Installing a 98 Windstar Hitch

[markdude]

I bought a hitch for my 98 Windstar and have a question with installing it. The hitch I have is the first one on this link...

http://www.acar4hitches.com/acar4hit...%20Hitches.pdf

My question is, I can get the bolts into the mount holes in the van, but there is no way I can fit the nut onto the bolt on the other side of the hole. Its hard to describe, so I hope you pro's can figure out what I mean.

Thanks again.

[PteHoward]

Nope I think I know what your getting at. There are holes drilled into the bottom of the windstars frame, but because the body sits flush on the top, you wouldnt be able to get at it, unless you drilled a hole through and acessed it through the inside of the van. However I think Reese (Draw-tite) Manufauctres a good hitch for less overall cost then this that s custom tailored to the windstar.

[OldFaithful]

I installed a Ford hitch on my 2000 Windstar and two of those bolts had to be installed by: threading them on to a small gauge wire spring that was wound on one end for those threads and then the wire was straight for maybe 8 inches long. You fished the wire into the frame and into the mounting hole and pulled the bolt into that hole from the back side leaving the threads exposed to use the nut on and leaving the head of the bolt inside the frame. I think that you could use a stiff .032" or less wire to make one of these things pretty easily.

I hope this helps.

Jim

[road_rascal]

I did the same thing on my '01 the way OldFaithful described. It's kind of a pain, but I saved a ton of $$$ by buying a new hitch off of ebay and installing it myself.

[bgriek]

Hey markdude,
Don't buy a multifit hitch. A hitch designed for a windstar will fit much better. It will come with all of the hardware and bolts to do it right. Price should be about the same. The hardware is four rectangular plates that are 1/4 inch thick. They have a square hole in the middle for a high quality carriage bolt to fit in. The plates and bolts go inside inside the frame. The plates keep the carriage bolt from turning when it is being tightened. I was able to get that fishing wire from uhaul make it easy to get the bolts inside the frame.

Brian

[markdude]

Originally Posted by OldFaithful

I installed a Ford hitch on my 2000 Windstar and two of those bolts had to be installed by: threading them on to a small gauge wire spring that was wound on one end for those threads and then the wire was straight for maybe 8 inches long. You fished the wire into the frame and into the mounting hole and pulled the bolt into that hole from the back side leaving the threads exposed to use the nut on and leaving the head of the bolt inside the frame. I think that you could use a stiff .032" or less wire to make one of these things pretty easily.

I hope this helps.

Jim

well i got the hitch installed and it was very very easy. i had a friend who worked at the local salvage and he was able to pull of a few clips that have a nut already welded on, so i just put the clip into the frame at a hole about 2' from the back of the van and dragged it through to the hole where i bolted the hitch on there.

i was just wondering, would there be a market for these type of clips? because it sure was easy with them.