How hard is it to install a tow hitch

I am trying to install a tow hitch onto my 2000 chevy astro. What tools do I need and how hard is it. I just can't find a shop to do the work for me. They claim it is due to insurance purposes. Or should I just pay uhaul $250 for the hitch installed and try to sell my other one. Thanks for any help.

chuy22:banghead:

Mine was quite easy. I had to use a floor jack to hold it up in place. No special tools were needed for mine. Just a set of metric sockets and a ratchet.

An extra set of hands or preferably two, would have helped alot. That hitch was heavy!

I bought a hitch for $110 (if i remember right). It uses the same bolts as the bumper. plus I drilled and taped a couple more.
I think i sprayed the bolts the day before, and i think I removed the spare tyre to give me more to look around. A jack would be handy, I think I used wooden blocks,so the bumper didn't teeter when it was unbolted, but no big deal. The hitch is heavy, watch your fingers. and wear safety glasses, a lot of crud fell on me.
Also, have you found the trailer wires? I found mine in the area that holds the jack, stuffed very high up in there, taped into a bundle. Mine were the standard colors.
Not a hard job.

I paid UHaul to do mine. If I remember right they said they drilled some holes.

Looks easy--but it is not. I installed a class 3 Reese on my 97 and I had to work these big-ass metal plates between the bolt and the nut for added strength--and the metal was a bitch to drill. If you can, take it to a local.

A class 2 hitch reciever style from Reese or Drawtite specified for the Astro's is easy. You just have to take some of the bumper bracket bolts out and hold the hitch in place with a floor jack and put bolts back in. No drilling required. I have not installed a class 3? The receiver on the Resse is tighter and quieter down the road but harder to get out. The Drawtite is looser to get out but a little noisier down the road. I prefer the Drawtite.