Bolt size for the drawbar plate?

wahoowad · Nov 23, 2014

I'm going to fab up a trailer hitch to put on the back of my 69 Custom. What size bolts/threads go into the top bolt holes here? They already seem threaded.

Also pics of custom fabbed up ones helpful. I won't be pulling much so plan on fabbing up something quick and easy. Also what is the angle of the drawbar so I can cut my tubing to the right angle?

Whirly · Nov 23, 2014

wahoowad said:
I'm going to fab up a trailer hitch to put on the back of my 69 Custom. What size bolts/threads go into the top bolt holes here? They already seem threaded.

Also pics of custom fabbed up ones helpful. I won't be pulling much so plan on fabbing up something quick and easy. Also what is the angle of the drawbar so I can cut my tubing to the right angle?

OMG.... u say 'UR' doin the fabbin.. what is left for u to do after u ask everyone else to come up with minor stuff u can find out in a couple seconds...

wahoowad · Nov 23, 2014

I don't have any spare bolts with that thread pitch so thought I'd ask so I can go get the right size. I don't intend to fab the bolt! :sidelaugh

larrybl · Nov 23, 2014

wahoowad said:
I don't have any spare bolts with that thread pitch so thought I'd ask so I can go get the right size. I don't intend to fab the bolt! :sidelaugh

Don't know if this helps, I dug through my bolt selection I found some 3/4 bolts that fit.

Whirly · Nov 23, 2014

larrybl said:
Don't know if this helps, I dug through my bolt selection I found some 3/4 bolts that fit.

r u measuring the head of the bolt or the shaft of the bolt with the wrench

if the wrench fits the head... it's a 1/2inch bolt with 13 thread.. if it fits the shaft... it's a 3/4 bolt with 11 thread..

now a 3/4 bolt will require a 1 1/8 wrench or socket

Whirly · Nov 23, 2014

the size of a bolt is measured by the shaft size.. if a bolt barely goes thro a 1/2 inch hole.. it's listed as a 1/2 inch x 13 bolt.. the 13 is the treads per inch pitch ( which is the standard course thread) this bolt will require a 3/4 wrench or socket

larrybl · Nov 23, 2014

A 3/4 wrench fits the bolt head. Everyone that works on anything "should" have parts boxes, or at least a junk drawer.

Hugh-SS/16 · Nov 23, 2014

1/2" thread bolt

Whirly · Nov 23, 2014

larrybl said:
A 3/4 wrench fits the bolt head. Everyone that works on anything "should" have parts boxes, or at least a junk drawer.

OK... that makes the bolt a 1/2 diameter (x13) is the number of threads per inch

now if that wrench fit the bolt shaft snugly.. it would b listed as a 3/4 bolt .. the wrench that fits the head will b an inch 1/8th (1 1/8 size..)

the size of the wrench that fits the head is not the bolt size.. there is a lotta guys who will argue that point.. but I guess they have not bought any new bolts..

Whirly · Nov 23, 2014

larrybl said:
A 3/4 wrench fits the bolt head. Everyone that works on anything "should" have parts boxes, or at least a junk drawer.

my 'used' bolt collection weighs about 1000 pounds.. maybe more.. (all sorted by size & length) just to give u a ruff figure.. & I still wind up buyin some new bolts.. it also includes flat & lock washers & nuts too..

Tractor-Holic · Nov 23, 2014

I bet I have more than a ton of hardware--dozens of drawers,bins,cans,plastic containers overflowing with lots of everything!..--but I never seem to have the elusive nut or bolt I need when I'm looking for one..

I have probably 10,000 nuts and bolts,and 9,980 of them are USS and SAE threads...and of course,every time I need a bolt or nut for something like my pickup--it's METRIC...

..I despise metric bolts,4 different thread pitches,no store stocks more than a few when you need several--I've wasted more time and fuel searching for a few stupid bolts than it takes to install them and pay for them more than once...

I'm not 100% certain but I think one of my Suburbans 3 point hitches used 7/16" x 14 bolts in the holes with the welded nuts,and the others have 1/2" x 13 bolts...
I could be wrong though,its been a few years--..

SonnyT · Nov 23, 2014

My '67 Custom takes 1/2-13 bolts. Wrench size is 3/4. Wrench sizes go by the size of the head on the bolts and not the actual bolt size. :fing32:

wahoowad · Nov 23, 2014

Thanks for the education! I'll go find me a 1/2-13 bolt

Whirly · Nov 23, 2014

Tractor-Holic said:
I bet I have more than a ton of hardware--dozens of drawers,bins,cans,plastic containers overflowing with lots of everything!..--but I never seem to have the elusive nut or bolt I need when I'm looking for one..

I have probably 10,000 nuts and bolts,and 9,980 of them are USS and SAE threads...and of course,every time I need a bolt or nut for something like my pickup--it's METRIC.....I despise metric bolts,4 different thread pitches,no store stocks more than a few when you need several--I've wasted more time and fuel searching for a few stupid bolts than it takes to install them and pay for them more than once...

I'm not 100% certain but I think one of my Suburbans 3 point hitches used 7/16" x 14 bolts in the holes with the welded nuts,and the others have 1/2" x 13 bolts...
I could be wrong though,its been a few years--..

