Ok so i bought a factory hitch that was supposed to be off an 04 (new body) mine is a new body style 04. i took the bumper off and unbolted the inner frame part and went to bolt in the new hitch and it looks a lot different. Can someone please help me and tell me if the hitch in the picture is in fact for my truck?

 

Looks like a bigger weight class hitch than what you had...it should bolt up...have you tried yet ??

 

Looks like the lower one is a mild class 3 with maybe a 500 pound tongue weight (not towing weight), and the upper is a better class 3 with up to 1200 pounds tongue weight. See this link for more info:

http://www.trailerhitches.com/towingglossaryarticle.cfm

The new/used one is a better eplacement then the one you had, as it provides a better tongue weight capacity, plus puts you into the catagory of using recievers; different height ball mounts, ball sizes, and the ability t remove the ball mounts when not towing.

 

I have come to the conclusion that its just the wrong hitch. I did try to mount it but the problem is (circled in red) that the end brackets dont look anything alike and the new one doesnt fit in the bumper cover. The smaller one (lower one in the pic) is the one that came off the truck.
also does anyone know what the brackets are for that are circled in white?

 

there was MAJOR changes in early-mid 05. it looks like what you got was a 05+ hitch and not an 04-early 05.

 

^ gotcha. thanks for the info.

the worst part is i sand blasted the rust, primed it and undercoated it. never thought to check to make sure it was correct. at least they'll take it back, hopefully give me a little discount for the paint but i doubt it.

 

take a REAL CLOSE look at it and see if you can find any numbers stamped anywhere on the hitch. if you find them, post them up and I can tell you for sure what exactly its supposed to fit.

 

I already swapped it out with a new one but I still have no idea what those bracket things are for circled in white. They gotta be for some brackets but they couldnt find them. There gonna look more tomorrow but can anyone take a pic of there hitch that is mounted?

 

Yes they are for the side plates/brackets my 05 has them, they werent on truck when i bought it but found them at u-pull it, they run to the side of frame rails, if needed i'll take pictures of mine tomorrow

 

So they just bolt on the hitch and bolt to the frame? Do you know if 04's had them?