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4.88 Gears and Draw-Tite 41930 Class V Hitch

Auto Parts Guy

Full Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2021
Messages
413
Location
Greenville, SC
I'm back with more questions, more like opinions or assurance that I'm buying the right stuff. I'm looking to set up my Avalanche to be the best overall tow rig it can be for what it is.

Gearing:
I plan to regear my 3.73 axles to 4.88. I have an appointment on Monday the 10th with a local gear shop. I'm getting an Eaton Truetrac Locker installed to replace the G80 factory carrier at the same time. I plan to always run a 35" tire, but could range in the 33-37" range depending on how life changes. This will be the first automotive 'repair' that I haven't done myself in probably 15 years or more.. Something between a 4.10 and 4.56 puts me closer to stock, 4.88 gives me a little extra. That's my logic anyway. Thoughts? Would you recommend something different or additional while I'm doing this? MPG? Mehhh.. who cares with 8.1L of displacement.

Hitch:
Looks like the consensus is the Reese 45013 or the Draw-Tite 45515 or 41930 is the one to go with. I'll probably use the Class V with the 2" receiver, so the 41930. Truth is, I'll probably rarely tow over 6k pounds much less 10k. But i want the assurance and ability to safely hook to a trailer with a skid steer or mini ex or dump trailer. This truck will double as a family camping vehicle to pull a small camper 19-22' that i don't yet own. Question is, besides the 7-way plug, is this Draw-Tite 41930 a direct bolt on for the 2500 Avalanche, specifically 2004 model? No issue with the evap canister? Does my logic make sense or would you go with something else? All of my mating recievers are 2" so I didnt really want to run the adapter unless there is good reason to install the 2.5" class V. I will also buy a nice anti-sway system. Any tips or pics of your hitch installed? Any pics of your 7-way in the bumper? Sounds like a cool mod.

Air Springs:
This may come at a later date, but looks like many are happy with the firestone bag setup.

Brake Controller:
I have a Reese and Hopkins, so those are cheap enough to replace later if I don't like them.
 
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So I dropped off my truck to be regeared and factory carrier replaced with the locker today. They are super busy, hope to have it done by end of the week though.

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RPMs with stock (3.73) gearing @ 60 in 1:1 with 35x12.50s
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My hitch also came in today.
Can't believed they shipped it like this. Maybe it just came out of the box, hopefully all the hardware is there...
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So I dropped off my truck to be regeared and factory carrier replaced with the locker today. They are super busy, hope to have it done by end of the week though.

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RPMs with stock (3.73) gearing @ 60 in 1:1 with 35x12.50s
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My hitch also came in today.
Can't believed they shipped it like this. Maybe it just came out of the box, hopefully all the hardware is there...
View attachment 233780

I have the same hitch on my 1500. It's a beast of a hitch but their shipping is the worst. Mine came in a "box" but the hitch still looked like yours, only difference was the box with parts of the hitch poking through, no packing, wrapping, nothing. The hardware was in the receiver end like yours looks to be.

I touched mine up at each chipped spot with some RustOleum rust inhibitor and then a shot of RO gloss black.

BTW, I had to make some spacers out of scrap aluminum for the forward mounting tabs. I have a feeling that you may need to as well, the ones the hitch come with were about 1/2" too thin. It seems that some trucks need more, some need less.
 
I guess for the price, it is what it is, it was $164 shipped. I'll do the same touch up like you did once i get it installed. I'm surprised they ship that way and FedEx doesn't say anything. But glad it's here, hopefully it's not too bent.

Are the spacers to sort of level out the hitch on the frame? I should be able to come up with something.
 
I bought a set of tires from Tire Rack.

They came in their birthday suits.
 
Mine also came in a box with zero packaging. It had a few scratches on it and since I had to remove the welded-on wiring jack to clear the rear bumper cover, I went ahead and sanded/painted the whole thing...

I didn't have to use any spacers, everything lined up perfectly...
 
Got my truck back from the shop yesterday with the new 4.88 gears and locker. It's perfect to me, feels like it should, RPMs arent too high. Still in break in phase though. But be warned that the ABS light and Brake light will come on after about 5-10 mins of driving because of the wheel speed sensors reading differently from the VSS. Speedometer reads about 30% too fast right now. So I'm thinking it's time for a Diablosport tune, maybe get a few horses and correct the speedometer and gears at the same time. 👹
Unless someone knows of a better option?

My dad is visiting us this weekend so I may see if we can get the new hitch installed. An extra hand is probably not a bad idea. We're supposed to get some snow tonight and tomorrow (Greenville, SC area) so we'll see how it goes.
 
I guess for the price, it is what it is, it was $164 shipped. I'll do the same touch up like you did once i get it installed. I'm surprised they ship that way and FedEx doesn't say anything. But glad it's here, hopefully it's not too bent.

Are the spacers to sort of level out the hitch on the frame? I should be able to come up with something.

Yes, at the forward (the long end) holes closer to the axle, not the two rear holes. You may not need on a 2500, mine is on a 1500.

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I actually ordered two hitches because the first one was so chipped up. The second one was worse, not only chipped but bent! It's unbelievable that they ship that way. For the price it can't be beat it is solid and a great design with the long legs. I couldn't get past the short mounting on factory and other brands, does not make any sense to me to have all that load in one area on a formed frame that is known to bend.
 
So short update after some miles on the new gears. Still perfect a perfect set up to me. Drives nice, like stock or better. Holds OD torque converter locked easily up grades where my other vehicles downshift or unlock. 4.88s and 35s are a nice combo. Could easily do 37s and could get by with 40s but plenty of power with this setup.

