I want to get a hitch bike rack, which means I need to install a tow hitch. There are a number of threads about this over the years but I figured it might be useful to try round up what's available as of 2024.
My parameters:
* I don't see myself actually trying to tow anything with my 3F-E and A440F given that my home base is penned in by mountains.
* I do care about being able to work with a rack designed for a 2" receiver
* I would prefer not to drill holes through the frame
Reese 44668. Mud post: "We had to drill holes in the receiver brackets to clear the rivet heads. only one bolt per side on the frame matched, we drilled out the frame for the second mounting point at the front of the receiver bracket. Also had to enlarge the holes at the rear just over the 2" receiver tube to allow the screws that go into the bottom of the bumper + frame. Still need to get some 0.5" spacers for that part."
CURT 13402 Class 3 Trailer Hitch, Mud post: "The fit was not perfect. I had to do some grinding on the hitch to get the holes to line up with the front factory holes in the frame. I also had to drill holes in the rear of the frame to accommodate the hitch. Had to use spacers to rear the rear frame rivets like most do as well as a spacer where the hitch attaches to the bumper. It was more work than needed and I wouldn't underestimate the effort it takes to cut holes in that Japanese steel. It sucks."
Draw-Tite 75725, Mud post: #post-12691383 "Its not listed as a direct fit to a 60 but it lines up very well with the frame rails and the two bolts that mount mid bumper line up perfectly with the existing toyota bolts... To mount this we pulled the tow hook off the passenger side frame rail and reused those two bolts on the mid bumper mount on the hitch. The hitch comes with two carriage bolts, matching nuts, and retainer plates. We used these two carrage bolts on the rearward most frame rail mount holes....these line up with both the holes in the hitch and the frame. We then center punched the frame for the remaining 4 holes (2 per rail) and drilled them out to 1/2" diameter. We used new 1/2" hardware to bolt the hitch to the frame. Note that we also used (2) 1/2" fender washers stacked on each of the forward most and rearward most bolts. The bolts in the middle dont get washers because thats where the rivets are in the way. These washers give you the clearance needed for the factory rivets in the frame.
Lastly once the hitch is bolted to the rails there will be a gap between the hitch and the bottom of the stock bumper. We happened to have a bar stock of auminum that was the proper width to be a spacer. Milled a couple holes through the spacer and bolted it up. "
BTB 2″ Receiver Hitch for 1980-1990 6x-Series Toyota Land Cruisers: "This is a bolt on receiver hitch for a 6x-Series Toyota Land Cruiser. This receiver hitch uses a 2″ Tongue (Not Included). Drilling is required for installation. We recommend using Grade 8 hardware for installation. This kit does not include hardware."
Curt 11812, Mud post: "This is a proper fit hitch specifically made for FJ60/62 trucks and fits directly without any sort of modification to the vehicle or hitch. No holes to drill. Just bolt it up. Again this thing is pretty much brand new and hardly used." Downside, it's a Class I. Dealbreaker for my purposes.
CruiserParts 1981-1990 FJ60 FJ62 2" Receiver Tow Hitch - looks like a Curt, can't read the number, possibly Curt 13402 "This direct bolt on trailer hitch is for the 1981-1990 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ60, FJ62, HJ60, etc.This mounts utilizing the factory tow hook bolt locations and you can either drill out and use the 3rd mounting hole for heavy towing or leave no 3rd bolt in it for lighter towing." I have two big questions about this: If it *is* the Curt 13402, @Gretsch's post above makes it sound a lot less straightforward to install. Second, I'm not sure what to make of "just leave out two of the bolts".
nothing at cruisersolutions, classiccruisers, or cruiseryard, ccot, cruisercrap. None of the curtis/draw-tite/etrailer type sites list anything.
Am I missing anything? Basically, it sounds like there's no currently-available option where you don't have to drill holes in the frame rail, unless you'll settle for a Class I hitch or trust the CruiserParts assertion that you can just run with four out of six bolts installed.
