Rear crossmember mounted hitch receiver (1 Viewer)

[ozarkmud]

I know that this has been discussed lots before. Everyone seems to have a different take on it.

I can't find the 4 bolt receiver on Cruiser Outfitters. I did find a couple of others, though.

SLEE - 2" Receiver Adapter - '91-97 Land Cruiser / Lexus LX 450 - Slee Off Road

Supplied with installation hardware Not rated for towing Designed to work with Slee rear bumper

sleeoffroad.com

Heavy Duty 2" Receiver Hitch for 1958-1984 4x-Series Toyota Land Cruisers - Landcruiser Parts

Heavy Duty 2" Receiver Hitch for 1958-1984 4x-Series Toyota Land Cruisers. Class-2 Rated. 2K Towing Capacity. 200lb Tongue Weight Rating.

manafrelv.com

Receiver Trailer Tow Hitch Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40 hard top powder coated FJ80 – JT Outfitters - https://www.jtoutfitters.com/product/receiver-trailer-tow-hitch-toyota-land-cruiser-fj40-hard-top-powder-coated-fj80/ (I don't know if this one comes with bolts?)

Has anyone bent their crossmember using one of these? My FJ80's crossmember seems like it was dinged by something. Not quite sure how well things would line up on it, nor the strength, or if it'd be minimal.

Would using one with a motorcycle carrier be unwise? Quite a bit of weight. A lot of people seem to think that if the trailer doesn't need brakes, it should be fine.

 

[SoTexCruiserDoc]

I imagine you’ve already looked at this thread:

Does someone make a receiver hitch that bolts to rear crossmember

Reason I am asking, is that I currently have a factory receiver hitch installed, but it hangs pretty low. I was dragging it this week in Moab. i saw a cruiser go by with a 2" receiver bolted to the rear cross member bolt holes. I need a hitch to hang the bike carrier on, but I don't tow...

forum.ih8mud.com

Assuming your talking about with factory bumper in place? Why not just use a factory or aftermarket Class III hitch if you may be doing some towing?

 

[Malleus]

I regularly pull an 18' tandem axle trailer that has been loaded to as much as 2 tons and I've never seen damage to my frame. I don't have the extended type of hitch you're looking at, though. Mine is shorter and (only in this case), shorter is better.

 

[ozarkmud]

I even replied to that thread! That was one I did not find when searching and completely forgot about. Thank you!

Lots of old threads with dead links for the various options. I am wondering if maybe a pintle+ball is best for heavier towing. Hopefully the height is good.

 

[Malleus]

Pintle hooks were designed specifically fo rtowing heavy loads. However, for the heaviest off road loads, you need a ring on the trailer.

 

[Broski]

I cringe when I hear about people towing on the 4 small bolts that hold that hitch on !

But Let's use @Malleus example. a properly loaded trailer would have about 10% of it weight on the hitch. In this case 2 tons = 4000 LBS so 400 LBS on the hitch with no extension /cantilever.
Now lets say you want to carry a motorcycle, you now have the weight of the rack and the Motorcycle. I use a Versa Haul It has a 500 LBS carrying capacity and weighs 90 LBS and it has a 30" extension.
So you can see where I'm going with this, The Slee one is not rated for towing and the second has a 200 LBS tongue weight rating. Even with a small motorcycle you will easily exceed the safe working load of one of those hitches.

 

[Malleus]

FWIW, the bolts holding mine on are 14-mm, and there are four of them. The shear and tensile strength of that connection exceeds the rated load of the hitch by a factor of ten. Back when I got paid to design structural steel connections, that was considered good.

Mine is the light duty Curt model:

 

[Broski]

FWIW, the bolts holding mine on are 14-mm, and there are four of them. The shear and tensile strength of that connection exceeds the rated load of the hitch by a factor of ten. Back when I got paid to design structural steel connections, that was considered good.

Mine is the light duty Curt model:
View attachment 3344244

So if I can ask what is the shear/tensile strength of the 4 - 14MM bolts ?

 

[SoTexCruiserDoc]

I’m kinda more with @Broski …but I’m not an engineer. Just compulsive about trailering…seen a few bad things.
For reference, I finally got my hitch done recently for the trailer I’m having built. Just uses those 4 bolts on the Slee bumper, plus a little more…

 

[WarDamnEagle]

I’m kinda more with @Broski …but I’m not an engineer. Just compulsive about trailering…seen a few bad things.
For reference, I finally got my hitch done recently for the trailer I’m having built. Just uses those 4 bolts on the Slee bumper, plus a little more…

View attachment 3344313

View attachment 3344314

View attachment 3344315

First off let me say, I'm sure you will be fine and that's very nice welding and paint. Having said that, that design might not be as strong as you think it is but I have no idea what you're planning to tow. A better design would have been a crossmember all the way across made of large, square tubing with the receiver hitch tube welded to and/or bolted through. Again, I'm sure you will be fine as I have towed 4000lb+ many, many times with just a bolt on pintle ball hitch without further modification.