Couple notes: you will most likely need to recalibrate the speedometer and for the new gears. ABS and Brake lights will come on after a few miles. Like i mentioned before, my spedometer was off about 30% or more. Said I was doing 70mph, but really like 50 or something like that.

This is the speedometer corrected within a couple mph. Still a tad high according to GPS.
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I used a Diablosport i3 intune tuner to correct it. I tried the 87 octane tune but the transmission shifts way too hard so I removed it and just adjusted for gears and tires for now. Just braking in the gears putting some miles on her for the time being. Cruising at 70-72mph on the interstate my RPMs are around 2800 in OD. Pretty much what i calculated. Maybe I'll get a video of it sometime soon if anyone is interested.

Here's the break-in procedure they gave me, I'm only about 250 miles in so far.
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I finally go around to installing the new hitch. I did it by myself, not all that bad, maybe 2.5hrs taking my time. I really like the fact that it extends about 18" forward, way better than the OEM hitch. I can't believe they put that dinky dink hitch in there from factory.

A few notes: I have aftermarket exhaust (which needs to be replaced actually) but even it was in the way so I'm sure factory exhaust would be too. The evap canister was a little difficult to work around but the hitch can be installed without removing it.

The shank of the factory hitch bolts are 10mm and the head and nut is 21mm so you can put a wrench on the nut and tighten the 10mm shank of the bolt to remove it without needing access to the bolt head on the evap side.

You'll need to do something with the 7-way connector. I still need to do mine, I'll probably cut the old one off and weld it to the new hitch. I wanted to get some ideas of what others have done first. *edit* Glad I searched around at what others have done, looks like a very nice easy and old mod, to mount the 7-way to the left of the license plate. Duh! Perfect spot for it! I'll update when completed.

I already had holes where the front bolts go, just had to drill them bigger (to 1/2").

The rear of the hitch on both sides does hang slightly below the plastic bumper, but it's not that noticeable.

I didn't need any spacers between the frame and hitch. I used the large ones inside the frame channel to hold the carriage bolts they supplied.

I used a couple jack stands to help support the hitch while I removed the old and bolted the new one in. Everything lined up nicely! No need to remove anything else but the wiring to R&R (and exhaust depending on your setup). I don't have great pics but you get the idea.

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I put same hitch on my 2003 1500 Z71. It's amazing the difference over the factory hitch in every way, especially the length on frame, that was the primary reason I purchased, I could not get over the idea of all the trailer weight torquing on a few inches of the frame (which many have bent).

On my install, the factory exhaust was in the way "a bit", all I did was use a ratcheting strap around the exhaust and frame to pull it over just enough to clear access to the spot needed to drill and mount the forward bolt. No evap canister in back so that was not an issue. I did need the spacers and some extras I made in the front.

I used this Hopkins plug (which is the same as factory on all the new trucks), works great. It is a little big to properly mount in the bumper on the side of the license plate but can probably be done on an angle (so it will sit flat). What I did (not sure I can explain clearly), since I did not want it hanging down in plain sight messing up the beauty of the hitch, is mount it to the backside of the hitch (towards spare tire) just to the driver's side of the receiver with the included bracket just above flush of the bottom, so the plug "covers" face down. You can't see the plug at all and the factory harness reaches without issue. I'll post a picture when I remember!

May be cheaper Amazon, don't remember where I purchased, but here is a description:

 
Thanks! The hitch is a beast!
I'm thinking to maybe use the Pollak 11893 part and drill the 2" hole next to the license plate. I saw a very old thread about it and and there's plenty of room there, just have to cut the bumper. I have the 7-way to 4-way adapter, but would be nice to have both trailer plugs there. I see what you're saying on your mount, basically on the backside of the hitch. That would work too.

I forgot to mention earlier that the new hitch does raise the height a couple inches compared to the factory hitch. Not a problem but just a note that you may need a different drop receiver.
 
Thanks! The hitch is a beast!
I'm thinking to maybe use the Pollak 11893 part and drill the 2" hole next to the license plate. I saw a very old thread about it and and there's plenty of room there, just have to cut the bumper. I have the 7-way to 4-way adapter, but would be nice to have both trailer plugs there. I see what you're saying on your mount, basically on the backside of the hitch. That would work too.

I forgot to mention earlier that the new hitch does raise the height a couple inches compared to the factory hitch. Not a problem but just a note that you may need a different drop receiver.

I almost got the single 7 way Pollak (which makes the Hopkins) but couldn't get over the four bolt heads showing (OCD issues!). I really liked the idea of the old 4 way built in. If I do buy another, I very well may go with the smaller so I can mount in the bumper, either way you can't go wrong.

I wounder how LEO would take to mounting the adapter in the middle of the license plate...I came close to doing :)
 
Got the 7-way finished up. I used the Pollak 11-893P, connects to the factory plug no problem. 2" hole saw through the bumper and pilot holes for the 4 mounting points. I had some black screws laying around so it worked well.
Just needs a good cleaning now, and maybe I'll trim that plastic part of the bumper by the hitch so it looks symmetrical..

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Looking good, definitely like the black screws. Now you need a quart of $10 Penetrol, wipe on the cladding and you're all set (will do the entire cladding and bed covers at least four times and will last over 1 year each time, you just wipe it on and done).

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Is this the right stuff?

View attachment 234178

No, that is the water-based latex mix, I'm not sure if it'll work as well. The stuff I use is made for the oil based and has similar base ingredients as that $30 Restorer stuff.


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Is this the right stuff?

View attachment 234178


By the way, it looks like Amazon is a rip off for the stuff. Home Depot and Lowe's both have it (the oil based) for $10 a quart.
 
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