My parameters:
* I don't see myself actually trying to tow anything with my 3F-E and A440F given that my home base is penned in by mountains.
* I do care about being able to work with a rack designed for a 2" receiver
* I would prefer not to drill holes through the frame
Reese 44668. Mud post: "We had to drill holes in the receiver brackets to clear the rivet heads. only one bolt per side on the frame matched, we drilled out the frame for the second mounting point at the front of the receiver bracket. Also had to enlarge the holes at the rear just over the 2" receiver tube to allow the screws that go into the bottom of the bumper + frame. Still need to get some 0.5" spacers for that part."
CURT 13402 Class 3 Trailer Hitch, Mud post: "The fit was not perfect. I had to do some grinding on the hitch to get the holes to line up with the front factory holes in the frame. I also had to drill holes in the rear of the frame to accommodate the hitch. Had to use spacers to rear the rear frame rivets like most do as well as a spacer where the hitch attaches to the bumper. It was more work than needed and I wouldn't underestimate the effort it takes to cut holes in that Japanese steel. It sucks."
Draw-Tite 75725, Mud post: #post-12691383 "Its not listed as a direct fit to a 60 but it lines up very well with the frame rails and the two bolts that mount mid bumper line up perfectly with the existing toyota bolts... To mount this we pulled the tow hook off the passenger side frame rail and reused those two bolts on the mid bumper mount on the hitch. The hitch comes with two carriage bolts, matching nuts, and retainer plates. We used these two carrage bolts on the rearward most frame rail mount holes....these line up with both the holes in the hitch and the frame. We then center punched the frame for the remaining 4 holes (2 per rail) and drilled them out to 1/2" diameter. We used new 1/2" hardware to bolt the hitch to the frame. Note that we also used (2) 1/2" fender washers stacked on each of the forward most and rearward most bolts. The bolts in the middle dont get washers because thats where the rivets are in the way. These washers give you the clearance needed for the factory rivets in the frame.
Lastly once the hitch is bolted to the rails there will be a gap between the hitch and the bottom of the stock bumper. We happened to have a bar stock of auminum that was the proper width to be a spacer. Milled a couple holes through the spacer and bolted it up. "
BTB 2″ Receiver Hitch for 1980-1990 6x-Series Toyota Land Cruisers: "This is a bolt on receiver hitch for a 6x-Series Toyota Land Cruiser. This receiver hitch uses a 2″ Tongue (Not Included). Drilling is required for installation. We recommend using Grade 8 hardware for installation. This kit does not include hardware."
Curt 11812, Mud post: "This is a proper fit hitch specifically made for FJ60/62 trucks and fits directly without any sort of modification to the vehicle or hitch. No holes to drill. Just bolt it up. Again this thing is pretty much brand new and hardly used." Downside, it's a Class I. Dealbreaker for my purposes.
CruiserParts 1981-1990 FJ60 FJ62 2" Receiver Tow Hitch - looks like a Curt, can't read the number, possibly Curt 13402 "This direct bolt on trailer hitch is for the 1981-1990 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ60, FJ62, HJ60, etc.This mounts utilizing the factory tow hook bolt locations and you can either drill out and use the 3rd mounting hole for heavy towing or leave no 3rd bolt in it for lighter towing." I have two big questions about this: If it *is* the Curt 13402, @Gretsch's post above makes it sound a lot less straightforward to install. Second, I'm not sure what to make of "just leave out two of the bolts".
nothing at cruisersolutions, classiccruisers, or cruiseryard, ccot, cruisercrap. None of the curtis/draw-tite/etrailer type sites list anything.
Am I missing anything? Basically, it sounds like there's no currently-available option where you don't have to drill holes in the frame rail, unless you'll settle for a Class I hitch or trust the CruiserParts assertion that you can just run with four out of six bolts installed.
?
