Trailer Towing Hitch Brackets?

[Chatt69chgr]

My 69 charger had, at one time, a trailer hitch.  There are two thick steel brackets attached to the rear of each frame rail now and no other parts that might have comprised the trailer towing hitch.  Are these steel brackets on all Chargers?  The bolts that hold them on go into each frame rail and the tailpanel assembly and screw into clips with captivated nuts.  Are these OEM pieces or something that comprised part of a trailer towing package?  If OEM, what color should they be? 

[A383Wing]

are you sure these are not the tie down brackets for shipping? Both my 66 Chargers have these brackets at the rear under the bumper.

Pics would be a plus here

[doctor4766]

Yeah my Charger had them with the tow bar attached.
We cut the tow bar off since it looked pretty ugly.
I still have the brackets that you speak of but I've never bothered reinstalling them since I no longer have the bar

[Charger-Bodie]

Aer you sure your not talking about the jack plates aka tailpipe hanger bracket?

[doctor4766]

Who, me or Chatt69chgr?

[Charger-Bodie]

Who, me or Chatt69chgr?

Chatt69chgr. Sorry.

[doctor4766]

Ok, I'm referring to the same type of ones in this post but my tow bar was definately welded to them before we discarded the bar.
http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,58640.0.html

[Charger-Bodie]

Yes, those belong there and are also the same ones I think we are both refering to.

[Chatt69chgr]

That picture is exactly what my two brackets look like.  Mine were heavily rusted.  I'm cleaning them up and want to repaint.  What color were they?  Black?  Natural Steel?

[hemigeno]

That picture is exactly what my two brackets look like.  Mine were heavily rusted.  I'm cleaning them up and want to repaint.  What color were they?  Black?  Natural Steel?

If it's for a '69, they were natural/bare steel - which helps explain why nearly every used pair are heavily rusted just like yours.  If '70, they were painted the usual semi-gloss black and tended to fare a little better in the rust department. 

I'm guessing '68 would be bare too, but I think it was a slightly different shaped part than '69-70.

[Chatt69chgr]

Thanks Hemigeno.  I'll paint them with something like Eastwood Cast Blast.  I tried cleaning them with Oxalic Acid.  Not too pleased with how that worked.  Left a chemical encrustation that was hard to get off with a 4 inch wire wheel on drill motor.  Once I restored a railroad lantern.  It was rusted all over.  I immersed it in a 5 gallon plastic pail filled with water and about 1/2 a can of saniflush.  Let it sit for a week and the rust all turned to what seemed like mud.  Came off real easy after I rinsed it off.  Didn't appear to etch the base metal at all.  I've also heard about a method using electrolysis.  Use same plastic pail and fill with water and some Arm and Hammer washing soda (sodium carbonate) for electrolyte.  Connect neg. lead from battery charger to rusted object.  Connect positive lead to piece of sacrifical iron (not stainless).  Supposed to take 8-12 hours or so.  Might try this method out on the next rusted piece.