Receiver Hitch Mod (1 Viewer)

[xjaz]

I got tired of having my receiver hitch hanging down 4" lower than the rear frame, so here's what I came up with. It intrudes on the space for the spare tire, but I plan to build a carrier off the rear frame to put it behind the hatch anyways. I still need to add provisions for safety chains, kind of forgot that detail until I had already put all the tools away. Nothing too fancy, but it should work well.

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/p602/cooleyxj/IMG_8019_zps9f88f27d.jpg


http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/p602/cooleyxj/IMG_8021_zps185c5c30.jpg

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/p602/cooleyxj/IMG_8020_zpsd0a9efb0.jpg


http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/p602/cooleyxj/IMG_8024_zps8139a8ad.jpg

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/p602/cooleyxj/IMG_8023_zps63fd9d57.jpg

 

[thatcabledude]

I assume you are not going to tow much with that.. It looks pretty sketchy. Cool idea though. Just needs a little more.

I did something very similar myself with slee's receiver kit. It is meant for their plate bumper, but a few people, myself included, have used it on the stock cross member.

 

[thatcabledude]

Here is the one I'm talking about. Picture is from Slee's website....



Behind the bumper is triangulated reinforcement.

 

[xjaz]

I am planning on flat towing my rock crawler with it and possibly small trailers, as well as using it as a recovery point. What seems sketchy about it? I may add supports from the bottom rear of the tube that will serve double-duty as an anchor point for safety chains, but it should be able to handle anything that my previous hitch was able to. It's welded to the 1/8" plate facing away from the vehicle, and to the formed 1/8" plate facing the front of the vehicle, as well as to the extra crossmember.

 

[Timpanogos Slim]

I kinda want this. but i want to see what my fabricator friend comes up with for his cruiser.

 

[IanB]

I like it! What kind of weight are you looking to tow with it? I need to be able to tow 3500 or so pounds, think this would cut it?

 

[NerdNoise]

I think that if you're not towing a monster trailer you should be alright. I like it.

 

[xjaz]

If I was going to tow a monster trailer I'd make the crossmember angle back and connect directly to the frame rails instead of to the "bumper" piece that is welded to the frame rails, but either way I think this will do anything a normal hitch will. This has some inherent strengths that a normal hitch doesn't. A normal hitch relies on two 1/4" pieces of vertical steel that hang down from the frame rails, which gives a trailer a lot more side-to-side leverage on the receiver. The tube on my design is supported front and back, although the bottom corners could use reinforcement if you wanted to make it overkill. I'll probably do that when I incorporate the place to connect my safety chains.

 

[cody c]

If I was going to tow a monster trailer I'd make the crossmember angle back and connect directly to the frame rails instead of to the "bumper" piece that is welded to the frame rails, but either way I think this will do anything a normal hitch will. This has some inherent strengths that a normal hitch doesn't. A normal hitch relies on two 1/4" pieces of vertical steel that hang down from the frame rails, which gives a trailer a lot more side-to-side leverage on the receiver. The tube on my design is supported front and back, although the bottom corners could use reinforcement if you wanted to make it overkill. I'll probably do that when I incorporate the place to connect my safety chains.

yes, I have something similar to the OP, and believe it should be as strong or stronger then the aftermarket hitches though not rated.

And... If it did fail, as in the welds broke around the square tube, the pin through the receiver hitch should prevent it from tearing out through the cross member.

On mine, I put straps around that little bar under the aluminum step plate, and now I can fold it forward to access the hitch pin instead of climbing under the vehicle to do it. Alot nicer when your on wet or dirty terrain.

 

[Stevesnj]

I got tired of having my receiver hitch hanging down 4" lower than the rear frame, so here's what I came up with. It intrudes on the space for the spare tire, but I plan to build a carrier off the rear frame to put it behind the hatch anyways. I still need to add provisions for safety chains, kind of forgot that detail until I had already put all the tools away. Nothing too fancy, but it should work well.

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/p602/cooleyxj/IMG_8019_zps9f88f27d.jpg


http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/p602/cooleyxj/IMG_8021_zps185c5c30.jpg

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/p602/cooleyxj/IMG_8020_zpsd0a9efb0.jpg


http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/p602/cooleyxj/IMG_8024_zps8139a8ad.jpg

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/p602/cooleyxj/IMG_8023_zps63fd9d57.jpg

Awesome!! Exactly what I am going to do...thanks!

