10,000lbs max in most cases. Our stocker type IV receivers are rated around 12,000lbs.

I guess my question is....do you think the Putnam V hitch would work with the Frontier bumper? Looks like it would to me. I'd like to replace my stock receiver with a class V at some point.


Good luck with your pulling season this year!! You have a sweet looking ride to pull with!

PourinDiesel

It ran me $273 and change to the door.

If that bumper works with the OEM hitch then it should work with the Putnam V installed.

Where does that bumper mount to?

TexasCTD

Honestly I don't know where it mounts to and haven't actually seen one in person yet. I guess in the area of the stock brackets. I would have put a Ranch Hand pipe bumper on it a long time ago and forgot about it...but I wanted a receiver tube and when you add that to a RH it drops the capacity down to 5000lbs. Fine if all you pull is a boat. But, on occasion I pull a 12,000lb toyhauler with a weight distribution set up.

So I have been looking for a replacement bumper that looks good, is powdercoat black, is pretty tuff, and still allows the use of the stock receiver. This is the only one I have been able to come up with so far. The dealer that quoted me the best price (over a month ago) finally got one in with the reverse lights, so I may be getting it installed very soon.

Guess I will be adding the Putnam V to my list of wants. I don't see any reason why the Frontier wouldn't work with it, too. Thanks for the info and pics on the Putnam.

Blast Chamber

I realize that I'm bringing back an old thread, but I wanted to thank PourinDiesel for his original post and for those great pictures. I just finished installing a Putnam XDR on my '03, and his information proved to be very, very helpful.

I also wanted to show one change that I made from the typical Putnam install. Rather than cutting off the OEM receiver flush with the bottom of the tube, I decided to get creative and to leave as much of the original brackets behind as possible. The reason was that I wanted to weld the OEM and Putnam hitches together to provide additional strength beyond the 2 bolts connecting the two. It took several sawzall blades and air cutter wheels and a lot of time and patience, but I like the results.

The below pictures show the results prior to painting. I'm still able to access the safety chain holes from the sides. Please forgive the ugly welds as I'm not a professional welder (but I did stay at a HI Express last night).

PourinDiesel

Looks glad! Glad you found the post to be informative!

XLR8R

I helped TexasCTD install his a while back - looked to be a nice piece, but wished Putnam had designed it to mount w/o hacking off the factory receiver!

TexasCTD

Pourin...Thanks for the original post and pics! I did get my Putnam XDR recently too and it works great along with the Frontier Rear bumper. I think the Frontier added that much more strength to the overall package by bolting to the top of the OEM piece and with the Putnam from the bottom. If something failed on my truck...it won't be the receiver hitch that's for sure!


Blast Chamber.....awesome idea! Very good work.



and XLR8R....Thanks again for your help!!! I feel alot better about pulling anything with that receiver over the OEM one.

TexasCTD

Boy this was an old post...


Only took me a year later to get-r-done!

Pooter

Very nice work, to both guys!




Theres always something to add to the to-do list