 

[Broski]

I’m no engineer either
Here's the one I built.

It's main use is for a recovery point. and to move my car trailer around the yard and camp empty.

I'm pretty sure that it's stronger then the factory cross brace. it has three 14mm & three 12mm bolts on each side, The three cross tubes are 13/4" 120 wall dome tube welded to 1/4 Plate.

I like over kill, when I need to tow I use my F350 the bumper hitch on that is rated at 20k LB pull with a 2K LB hitch weight. My car trailer with the 80 on it is way less then the trailers 10K rating.

 

[Broski]

I’m kinda more with @Broski …but I’m not an engineer. Just compulsive about trailering…seen a few bad things.
For reference, I finally got my hitch done recently for the trailer I’m having built. Just uses those 4 bolts on the Slee bumper, plus a little more…

View attachment 3344313

View attachment 3344314

View attachment 3344315

Where the picture taken at Jimmy's shop ?

 

[Broski]

First off let me say, I'm sure you will be fine and that's very nice welding and paint. Having said that, that design might not be as strong as you think it is but I have no idea what you're planning to tow. A better design would have been a crossmember all the way across made of large, square tubing with the receiver hitch tube welded to and/or bolted through. Again, I'm sure you will be fine as I have towed 4000lb+ many, many times with just a bolt on pintle ball hitch without further modification.

I think it stronger then the standard 4 bolts to the cross member set up. But ya a big square tube all the way across would have been better.

 

[SoTexCruiserDoc]

Where the picture taken at Jimmy's shop ?

Yessir

 

[Feldrian]

So if I can ask what is the shear/tensile strength of the 4 - 14MM bolts ?

I have 4x 12mmx 1.25 10.9 JIS flange bolts holding mine on bolted through both the frame attachment points and a Delta bumper. Tensile strength on a 10.9 is 150,000 PSI. Single shear (each) is 33.7kN (7,576lb). Shear on the assembly is 30,304lb. I wouldn't be worried about the 4 bolts at all ... what they're bolted to is quite another matter. Failure point would likely be the frame attachment under shock load, not the hitch itself or the fasteners.

All this said, I don't use mine to tow with. It's solely a convenient center mounted recovery point. If I was going to tow I'd configure some kind of triangulated draw bar back to the frame on both sides similar to a couple of the pictures above to resolve the longitudinal forces better.

Data here:

McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.

www.mcmaster.com

Grade 10.9 Bolts Loading Capacities Table

Bolt Loading Capacities. Non-preloaded Ordinary Bolts. Grade 10.9 Bolts per. S355. BS 5950-1: 2000 BS 4190: 2001

www.engineersedge.com

 

[Broski]

I have 4x 12mmx 1.25 10.9 JIS flange bolts holding mine on bolted through both the frame attachment points and a Delta bumper. Tensile strength on a 10.9 is 150,000 PSI. Single shear (each) is 33.7kN (7,576lb). Shear on the assembly is 30,304lb. I wouldn't be worried about the 4 bolts at all ... what they're bolted to is quite another matter. Failure point would likely be the frame attachment under shock load, not the hitch itself or the fasteners.

All this said, I don't use mine to tow with. It's solely a convenient center mounted recovery point. If I was going to tow I'd configure some kind of triangulated draw bar back to the frame on both sides similar to a couple of the pictures above to resolve the longitudinal forces better.

Data here:

McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.

www.mcmaster.com

Grade 10.9 Bolts Loading Capacities Table

Bolt Loading Capacities. Non-preloaded Ordinary Bolts. Grade 10.9 Bolts per. S355. BS 5950-1: 2000 BS 4190: 2001

www.engineersedge.com

View attachment 3344410View attachment 3344411

Thanks for the explanation !

 

[rhc404]

I wouldn't be worried about the 4 bolts at all ... what they're bolted to is quite another matter. Failure point would likely be the frame attachment under shock load, not the hitch itself or the fasteners.

Yep. Those bolts have a small vertical offset from centerline which will attract more force, and with the load being cantilevered off a bouncy vehicle the stress amplitude is sure to be high. It will certainly work/look like it works when first installed, but would need visual inspections for fatigue cracks every so often without some reinforcement/fatigue detailing.