2” hitch receiver: bumper or frame mount? (7 Viewers)

[Super77]

I recently removed my Curt class III/IV 2” receiver. It’s super stout, but 1) I rarely tow anything, 2) it hangs low enough to scrape on some departures. I also wanted dedicated rear recovery points, and the Curt’s design does not allow that.

I do want to carry my hitch mounted bike rack and be able to pull a <2000lb trailer occasionally, so the options are either the OEM crossrail-mounted hitch receiver, or finding another aftermarket full-width receiver that’s tucked up a little higher.

Anything to consider with either option? I have an unmodified early LC100, so I know I’ll need to cut a hole in the bumper cover for the OEM option, and realize its tow capacity is down-rated.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

I would rather scrape the bumper/hitch than the frame, also makes a built in recovery point.

 

[riffman12]

+1 they hang low, but it's cheap armor. Won't hurt if you smack it on a rock. Unlike the plastic bumper.

 

[89BIGBLUE]

The difference in hitch height is sometimes inconvenient for “hitch and go” I’ve noticed.
The lower hitch is easier to match trailer height to in my experience, and with our bike rack, we don’t have to lift the bikes as high.
I’ve bumped once or twice on trails, but not too badly.

 

[Coin]

I chime in. I have the bumper hitch in an ‘03 LX.

If I didn’t have a functioning AHC where I could lower my truck, the bumper hitch would be nearly usless. With 33” tires it’s too high in “normal” mode to hitch my boat.

Do you have AHC?

 

[VR6GURU]

The difference in hitch height is sometimes inconvenient for “hitch and go” I’ve noticed.
The lower hitch is easier to match trailer height to in my experience, and with our bike rack, we don’t have to lift the bikes as high.
I’ve bumped once or twice on trails, but not too badly.

So I am in the same boat sort off . I have an 05 so I have the bumper cutout hitch which is pretty silly in terms of attaching a recovery hook or bike rack. The fit is not 100% and if the shaft is too long it hits the spare. Just today I sourced an OEM Lexus under bumper hitch. It will serve me better as a tow hitch / bike rack receiver.

Now can anyone tell me what bolts will I need to mount this hitch?

Thanks

 

[Super77]

Now can anyone tell me what bolts will I need to mount this hitch?

On mine, the threaded holes are M14x1.5. Use grade 10.9 hardware.

 

[Super77]

Good feedback here. Sounds like the under-bumper receiver may have an advantage

 

[RemyRunner]

I have an 04 Land Cruiser that has the bolt holes in the frame member, but not the hole for the receiver, like the LX.
I research this a couple years ago and bought an FJ 40 receiver from Cool Cruisers and bolted it in, because I needed something for my hitch bike rack.

I’ve seen others who had the similar set up and recommended it and since I wasn’t going to be towing, I thought it would be good. Had to modify the plastic bumper a little bit to get it to fit and it was great once I got it all mounted.

The problem was that I noticed over this last year that it looks like my rack was tilting downwards, and when I was driving, I could see that the rack was bouncing up and down a little more than I would like.

Turns out that the frame member was flexing quite a bit With the extra leverage of the bike rack and four mountain bikes. I decided to go with a Kurt trailer hitch instead and took the FJ 40 receiver off. Glad I did because now the rock sits level again and is very secure.

The hitch does hang down lower than I would like but now I not worried about losing a bike rack and bikes on the highway somewhere

 

[OEMGUY0720]

I removed my factory hitch receiver assembly because my 35x12R18 spare tire wouldn’t fit in the underside factory spare tire location.
But like you I need my hitch receiver to transport our MTBs. I have an 06 and my rear cross member frame piece doesn’t have the through and through 2” hitch OEM receiver you see in 2003-2005 YMs, but I have the mounting holes (2 threaded and 2 non-threaded) initially designed for the pintle hook.

I ordered a cast-iron type female hitch receiver from amazon that has the same hole to hole spec as my rear cross member and had that copied but using steel material and fully tig-welded custom made by a local fabricator.

 

[Super77]

I removed my factory hitch receiver assembly because my 35x12R18 spare tire wouldn’t fit in the underside factory spare tire location.
But like you I need my hitch receiver to transport our MTBs. I have an 06 and my rear cross member frame piece doesn’t have the through and through 2” hitch OEM receiver you see in 2003-2005 YMs, but I have the mounting holes (2 threaded and 2 non-threaded) initially designed for the pintle hook.
View attachment 3961087

I ordered a cast-iron type female hitch receiver from amazon that has the same hole to hole spec as my rear cross member and had that copied but using steel material and fully tig-welded custom made by a local fabricator.
View attachment 3961094

Good point. I have not actually checked whether my 99’s frame crossmember has a 2” square through-hole. That would be a non-starter for a bumper-mounted solution.