Slee 2" receiver system

[MTNRAT]

Just installed the 2" receiver system from Slee. Comparing it to my class III valley hitch, I have to say this is at least as strong. Full half inch bolts through a Slee bumper and cross member, to skookum backing plates has far more beef than the original pintle hitch. Add to that the cross members to the frame for stability and you have a very strong hitch. This thing looks way more robust in real life than in pictures. I will feel very confident with this set up. I may even weld the reciever to my bumper for even more strength.
Ok, now for the If I choose to tow with it yada yada yada yada yada yada yada disclaimer. I know that Slee Offroad has explicitly said the receiver is not rated for towing.
Cheers,
Sean

 

[semlin]

I wonder why Christo doesn't get the whole bumper rated as a tow hitch? I can't see any part of it that is less beefy than a class 3 hitch. It has more bolts to the frame/cross member than a valley.

luckily for me, Luke Porter is not as gun shy so I'm free to tow...

 

[Romer]

It's a nice set-up and I have no problems towing. I towed my Jayco Baja over the mountains to Moab. Here is my write-up from earlier (Before the tow)

https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=75164

I don't agree with the "gun shy" statement. I'm free to tow.

 

[cruiserdan]

I wonder why Christo doesn't get the whole bumper rated as a tow hitch?

The answer to that is painfully simple......$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$


He could not possibly recover the costs for doing so. The market is not large enough to support that bit of paperwork.

 

[semlin]

fair enough, what i mean is that I think Christo is being very cautious in building a tow hitch for his bumper that he declines to rate for towing. i don't know the details of getting it rated in Co., so maybe there is a good reason for that. You are, of course, free to tow, but if there ever is an accident Christo's position being on the record will put your entire vehicle insurance in jeopardy (depending on the policy, possibly even if the tow hitch does not cause the accident). If otoh he rated it for 3,000 or 5,000 lbs, then he would only be liable if it caused an accident and if someone could show it was not safe for that amount and that he was negligent in believing it would. given how well built the thing is, it seems to me that this is a fairly low risk for him. Plus I assume Christo's business carries liability insurance and he is personally protected by the corporate veil. It would certainly suck for him to be sued, but not nearly as bad as it would suck for you to have no insurance if an accident occurred and somebody got hurt.

As I said, I am glad Luke has no problem with me towing and i mean no disrespect to Christo when I say that

 

[Romer]

My insurance would not be a problem if I was in an accident. There might be a question is the hitch itself broke. I see little risk in that and have no concerns.

The testing and paperwork required to get it rated is expensive and very time consuming. That doesn't mean Christo isn't in the process of doing it. Don't know if he is for sure.

Christo will tell you what it's designed for if you ask him, but it hasn't been rated or certified. There are a lot of bumpers being sold that haven't been rated or certified.

I disagree with your stament that Christo declines to rate for towing. It isn't Christo that rates it, its the government after a barage of tests and paperwork. The manufacturer can tell you what it is designed for, he can't state it is rated until all the other crap is complete. Maybe Luke told you what his bumper is designed for and Christo would do the same. Christo makes sure you know it hasn't been rated and certified, that's different.

 

[semlin]

well luke is clear that it has no official rating or certification, but he also says that in his view it can be used for towing for the rated capacity of the truck. i was under the impression christo won't say that last part.

 

[tech_dog]

Risk vs. reward.....

No one wants to be sued for $72,439,843.

 

[Nay]

well luke is clear that it has no official rating or certification, but he also says that in his view it can be used for towing for the rated capacity of the truck. i was under the impression christo won't say that last part.

I doubt it matters much what you say. That is a Class III 2" receiver mount with wings for hooking up towing safety chains. If it walks like a duck...

I just have mine mounted in the stock "bumper". I have used it for an extraction pull from the side from one of the wings. It is solid.

Nay

 

[Grench]

I was thinkning about getting one of these. I already have an earlier version of the Slee bumper/carrier and would have to cut holes through the bumper and the cross member. I have some questions though, and you guys may be able to answer without me bothering Christo about it.

Does the bumper have to be removed in order to cut the holes through the bumper and the cross member? Or can I do it 'well enough' with the bumper installed & a plasma cutter?

The reinforcement bars go into the old spare mount underneath. You know the syndrom, theres a hole under there that I have a driving need to put something in. I have been toying with the ideas of mounting a 6th wheel under there OR a long range gas tank OR a factory 12 gal. small tank & a custom water tank & a stainless ~ 10 gallon air bubble. If I do this hitch, is there room to do the 6th wheel or 30+ gallon gas tank?

