D-rings on stock rear bumper

[Bjohnston115]

I bought a couple of d-rings from Harbor freight for 5 bucks each and decided to mount them on the back of my bumper. They are rated at 10,000lbs each and look pretty cool. I have my pintle for towing so i would probably only use these for safety chains or tiedown points.

i made a plate for the back of the hook. It is made of 1/4inch thick steel. 1.5x3.5 inches. Couldn't find grade 8 carriage bolts local so i will look further for them. As i said, its more of the look. I plan on repainting the metal part black once the weather warms up again. I primed the exposed parts just to get me through the winter.

Total cost of this mod... Less than $15.

 

[woytovich]

Safety first (or at least second). I would be reluctant to use this for recovery points... but you already said that.

 

[Trapper50cal]

I would be reluctant to use any of that...for more than towing a lawnmower. just saying...It doesn't really matter what the items you mounted are rated at, it's more a matter of what they are mounted TO.

 

[skintunes]

That pintle will also haul a 7,000 pound BobCat - .....but not with that bumper.......

 

[kidglove13]

That has fail written all over it

 

[tpham32]

It looks great, but I would stick to your tow hitch for any towing

 

[Ebag333]

You say that there's 1/4" plate on the back side. Is it through the cross member? Any shots of how you did that?

I wouldn't trust those with any significant amount of weight. If you were towing a 500 lb trailer, safety chains, and that's about it. The problem is less of the amount of weight it can handle (I'd be willing to bet that it could handle a recovery situation even, if you went through the cross member) and the fact that it was never designed to have force applied on the cross member from that particular spot. My guess is any sort of decent amount of force, and you'll bend your cross member and frame horns. It will likely hold, but the entire back end of your frame will be jacked up.

Why wouldn't you just use the OEM loops that mount in a place designed for towing and recovery?

 

[Polar Bear]

I welded some trailgear D rings on my stock rear bumper for emergency recovery points and have had to use it a few times. This last summer I pulled a toyota PU off the edge of a cliff when his driveshaft yoke pulled out on a steep hillclimb and he rolled downhill uncontrolled. That took a few pretty good yanks using only a chain going up a pretty gnarly exposure. No frame distortion, cracks, or end of the world failures.

That being said, I'm not about to enter in a sled pull competition using this makeshift solution, as it's not utilizing the crossmember for the designed loads...

 

[Bjohnston115]

You say that there's 1/4" plate on the back side. Is it through the cross member? Any shots of how you did that?

I wouldn't trust those with any significant amount of weight. If you were towing a 500 lb trailer, safety chains, and that's about it. The problem is less of the amount of weight it can handle (I'd be willing to bet that it could handle a recovery situation even, if you went through the cross member) and the fact that it was never designed to have force applied on the cross member from that particular spot. My guess is any sort of decent amount of force, and you'll bend your cross member and frame horns. It will likely hold, but the entire back end of your frame will be jacked up.

Why wouldn't you just use the OEM loops that mount in a place designed for towing and recovery?

I can get shots of it next time i go under the truck. I didn't use oem loops designed for towing because i wasn't putting these on there to tow. Heres why they are there...

1. Looks
2. looks
2. Possible emergency recovery point.

 

[kidglove13]

So they are basically for poser mall cruising

 

[bmwjnky]

I'm new to cruisers so I'm sorry if this has been covered but why is everyone so afraid to use the pintle hook in the stock bumper if thats what the rest of the world used there on the 80 series? I wouldn't be trying to get a D9 out of the mud with it but helping someone out of the snow or some help on the trail seems like it should be fine to me.

 

[Bjohnston115]

I'm new to cruisers so I'm sorry if this has been covered but why is everyone so afraid to use the pintle hook in the stock bumper if thats what the rest of the world used there on the 80 series? I wouldn't be trying to get a D9 out of the mud with it but helping someone out of the snow or some help on the trail seems like it should be fine to me.

It will work perfectly fine. I wish i could find out what alloy steel the cross-member is made of so i can calculate how much it can handle and put an end to all of these debates once and for all.

 

[brian]

that crossmember is made of tinfoil. it is little more than 10ga steel. i doubt seriously that it would take much weight to pull into the shape of a "V".

 

[SUMMIT CRUISERS]

For what they are, I like. These would work well with my M416 trailer I haul around with the pintle. Currently using the factory chain hook location under the bumper.

 

[Ebag333]

I'm new to cruisers so I'm sorry if this has been covered but why is everyone so afraid to use the pintle hook in the stock bumper if thats what the rest of the world used there on the 80 series? I wouldn't be trying to get a D9 out of the mud with it but helping someone out of the snow or some help on the trail seems like it should be fine to me.

It's used all over the world, but for very light loads. Don't recall the load rating off hand, but want to say it's somewhere in the area of 1500 lbs.

 

[86tuning]

IIRC 3500kg in the rest of the world?

 

[bmwjnky]

IIRC 3500kg in the rest of the world?

If that's true that's just over 7700 pounds.

 

[robertaleon]

7716# - give or take.

 

[Ebag333]

IIRC 3500kg in the rest of the world?

That's the standard tow hitch not the pintle hitch.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

So many threads on this subject. I have used a ball/pintle hitch to tow about 2500 lbs several times (tandem axle trailer) and wouldn't hesitate to do so again. I would never use it for recovery, especially since there are two excellent frame mounted recovery points installed from the factory.

Edit: And FWIW, I wouldn't use those D rings for anything given where they are mounted.