How To: Trailer Hitch on Tahoe PPV

[ccapehartusarmyINF.(ret)]

okay am i mistaken i coulda swore that the built in trailer hitch was standerd on police tahoes

 

[ccapehartusarmyINF.(ret)]

i considered buying a PPV once but the one i looked at didnt have police lights or anything it just had like these solor panels still on top and holes in the roof were all the police equipment and antennas were mounted and that center console for the equipment

 

[CrashTestDummy]

Do you have any pictures of your console?
Mine came console free as well and have been debating on what to do, for a long time, haha.

If this was directed at me, I looked and no, I don't. I even looked up the old ad and there are no pictures there, either. It's just a factory NNBS Tahoe console, so nothing special. While they aren't cheap, it's probably a lot cheaper than the Jotto desks (at least the ones I've seen/priced out). IIRC, we paid $400 for ours, and it was a new take-out, so was mostly unused. They do pop up on occasion, so keep looking around. I did a quick ebay search and found one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/07-14-SILVE...ash=item2ca2bfeb67:g:dHUAAOSwDFNWEv1L&vxp=mtr

 

[Gabe Tapia]

The install is very easy and straight forward. Toughest part like I said are the 10 bolts they are threaded in with some sort of sealer. My advice is to use air tools. They aren't super tight. They just don't free up after broken loose. So it's a chore to get them all the way out by hand. Anyways, there are two tiny screws in each fender well and one push in clip which you remove with a flathead screwdriver. Open the rear hatch and there are 4 more tiny bolts and two push in clips. The clips are snug. One came out, one broke. Two more bolts holding bumper to support. Then the 10 biggies underneath. The bumper just pops out of place. I dropped the spare to give me more space. Tool kit is in the rear driver side panel in the back. Any questions let me know. There are no hidden bolts or anything. Every bolt screw or clip is easily visible. Slide the one out, slide the new one in. You need to transfer the spare tire tube over and also the two bolt clips to the new rebar. You need to buy the receptacle if you didn't already. It just rotates into the new rebar and the wires just plug right into the receptacle. The wires have an inserted plug for protection while not being used to keep dirt out. That needs to come out obviously. I'll post a few pics of the finished product.

---------- Post added at 01:42 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:37 AM ----------

I just wanted to say thank you for putting up this post. I have a 2008 Chevy Tahoe PPV and came to the same problem you had. I ended up finding reinforcement bar with a tow receiver. I followed your forum and swapped out the old bar with the new one with the hitch! It was some work getting off the 10 heavy duty bolts with no air tools but got it done. Now we can tow! Question for you, when you tow your trailer and race car, how does the engine and tranny hold up? I know these PPV's don't have the tow haul button. How about the brake sensor? Will that need to be aftermarket? Can't thank you enough, I had been looking at the aftermarket hitches too but looked cheap and like crap.

I'll attach some pictures

-Gabe

That, and on a PPV, it would drag the ground just about everywhere!

Nice work. Our '10 came with one, so we were covered there. I haven't looked for the controller wiring yet, but probably should, since the Tahoe will be our backup tow vehicle should our 2500HD have issues. Exactly where was the wiring stashed?

I'll probably test hooking the race car up next time we need to pull it off the trailer. We got a short offset hitch when we got our 96 SS, so I'm set there. I'll probably need to get another controller.

Black is a very slimming color! Nice looking truck.

 

[iLikeEggs]

Excellent post! Nice truck! Looks exactly like my SSV when I got it. I've since replaced the YUUUGE cop push bar in front with a slightly smaller but no less obnoxious Go Industries Quad bumper. Also I just got some stock Tahoe rims from a 2014 off craigslist. I pulled the spotlight too.
I kind of got tired of having traffic following me like a parade. Lol.
Great work on the hitch! Adding one to the PPV's has been on the wish list for everyone here for a while. While the Curt will do, like you say it looks like crap. Thanks for blazing the trail with your project.

 

[aggmeister2010]

Question for you, when you tow your trailer and race car, how does the engine and tranny hold up? I know these PPV's don't have the tow haul button. How about the brake sensor? Will that need to be aftermarket?

I tow our department's antique show vehicle on an 18 foot trailer to PR events every once in a while, and it does just fine. Transmission temperatures never break 200, even in Texas summers.

You'll need a brake controller. I bought this one:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000P17NXQ/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And love it. It's a progressive controller, so it applies braking force linearly with you pushing on the brake pedal. The cheap $20 controllers apply the same amount of braking force no matter how hard you press on the brake, and can be unpleasant in traffic. They have a youtube video that goes through every step of the installation...and you can do it yourself in about 30 minutes.

 

[04BUCKET]

Need some help...

I bought a gear lever with tow button. Pulled lower panel to plug in harness and I don't see the plug for it. Can some one take a pic of wire colors on harness for me?

Also, I thought tow button also synched brakes to trailer? Electronic aftermarket one is needed?

 

[04BUCKET]

Thanks for help...resolved.

 

[Blackdrag450r]

Haha I just finished my hitch tonight. Sealant? It’s called loctite and mine gave me some trouble even with a big impact. One of the weld nuts broke loose! I thought about hacking the bolt head off but said F that. I drilled a huge hole in the top of my ppv rebar to gain access to the nut with a wrench. Turns out it isn’t a actual nut at all. Just a weld nut with square corners so the nut spun and stripped! Still determined I heated the nut up with a torch to break up the loctite and managed to get a needle nose vise grip in there. Worked like a charm. First time in a long time I laughed out loud while wrenching and shouted “I win!” Anyone having issues with the loctite give it some heat. I used a tiny bernzomatic torch and it still helped.
Hardest part of this project is shelling out the money for the hitch itself!

 

[992dr]

Blackdrag,
My install went well and pretty smooth. I don't remember having any issues with Loctite. I used my electric impact.
How much was your rebar? Mine was $225 shipped.