Grench

 

[MTNRAT]

Grench, I used a combo of cutting wheel and die grinder to get through the bumper and crossmember in situ. It is really thick and has three layers to get through. The bumper and two layers of cross member. Then there is another piece of the cross member that needs to be cut away to allow for the bolt backing plates. With a plasma cutter it would be a cinch.
I believe there is enough room for the auxilliary tank, but not enough for the long ranger.
Cheers,
Sean

 

[cruiserdan]

My prototype hitch (opps, receiver tube... ) clears a factory subtank.

 

[Brentbba]

Outside of the $$$ Dan has mentioned, there's always the ongoing 'product liability insurance' that would run add'l $$$. I don't blame Christo one bit for his statement.

 

[Romer]

well luke is clear that it has no official rating or certification, but he also says that in his view it can be used for towing for the rated capacity of the truck. i was under the impression christo won't say that last part.

Christo will tell you what it is designed for. So Luke and Christo's stuff are at the same point. Christo is just more emphatic letting you know it's not officially rated. What this does is prevent some yoyo who doesn't install it right (tightn bolts) from sueing Christo. That's important since Christo's liability insurance would not cover this since it's not officially rated. I'd do the same thing as he is doing.

 

[Grench]

Under there...

Can someone post a picture of the Slee receiver from about the same angle as Dan's picture?

Thanks!

 

[Romer]

Can someone post a picture of the Slee receiver from about the same angle as Dan's picture?

Thanks!

Look at the thread I linked in my first post. I think what you are looking for is there.

 

[cruiserdan]

The Slee has more clearance than mine.

 

[Grench]

Look at the thread I linked in my first post. I think what you are looking for is there.

Thanks for the pic link.

Looking at the Slee one, it would negate a 6th wheel or long ranger tank too. I'm OK with that.

Something that did come to mind though... It looks like it is well braced for horizontal and longitudinal stress, i.e. side to side and front to back. However, if you put a load distributing hitch on it you will be placing huge stress on it in a vertical plane. The bumper/cross member would be a pivot point and push down on the bolt connecting to the side braces.

The following is just my humble opinion and I do not have the products. I'm just doing mental envisioning of the torques applied during these operations and have not measured them.

With the pintle bolt version, I'm betting a tongue weight of up to about 200 lbs would be the practical and safe limit.

With the through the bumper version with wings, I'd call it a class II. 300lb tongue weight. I would not try to do a big trailer or a load distributing system on it because of the huge downward pressure on the front bolt & wings.

If you're going to pull something over 2500 lbs and/or do load distributing, I'd suggest considering the DrawTight Class III/IV hitch. yeah, it hangs down, but not as far as the factory hitch. And it has support in all planes of torque so you can go load distributing. I put one of these on my wife's truck and it looks very nice. They're rated to 5000 lbs 500 lb tongue AND 6000 lbs 600 lb tongue with load distribution.

 

[cruiserdan]

Have you ever been to Moab?

The "80 hitch-drag" is famous...


By the way, Toyota does not recommend or endorse the use of a weight-distributing hitch on an 80 series.

 

[Grench]

I'd love to...

I'd love to go to Moab. It is 880 miles away though. It is on my list of 'things to do when my boys are old enough to enjoy it'. They're 4 now... (twins).

My opinion... If you're going to haul something large enough to require a load distributing hitch, it shouldn't be behind a vehicle set up for crawling. The Drawtite doesn't drop down like the OEM hitch does though and it IS rated for load distribution unlike the OEM one. I had a rusty OEM hitch from my build truck that I had considered having sand blasted & powder coated to put on my wife's. The body shop gave me a price of $110 to do that. I spent $180 for the Drawtite & a nifty trailer lights adapter that plugs into the factory plugs underneath -no splicing. I'm happy with it for her truck.

If you're curious about how it looks mounted, I could snap some pics of it on my wife's truck. I put it on there because I wanted to have at least one vehicle with a hitch on it and I wanted to have her's able to pull mine on a trailer if I securely it up.

It is a bolt on though, so if you're worried about not having it drag on the trails, 15 minutes with a wrench and the problem is gone.

I'm still thinking about doing the slee through the bumper on my build truck though. Not as a recovery point, but to have the flexibility for small trailers, bikes, etc... I'm a tent camper and have no plans for hauling anything large on it. My debate is more to do I do a long ranger and the pintle option or the factory sub & stronger receiver. I'm a long ways from anywhere and the OEM tank on the truck doesn't give me the range I'd like to have. Something has to give and I have to decide where the compromise is.

Cool discussion though.

Have you ever been to Moab?
The "80 hitch-drag" is famous...
By the way, Toyota does not recommend or endorse the use of a weight-distributing hitch on an 80 series.