Hitch for the Four Holes in the Stock Bumper

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jrdobbs03

jrdobbs03

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
May 5, 2008
Threads
53
Messages
121
Location
Western Washington
Guys,
A few years ago I bought a drop down reciever hitch that bolts up directly to the stock bumper. Just bought a new rig and can't seem to find where I got it; don't want to swap it back and forth. Just using it for a bike carrier and my M416, not worried about the tow rating. Thanks.
-Ross
 
do you have a pic. maybe i can help you?
 
sof1038_150.jpg


http://www.sleeoffroad.com/products/products_receivers.htm
 
If you call Man-a-Fre, tell 'em it's for a 40, as they may refuse to sell it to you for an 80.:mad: Better yet, just call Slee, based on my experience.

I would use that for bike racks and light duty towing, but go "hmmm" for trail use. Snatching someone? No way. A gentle tug for a flat tow, OK, but just too much could go wrong even with a well made part doing ta serious snatch.

Be cautious using a steep drop hitch bar in that receiver. Too much leverage won't be good for it.

Also, be careful about dropping onto it on stairstep obstacles on the trail. It does stick down a bit.

There are some nice combination pintle/ball hitches made that are castings. That what I use currently with our M101 CDN. But you don't have the flexibility of a receiver hitch.
 
BlackLS1 said:
would it be safe to actually pull somebody out using those 4 holes? with a recovery strap
Click to expand...

An ATV or bicycle. Or be gentle. Otherwise best use the tow hooks on the frame rails. The frame crossmember in the middle where the pintle hook mounts (the 4 holes) is not uber-strong compared to the large forces often involved in truly yanking somebody out.

edit: what greentruck said...
 
Guys,
The one I've been using for years is exactly like the one from Man-a-Fre...just didn't remember paying that much. As said above I woudln't use it for recovery, but it's worked great for M416, about 700lbs loaded, and my bike rack. If anyone finds it cheaper let me know, I think I picked it up from a canadian company last time around. Thanks.
 
western flyer said:
An ATV or bicycle. Or be gentle. Otherwise best use the tow hooks on the frame rails. The frame crossmember in the middle where the pintle hook mounts (the 4 holes) is not uber-strong compared to the large forces often involved in truly yanking somebody out.

edit: what greentruck said...
Click to expand...

oh ok, thanks for the info. i wont be making a plate to attach a D shackle there anymore
 
if i remember correctly, and i hope i'm not blatantly lying here, cdan uses a receiver bolted on through those 4 holes for towing. i seem to remember seeing a post about it and he had a picture of him pulling a trailer with it. again, i may be thinking it was cdan but it was actually someone else. good luck.
 
A little less $

http://store.stepvanparts.com/BOLT-RECEIVER-TUBE-1804055.HTM

Might check there.

or just buy the adapter below, chop off the back and weld to a piece of 3/8" or 1/2" plate, drill 4 holes and rattle can it black. I wouldn't do that with a mind toward towing with it, but definitely would use something like that for a bike rack. You may need to shorten the insert if the resulting receiver is short and doesn't allow pin alignment.

Hitch.webp

Hitch.webp
 
spencertron said:
if i remember correctly, and i hope i'm not blatantly lying here, cdan uses a receiver bolted on through those 4 holes for towing. i seem to remember seeing a post about it and he had a picture of him pulling a trailer with it. again, i may be thinking it was cdan but it was actually someone else. good luck.
Click to expand...

I have a 1/4 ton trailer and wouldn't mind popping around town with it lightly loaded on that hitch, but fully loaded trail use would worry me. Not saying it's not perfectly adequate for that as we all have different comfort levels with these things. It just doesn't give me the feel of having the extra oomph to give me a comfortable margin feeling about it.

Keep in mind that part of the bumper has the rear crossmember behind it. It's beefier than it seems by just looking at it. But you gotta be reasonable.

BTW, I almost hate to mention it, but they're rated to tow 3500 lbs without the hitch package. I'd consider that to be the outer limits on the 4-hole mount. Personally, I'm not comfortable with anything more than 2000 lbs (tested with cement blocks) and probably wouldn't want to weigh more than 1500 lbs to hit the trail. That leaves lots of reserve.
 
I met someone recently with a bent crossmember/bumper at the 4 hole tow point.
He said he had a basket type carrier on the hitch loaded with firewood when it bent.
It's not as strong as I thought it was.
I am adding a tow hitch with a subframe on mine just in case.
I will be towing a 2k lb trailer on occasion.
 
I'd almost bet the support arm into the receiver on that basket was 2' long. Load that baby with 500 of firewood and you've got way more tongue weight than was ever intended right there. Not saying that's exactly how it went down, but I almost pictured it in my mind reading what you wrote on that.

I believe it's generally agreed that a frame-mounted receiver hitch is the equivalent of the factory tow package that lifts the rated tow capacity to 5000 lbs, as described in the owner's manual. It'll be a pig at that weight and you'd better have some trailer brakes. Not a problem with your 2000 lb rig. It'll be happy as a clam on that hitch.
 
You could very well be right.
I don't know the specific's on weight or legnth of the carrier, just that is was bent.
Here's a pic of what I made for our fjc and plan to do the same on the 80.
12 high stregnth bolts tieing this together.


 
Last edited:
That looks friggin' adequate, I'd say.:smokin:
Nice work. That's what will turn your LandCrusier into a real prime mover.
 
wasnt me said:
You could very well be right.
I don't know the specific's on weight or legnth of the carrier, just that is was bent.
Here's a pic of what I made for our fjc and plan to do the same on the 80.
12 high stregnth bolts tieing this together.
[URL="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v117/markn1964/hitchinstalled005.jpg"][/URL]
[URL="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v117/markn1964/hchitch009.jpg"][/URL]
[URL="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v117/markn1964/hitchinstall2002.jpg"][/URL]
Click to expand...

I like it...
 
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