P500 Moose 2” Install

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John Mc

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Has anyone installed this hitch on a 2022 P520?
If so, did you have to make any modifications?
 
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futzin

futzin

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I put one on a 2021. Straight bolt on, though some have reported having to drill out a hole or two a bit larger. I struggled with the install on my 2018 P500.

20221118 084121
20221114 095749
 
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Tom_C

Tom_C

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I did not have any issues with the Moose hitch hitting the gear box on my 2015 P500. I did have to open up the holes in the hitch to get all of the bolts to go through. I do need to trim some of the back of my Curt D Ring shackle since it does hit the gear box and prevents me from having the d ring parallel to the ground plunger I can't get the hitch pin either. The Curt works fine if I turn it 90 degrees though.

I have a 2015, too. It came with a moose hitch, but now I need to check for the space between it and the gearbox. I've had it on and off a few times and didn't notice a problem, but wasn't looking for it, and the prior owner may have already remedied it.
 
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John Mc

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Just heard back from Moose. They confirmed that their part # 4504-0146 will fit a 2022 P520.
 
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John Mc

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My wife gave me the Moose 2" receiver hitch for Christmas. I finally got around to installing it today. Straightforward installation except for 2 things:

As others have mentioned, there was a little fin sticking off the back of the gearbox housing that hit the forward edge of the receiver tube. I had to give it a slight touch with the grinder to get things to fit.

IMG 3884



I also found that the two upper mounting holes on the hitch assembly were drilled too close together. They probably needed to be just under 1/8" further apart in order to just barely be able to get the bolts through. A few minutes with a carbide burr bit in a cordless drill and I slotted the holes in the frame inward a bit, and took the holes in the hitch outward a bit, and it bolted up fine.

The lower two holes were snug, but I was able to get the bolts in without modification. My recollection is that these lower hitch holes were also just a hair too close together, but I did not pay a lot of attention to that, since they went in.

IMG 3885
 
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GreatNorth

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Yes, we put the Moose 2" on our 2021 P520 a while back and didn't have to mod anything. I'm pretty sure there was no interference, though I'll doublecheck that it doesn't touch rear final drive when reassembling after rear pinion and prop shaft replacement. I wonder if there's some variance between final drive casings, Moose receivers, or maybe the spacers that cause interference in some cases. This receiver feels much more solid and it's at a nice height while stock receiver is really low.
 
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John Mc

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Yes, we put the Moose 2" on our 2021 P520 a while back and didn't have to mod anything. I'm pretty sure there was no interference, though I'll doublecheck that it doesn't touch rear final drive when reassembling after rear pinion and prop shaft replacement. I wonder if there's some variance between final drive casings, Moose receivers, or maybe the spacers that cause interference in some cases. This receiver feels much more solid and it's at a nice height while stock receiver is really low.
I'm happy with the receiver despite the need for modifications. It seems very solid. I am going to disassemble it again today put a bit of paint in the areas I ground just to provide a bit of protection.

I'd be curious when you go to put yours back together: If the bolt hole spacing leaves the bolts centered in all of the holes, or if you are using up all of the slack in one direction or another. If your upper hitch bolts are just a shade to close together, but the slop allows them to fit, perhaps they could make everyone happy by just increasing the space between the upper holes just a hair.
 
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GreatNorth

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I remember it being a little bit of a challenge lining up all the bolts in receiver on initial assembly. For this job, we left all the bolts in the P520 and only took the receiver off of them. When we put the receiver back on, the tolerances were tight, but the receiver holes slipped over the bolts easily when lined up. @John Mc, I got mixed up on what you were looking for and took pictures of receiver to final drive clearance instead. However, I believe the upper holes in receiver are a bit close together, as I recall pushing receiver towards right side to get it over the right-side bolts after slipping it over left side bolts.

In case they're of interest to anyone, here's what the unmodified rear final drive to Moose receiver clearance looks like on a 2021 P520 with final drive pushed back as far as mounting bolts allow. Here's a closeup from left side:
1708836043771

From above:
1708836556124

From left side again, showing spacers that came with receiver--you can see the close clearance through one of the frame holes:
1708836623774

And from right side, above, with rear final drive oil fill cap showing:
1708836671506

The final drive to Moose receiver clearance is tight, but enough. There's also no sign of past contact where they are closest together, though there are plenty of miles on the receiver, including a fair bit of towing.
 
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