It arrived yesterday, and I tried to install today:

The freakin' mounting holes are off by 1/16" to 1/8", and there's NO WAY to mount it without drilling to expand the size of the holes. Yeah, you can get the right-side bolts in, or the left-side bolts in--but not BOTH at the same time. Which of course is required to actually mount it.

Appearances to the contrary not withstanding, I'm not a TOTAL retard when to comes to matching up 4 bolts into 4 holes. A kindergarten kid can do it, and although the average kindergartner is smarter than me, I should still be able to do it as well.

Plus, in 50% of cases, I'm actually taller and stronger than those annoying and arrogant little bastards.

Putnam's tooling for this was AWFUL, but I'm the one who has to pay the price.

I'm pissed. Really, really, REALLY  pissed.

I'm feeling your pain!! 4 yrs ago I bought a hitch reciever for my Sidekick and the holes could not be more off. I actually took it back thinking it was the wrong one. They returned it, ordered another one, and guess what! Same thing. I opened up the holes and "bolted" it right on. After my body lift I just unbolted it and welded it directly to the frame!!! I don't know what vehicle they measured when tooling for the hitch, but it was not the right one.

I can see it now:

Turn drill on to enlarge holes, hitch spins, break ankle and femur.

LOL

I got THREE of the bolts in without drilling, and that's enough for now. I'll figure it out over the weekend. It's in there solid enough to hold the caro carrier.

And upon further inspection of the holes, it's a joke. They're round in the most general sense possible:

Looks like I MYSELF drilled them when drunk. With a dull bit. And didn't use oil to lubricate the bit.

Putnam Hitches--bad news.

Looks like I MYSELF drilled them when drunk. With a dull bit. And didn't use oil to lubricate the bit.

Putnam Hitches--bad news.

My solution - forget Putman and build your own.  At least the holes would line up and resemble a circle, drunk or not.  Here is what I came up with (no beer was harmed or consumed in the production of this trailer hitch )...

http://www.zukiworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=18634.msg158822#msg158822

That looks great! But if I tried to use a welder, I guarantee you I would wind up burning down all of South Florida.

Try putting all bolts  in real loose first, then go from there.  If the bolts are long enuff, you should have enuff wiggle room to start the threads, once all are started crank each down a bit until its tight.

HTH,

Trailer hitch steel is pretty soft, and hitches often (if not usually) get bent a little out of spec in shipping.  Usually a couple whacks with a stout hammer will help tweak the fitting prior to bolting it on.

Trailer hitch steel is pretty soft, and hitches often (if not usually) get bent a little out of spec in shipping.  Usually a couple whacks with a stout hammer will help tweak the fitting prior to bolting it on.

That steel might be soft, but the guy who drilled those holes had to be STONED.

And an update:

I picked up the cargo carrier yesterday, and a 20" by 60" carrier on the back of this vehicle looks RIDICULOUS. Also, since the "stock" receiver for our vehicles is 1 1/4", I had to get an adapter to 2" to accept most hitch accessories. So anyone thinking about getting this adapter, be aware that you can order it online at Pep Boys and elsewhere, but the Pep Boy stores don't carry it. (They'll special order it for you though--21 bucks.) But I got lucky and found the last one on the shelf at NAPA for $25.

Finally, the cargo carrier I got (Harbor Fright, just 39 bucks), sticks out way too far back, especially because of that additional  2" receiver adapter. So you have to cut the carrier's insert piece and drill new hitch pin holes to bring it in tighter to the rear of the vehicle.

That's tomorrow's job, and I just can't wait.