Front Hitch Anyone? Let's Install One on the 1996 Ford F250! We Have Some Camping to Do!

Hi there!
Today I decided to go ahead and put that front Reese hitch on Old Faithful that I've been talking about doing for a while now, and boy am I glad I did!
I wanted it to be permanent and mostly hidden, so I chose to weld it to the frame rails in the open space in front of the lower radiator supports and behind the bumper, where I could still use the air dam, and still have access to everything without interference. I was going to plate the sides and bolt it in, but I decided to weld it. Depending on what you're doing on your fabrication, you may want to utilize the existing frame holes and fab up plates that can bolt in, just in case you want to easily transfer your hitch from one similar body style to another.
I used a Curtis 2" drop hitch from Amazon, and repurposed a Reese hitch I happened to still have...good thing I did!
The not so amazing welds you see in the video of the 2x2 against the frame rails I guess were from where I didn't clean the frame rails good enough, and I also did fill in two holes, but there was plenty of penetration and very little outgassing during solidification. Note: Be very careful when welding on a vehicle, as some electronics are very delicate and can easily be damaged. I would suggest leaving the battery connected as it acts as a kind of signal buffer in a way a capacitor acts like a filter, and make sure you have a very good ground close to where you're welding to keep transient spikes as low and contained as possible. I then used some tried and tested Rustoleum I had leftover from a different project after abrasive cloth and wire brushing, then a bit of brake clean on the surfaces.
Because of a little bump in the history of the truck, the bumper is a little difficult to realign when reinstalling, but it's pretty darn close.
I've used it several times now with great success and just love having the extra storage.
If you decide to make one for your rig, just remember safety first, and take your time to do it right once. You can do it!
Thanks for watching, and Good Luck!!