 

[xjaz]

If you look close in the previous pictures, you can see that my exhaust was mangled from trail use. It was bent downward and had a broken hanger, along with a mangled muffler with cracks and leaks. Since there is now room where the spare tire used to be, I had the new exhaust routed there, and kept it tucked up above the frame rails so it won't get hit. This also frees up the outside of the frame rails, since I will be building bumper ends/quarter protection soon that will attach to the frame rails.

 

[e9999]

always good to see some out of the box thinking. Congrats.

But I do think this is not as strong as a good receiver assembly bolted to both frame rails. You are welding to fairly thin metal I think. It would have helped I think if your crossmember were welded or bolted to the main frame rails.

(Btw, there are aftermarket receivers that have the box level with the receiver frame so it's only 2" lower. And does give some protection.)

 

[EricG]

I did something similar this summer, but I put a lot more steel behind it and tied it into the side frame rails. I wouldn't trust what you've got for to much weight - that rear crossmember isn't all that heavy, and now you've put a huge hole through most of the web.

 

[86tuning]

You guys that don't trust the rear crossmember must be towing some SERIOUS loads. It's well triangulated and works fine for almost anything, other than a WD type hitch.

/ducking for cover/

 

[Duiser Offroad]

Agreed, OP's hitch looks good. I'm amazed by all the "off roaders" running around with the stock hitch hanging down....not doing much offroading if you ask me.....

You guys that don't trust the rear crossmember must be towing some SERIOUS loads. It's well triangulated and works fine for almost anything, other than a WD type hitch.

/ducking for cover/

 

[Bearcat80]

Hey-my stock hitch is my low budget rear rock slider....

 

[lugueto]

You do realize the four bolts you drilled next to are meant to bolt towing equipment to it right???

I've seen OEM 70 series and 80 series (same bolt pattern) come stock with pintle hitches and draw bars for trailer balls bolted there and ive seen 80s towing with Hitch adapters similar to the one poster by thatcabledude.

So I guess my question is: Why drill and modify the rear crossmember when you could've just bolted on a Hitch that would've pretty much looked the same and have very similar towing capabilities?

Great workmanship though, I just dont see the point of going through the extra hassle.

 

[airsix]

You do realize the four bolts you drilled next to are meant to bolt towing equipment to it right???

I've seen OEM 70 series and 80 series (same bolt pattern) come stock with pintle hitches and draw bars for trailer balls bolted there and ive seen 80s towing with Hitch adapters similar to the one poster by thatcabledude.

So I guess my question is: Why drill and modify the rear crossmember when you could've just bolted on a Hitch that would've pretty much looked the same and have very similar towing capabilities?

Great workmanship though, I just dont see the point of going through the extra hassle.

I have a hitch bolted up to mine, but its a temporary solution for anyone who does more than casual off-roading because it really kills your departure angle.

 

[EricG]

You do realize the four bolts you drilled next to are meant to bolt towing equipment to it right???

I've seen OEM 70 series and 80 series (same bolt pattern) come stock with pintle hitches and draw bars for trailer balls bolted there and ive seen 80s towing with Hitch adapters similar to the one poster by thatcabledude.

So I guess my question is: Why drill and modify the rear crossmember when you could've just bolted on a Hitch that would've pretty much looked the same and have very similar towing capabilities?

Great workmanship though, I just dont see the point of going through the extra hassle.

In my case, I use a receiver mounted bike rack alot, but when I put the bumper mount tire carrier on it wouldn't clear the tire. One of those extensions might have worked, but I also wanted to get rid of the low hanging hitch anyway, so I built the through-the-bumper hitch. I wanted it beefy enough to never worry about what I hooked up to it. Given how the aftermarket bolt-on hitches are constructed - 2.5"x0.25" steel tube, six 12 mm grade 10.9 bolts, etc., I didn't feel that the open channel, relatively thin crossmember was adequate. But that's just me

 

[e9999]

I think it would be pretty easy for you (OP) to reinforce this if you so wished. Put in another crossmember welded to the receiver box -underneath maybe to help with hits- and going directly to the main frame rails.