I've got a good selection of metric ones from scrappin out used mowers... most of the time I score a good hit when lookin for what I need...

larrybl · Nov 23, 2014

Don't you just hate it when you know you have that widget somewhere, spend 1/2 a day looking for it, then resolve to go purchase a new one, and when coming back in the shop, trip over what ever it was you were looking for. :fing20:

Whirly · Nov 23, 2014

larrybl said:
Don't you just hate it when you know you have that widget somewhere, spend 1/2 a day looking for it, then resolve to go purchase a new one, and when coming back in the shop, trip over what ever it was you were looking for. :fing20:

been there.. done it a lotta times.. & I do remember one time I had that bolt in my hand when I bought the one...

Tractor-Holic · Nov 24, 2014

Whirly said:
I've got a good selection of metric ones from scrappin out used mowers... most of the time I score a good hit when lookin for what I need...

Most of what I owned and fixed,scrapped,etc,was pre-metric vintage...so was the drawers full of hardware I bought years ago when a machine shop closed up..now I own vehicles that have a "mix" of both metric and uss/sae fasteners...makes fixing them a real joy,you need every tool in both metric and "normal"in order to work on them..

I have friends who run car repair shops that always have tons of old hardware from scrapped cars,leftovers from repairs,etc, that are metric,but I noticed most newer vehicles use tapped holes rather than nuts ,or welded on nuts,so I can scrounge all kinds of free bolts,but get very few nuts to go with them..

I usually go see them when I need a metric fastener,they have more than the hardware stores do that are further away...they often just toss a 5 gallon bucket of them in a junk car just to get rid of some every so often..

I try to pick out the "common" sizes,but always seem to end up being the wrong pitch thread or length when I go to use one of them..

It irks me to have to dump out a pile of hardware and paw thru it for an hour to find the one piece I need--have tried labeling the drawers and containers and separating the things by size,thread,etc,but they always get some other "wrong" thing mixed in with them..and the older you get,the poorer your vision gets,it sucks having to look through a million pieces to hopefully find one suitable for your purpose..

I would not hate metrics so much if the sizes and threads were not so close--like the fact 6mm and 8 mm are so close to 1/4" and 5/16" that its really easy to crank a metric bolt into an "american" hole and strip or fubar the threads and whatever the hole is drilled in..

Another disturbing trend is for some fasteners to now have "unique" threads,that can only be bought from certain sources--like the strut bolts and exhaust studs found on many Ford cars now--they are "Ford" thread,no other bolts or nuts will fit them!..have to be purchased at a dealer only...my friend showed me the exhaust studs and strut bolts the other day..the threads look quite coarse and dont have much pitch to them..:dunno:...guess they want to disgust a lot of weekend backyard mechanics with this stupidity..

GT_80 · Nov 24, 2014

Tractor-Holic said:
Most of what I owned and fixed,scrapped,etc,was pre-metric vintage...so was the drawers full of hardware I bought years ago when a machine shop closed up..now I own vehicles that have a "mix" of both metric and uss/sae fasteners...makes fixing them a real joy,you need every tool in both metric and "normal"in order to work on them..

I have friends who run car repair shops that always have tons of old hardware from scrapped cars,leftovers from repairs,etc, that are metric,but I noticed most newer vehicles use tapped holes rather than nuts ,or welded on nuts,so I can scrounge all kinds of free bolts,but get very few nuts to go with them..

I usually go see them when I need a metric fastener,they have more than the hardware stores do that are further away...they often just toss a 5 gallon bucket of them in a junk car just to get rid of some every so often..

I try to pick out the "common" sizes,but always seem to end up being the wrong pitch thread or length when I go to use one of them..

It irks me to have to dump out a pile of hardware and paw thru it for an hour to find the one piece I need--have tried labeling the drawers and containers and separating the things by size,thread,etc,but they always get some other "wrong" thing mixed in with them..and the older you get,the poorer your vision gets,it sucks having to look through a million pieces to hopefully find one suitable for your purpose..

I would not hate metrics so much if the sizes and threads were not so close--like the fact 6mm and 8 mm are so close to 1/4" and 5/16" that its really easy to crank a metric bolt into an "american" hole and strip or fubar the threads and whatever the hole is drilled in..

Another disturbing trend is for some fasteners to now have "unique" threads,that can only be bought from certain sources--like the strut bolts and exhaust studs found on many Ford cars now--they are "Ford" thread,no other bolts or nuts will fit them!..have to be purchased at a dealer only...my friend showed me the exhaust studs and strut bolts the other day..the threads look quite coarse and dont have much pitch to them..:dunno:...guess they want to disgust a lot of weekend backyard mechanics with this stupidity..

I think after 84 or 86 GM started mixing bolts on their vehicles- ****** me off. My 2004 is mostly all metric, if not all metric.

Tractor-Holic · Nov 24, 2014

It actually started around 1978 I think--my '81 chevy van and '82 GMC both have a mix of SAE and Metric bolts,and when I worked in the junkyard,it sure was a pain pulling parts off GM's after 1978,when they started using both types of fasteners--and the ever frustrating "torx" bolts ,"tamper proof torx" and a few other "special" bolts requiring you to go invest in another 100 bucks worth of tools to remove them..

That's just one more reason I like old things better--simple vs complicated !..

el_simonito · Nov 24, 2014

Per the manual for the 917.253050, the top bolts are 1/2-13 x 1 1/4" hex bolts, with lock washers, whereas the bottom uses 7/16-14 x 1 1/4" with lock washers and nuts. I've also verified that these same bolts are used from 1966 models up through at least 1979. More years may also be covered, but I think that you're good to go with this information.

Bolt size for the drawbar plate?

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