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Rear hitch Q's

G

gw204

NAXJA Forum User
Location
St. Leonard, MD
I need to replace the rear hitch on my '91 XJ. The factory installed class III is toasted and I don't dare trust it for pulling my boat or as a recovery point.

Since this XJ is a daily driver and gas mileage is of great importance, I do not plan on lifting it or installing any tires larger than 235s. I do some mild wheeling with this Jeep and since she sits at stock height, I want to minimize the number of things that hang down that could possible hang me up on something.

I have noticed on other XJs that class III receivers vary greatly in the amount the hang down under the rear bumper. I had a Draw-tite on my '00 XJ and the top of the receiver was approx. 3" below the bottom of the bumper. The factory installed hitch on my '91 kept the top of the receiver within 1" of the bottom of the bumper. It was a much tighter fit.

So, my question is, which hitch manufacturers build their hitches to stay high and tight to the rear bumper like the OEM hitch?

Thanks.
 
Why not just put a new bumper on with a built in hitch ??
 
Hidden Hitch makes one that tucks up behind the rear bumper very nicely. I biught one through JC Whitney -- not very expensive, decent quality.

If you don't buy a Mopar hitch, be sure to buy new nut strips if your old ones get trashed removing the old hitch. I don't trust the aftermarket attachments.
 
ok is my dealer just lazy ive asked about tow hook brakets and hitches before and they say sorry no longer avalible now i see you sugesting to somone just by a mopar hitch are they still avalible? if so where can i find a dealer that will get me some xj stuff?
 
I'll second the comment about Hidden Hitch. Mine tucks up very nicely and doesn't take away anymore ground clearance or departure angle than tow hooks would.
 
I'll third the Hidden Hitch recommendation. I've had one on my severely beaten '97 Sport since Feb of '97. It has seen towing, recovery, and wheeling. It tucks up out of the way so it looks good and has excellent ground clearance and departure angle. I can't say the same about the factiry equipped Mopar hitch on my '01 Limited.

The Hidden Hitch is easy to install, the instructions are good, and they are reasonably priced at JCW. I would say their products in general are quite good. I've also put them on a '91 Subaru Loyale wagon (my mom's car that I learned to drive in) and my buddy's '99 Durango.
 
Hidden Hitch from JC whitney is the way to go. They are pretty inexpensive, tuck up very nicely and are built well.
 
Man Im glad I found this thread. I totally forgot about JCWhitney. Really good price for a class III...

Im not trying to hijack this thread or anything...but has anyone tried the front mount hitch?? If so, how does it mount/hold up as a recovery point? Im just curious...I hope to get a new bumper with recovery points included.

Hidden hitch is on its way tho!

Justin
 
i recently bought a mopar hitch from a dealer. don't know why yours would say they don't have them any more. the good thing about it is it comes with the nut strips that i didn't have. so i figured by the time i bought a new hitch and the strips, it all came out to about the same. they wanted 175, but i got them to knock off 15. so, it ended up being 175 otd. hth
 
Sounds like the Hidden Hitch is the way to go. Thanks guys.

I did think of one more question though...

The factory hitch is secured to teh unibody with 4 bolts on each unibody rail, and 2 torx bolts to a crossmember behind the gas tank. How do I go about getting those two torx bolts out????? There's almost no room to work up in there...

If I have to drop the tank, can you guys give me any pointers on that?

Thanks.

Brian
 
My Draw-Tite hugs the rear bumper really nicely on my 96. In fact, I can't imagine it getting much more out of the way without removing it.
 
jeepguy97 said:
You can no longer get factory tow hook brackets form the dealer. But as far as I know you should still be able to get a hitch.
Click to expand...
Dunno about today, but as recently as a couple of months ago you could still buy the factory brackets and hooks. What was discontinued was the KIT, but the individual parts were still "good" part numbers.

Of course, buying a tow hook kit out that way you'd have to mortgage your first-born child ... but the part numbers were still valid.
 
Kejtar said:
Cause most of them are not rated for towing, just recovery. Just ask JohnJohn from Big Offroad about it.
Click to expand...

Interesting, so my tomken which has 8 body bolts and is connected with two pieces of steel on 4 points ea off the inserts on the frame rails is weaker than a hitch that just attaches at the frame rails. I need to think about that I think.
 
RichP said:
Interesting, so my tomken which has 8 body bolts and is connected with two pieces of steel on 4 points ea off the inserts on the frame rails is weaker than a hitch that just attaches at the frame rails. I need to think about that I think.
Click to expand...

Potentially yes (cause I don't know how the tomken one mounts). The issue with that hitch was (can't remember the manufacturer) that even though it was supported on the bottom along the frame rails all the way back (like the stock hitch) and using 8 bolts on top (where the stock bumper used to mount, 4 bolts on each frame rail), when weight was put on it (not much cause it was a popup camper trailer which grossed I think about 2K lbs) it bent downward and stretched the back crossmember where the bolts mounted (stock bumper mounts).
Anways the deal is that the hitch uses angle iron to reinforce itself and hold up against tongue weight, while most of the aftermarket bumpers use flatstock on teh bottom and then the 8 bumper mounting holes. As I mentioned, it's all fine on a straight pull but when you put weight on it problems might arise as the 8 holes with the welded nuts are in fairly thin sheetmetal which might stretch/bend/pull what have you causing problems.

Anyways, I've looked a while back at most of the design and I wouldn't trust them for towing.
 
As if you didn't have enough suggestions:

I've got a Reese that I found in a boneyard, and it tucks up pretty nicely. - the top of the receiver is at most an inch below the bumber, and might actually be slightly less.
I have the XJ with me today at work (Jetta's in the shop for trans replace :smsoap: ), so if desired I can check the part number at lunch and post it
 
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