Front Mounted Hitch Receiver on 2001 LC

[Nigel]

I've been looking in the usual places (hitch-web.com and etrailer.com) for a front mounted hitch receiver for my 2001 LC but I can't find one anywhere. Does anyone know if a similar part for another model, maybe Tundra or Sequoia, will fit?

Thanks,

Nigel

btw, I've searched the forums and read the FAQs and didn't find anything.

 

[e9999]

Well, hello and welcome to the site!


any particular reason you want to do that?

 

[Snook]

You could stop by your local trailer hitch shop and have them custom made to your spec. In that case, it helps to have Slee or Heavy duy torsion bar to handle tonque weight.

Regards,

 

[Nigel]

Hi e9999, thanks for the welcome. I've been reading through the site and picking up lots of tips on what to do with my new to me LC. Looks like a great crowd here.

As for reasoning. I have a riducously steep and crooked driveway, and a 14' trailer that needs to be parked at the end of it. Backing in was a challenge with the VW Golf that I had a hitch receiver put on just for the purpose. But now that we've sold the Golf I need to find another way to get the trailer in and out without too much hassle. I figured a front mounted hitch receiver on the LC would do the trick.

Snook, thanks for the heads up on the torsion bar. Would this be necessary for very short hauls? Like I said above, the purpose is to get a trailer into my driveway. Tongue weight is about 250lbs, max. and I wouldn't be driving more than a mile pushing the trailer (have to negotiate a hill before entering my driveway).

I did try RacknRoad, but they just threw their hands in the air and said no deal. The other local installer is uHaul. I haven't checked with them but I can't imagine they do much custom work. I do know a local fabricator who could probably pull something together but I was hoping there'd be a cheaper, off-the-shelf solution.

Appreciate the input.

 

[e9999]

I don't know of any off the shelf source.
Seems like you'd have to build something custom and either go through the bumper or under but that will give clearance issues. I can't imagine that you'd have to worry about the suspension for a mile of low speed (well, barring a very heavy weight of the receiver itself).

 

[calamaridog]

Nigel,

The Tundra/Sequoia one would not be bolt on but may be able to be modified. I wouldn't mind having one either.

What area do you live in? I know of a few fabricators who have built stuff like that.

 

[EdsCruisin]

This is an interesting search. Front receivers are manufactured for most pickups and jeeps, primarily for boat launching (I guess folks are just not good with mirrors). Another use that I like is for a winch mount. With a receiver mounted winch you can leave it in the garage for DD and take it with you on the trail. Likewise, there are a number of other things you can mount on the receiver, like that toilet seat thingy I saw here somewhere....

Maybe we should come up with a design?

 

[Nigel]

I don't understand why something like this isn't commercially available either. Seems like you can get a front mounted hitch receiver for just about anything else, other than the LC.

Giving this some thought last night, and having just pranged my rear bumper on a really tiny tree stump, I got to wondering about replacing both bumpers with something more hard-wearing, and having a hitch receiver integrated into the front bumper. Someone had a very nice looking front bumper mod that I read about the other day -couldn't find it again on a quick quick search through the forum. Anyone know if specs available for front and rear bumper mods? Blueprints? Anything I could take to a fabricator and have him figure out how to integrate a hitch receiver?

Thanks,

Nigel

 

[e9999]

I would think that if the only use of the front receiver is minor pushing around of trailers and boats (i.e. no high speed in-reverse towing of heavy stuff on the freeway ), then a 2" receiver and plate bolted to an aftermarket bumper a la ARB may be the easiest way to go?

 

[Nigel]

Excellent suggestion. I was just looking on Slee this morning after reading about the AO roof rack install.

Thanks