Draw-Tite Trailer Class I Trailer Hitch for 1958-1960 Thunderbird

This is a trailer hitch made at the time that the 1958 to 1960 Thunderbirds were new. It resides on my 1960 Golde Top Thunderbird. The hitch is made by Draw-Tite, a company that is still in the business of making trailer hitches for nearly every popular vehicle that is on the road today. The hitch is marked "1958 1959 THUNDERBIRD." Based on this marking, which does not mention the 1960 Thunderbird yet, was probably put on the car by the dealer or the owner shortly after the car was delivered. The only modification to the car to install the hitch is a 1/2 inch hole that is drilled in the bottom of the middle of the bumper. Because of the rarity of this accessory, I have rechromed the hitch and will keep the hitch on the car.

Squarebirds are durable and hard-working cars. For pictures of some modern trailer hitches on some Squarebirds click here.

For quality Draw-Tite hitches and accessories for you vehicle visit Hitch Finder . They don't have ones for Squarebirds anymore but they have hitch for most common vehicles including some for trucks of the 1960's, such a 1963 Ford F-100 pickup.

The hitch has a 1 7/8 inch ball. The original shaft is 3/4 inch in diameter and 1 1/2 inch long. The thick rectangular block in the
middle of the hitch goes behind the drilled hole in the bumper to act as heavy duty washer to spread the load over a larger area of the bumper.

 

The holes on the long cross bar line up behind the stock bumper brackets. The hitch easily bolts on.
The holes on the smaller bottom cross bar are not used in the installation.

 

This a close-up of the writing on the trailer hitch. On the long cross bar it states "1958 1959 THUNDERBIRD."
On the short crossbar it reads "DRAW-TITE CO BELLEVILLE, MICH."

This the rechromed trailer hitch before it is installed on the car. Librandi's Plating did an excellent job of making this piece look like new again. I am using a new Draw-Tite ball on the hitch to save a few dollars on plating. The important thing is that the ball says, "Made in USA."

 

This is a view of the trailer hitch as it is installed on a 1960 Thunderbird Golde Top. The curve of the trailer hitch conforms exactly to the bumper.

Thanks to an e-mail contribution by MarcoVan Strien from Holland, it can be confirmed that the trailer hitch on this 1960 Thunderbird was probably put on when the car was new because it has a marking for "1958 - 1959 Thunderbird." Marco has found a trailer hitch of exactly the same style that has markings that reads "1958 - 59 - 60 Thunderbird."

This a view of his whole hitch:

Alexander Sosiak

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