Front hitch, need info

[zfinger]

Well I did my research on front tow hooks vs. front hitch, and decided on the front hitch. This website was great... http://www.hrja.org/towpoints.htm , does anyone have more pics of an XJ with a front hitch? Also which company makes the one that tucks up nicely, and dosent hang way down?

And the other thing... I want a winch because I have a tendancy to get stuck (go figure). But I dont want to spend the money for a nice front bumper, and I'm trying to keep the Jeep as stock looking as possile (dont want it to look like a trail rig when its time to sell it). I have access to a machine shop/ welders at work and saw once a thing that pluged into the front hitch, and stuck out and had a big flat plate to mount a winch to. Has anyone made something similar or have any advice on making this? What are the pro's and cons? I've never wired a winch up but is there a way to make it a quick disconnect?

Can anyone hook me up with a link to a pre-made winch hitch adapter. Thanks

[GI-John]

I'm very happy with my Draw tite hitch. I've had it for several years and it has worked out very well (Ahem!)

I built my own winch tray, and the winch sits as close to the bumper as possible, but warn sells this one (http://www.warn.com/truck/mounting-systems/winch_carrier.shtml) that you can use.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a254/GI-John/reoier.jpg

[zfinger]

Your my hero, thats exactly what I was looking for. Do you have any more pics of the tray you made? Thanks

[sidriptide]

X2 on the Draw-Tite hitch. do not waste your $$ on the HiddenHitch that is available thru Quadratec. i've had both and the drawTite is by far the better of the 2. the draw-tite mounts between the frame and the swaybar bushings and uses existing bolt locations except the very front where you need to drill 1 on each side. get ahold of your local truck accesory/snow plow shop. they will likley carry the Draw-tite products. i paid about $130 fo rmine a year ago.

an interesting side-note on this is that at the time (a lil over a year ago) the shop owner told me that draw-tite and HiddenHitch had both been bought by a larger company. i had wondered if they would continue both complete product lines or consolidate them where "duplication" was un-nessecary. i figured we'd see one of the designs go away. hope if they do that they chose the stronger of the 2 rather than just look at production costs.

[Dookie]

http://onclickpix.com/23955.jpg

here's the draw-tite. it looks like it hangs way down, but only because i removed the whole air dam from beneath the bumper. i've done some heavy pulling with this, and it has done just fine. paid $110 shipped from etrailers.com

[GI-John]

I used the following for my winch cradle.

1/4" x 2" box
2" x 1/4" angle
3" x 1/4" angle
1/4" x 6 x 2" flat stock (gussets and tie ins)
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a254/GI-John/DSCF1841.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a254/GI-John/DSCF1842.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a254/GI-John/DSCF1843.jpg

I used "greylocks" as quick disconnects. They can be found in any towing/ RV place.
Hindsight being 20/20, I'd splurge for the Warn disco's

Hope this helps.

John

[scoobyxj]

Anderson battery connectors

http://www.hdvince.ltd.uk/images/large/Img_17.jpg

http://www.hdvince.ltd.uk/images/large/Img_19.jpg

Grainger Electric (http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/searchresults.jsp?xi=xi)

[zfinger]

Thanks a lot guys, thats what I was looking for!

[zfinger]

I just ordered my Draw-tite from etrailer.com. I'll update this with some pics and install details when it gets here, $130 shipped

[Thumpersdriver]

And just to make you feel even better about yer purchase, I too have the drawtite on Thumpers front end, with stellar results. VEERRY handy indeed, that...

[sidriptide]

the pic is kinda dark but my DrawTite hides nicely behind the airdam. just notch the air dam and its a tight fit, and with a rubber "plug" in the receiver it is essentially invisible. the HiddenHitch will sit just below the airdam so no trimming is needed. 2 totally different designs.

http://www.fototime.com/176BE2274B98BBE/standard.jpg

[corbinafly]

http://detoursusa.com/xjbackbone.php

How about this? Looks pretty nice if you want to keep it looking as stock as possible.

K

[sidriptide]

http://detoursusa.com/xjbackbone.php

How about this? Looks pretty nice if you want to keep it looking as stock as possible.

K


once again Mark has come out with a real nice and very well-thought-out XJ product. i saw it on his rig when he was still doing R&D and almost cried because it is alot like something i was "designing" in my own head.

[zfinger]

UPDATE: So the instructions say "estimated instal time-45 minutes", and it took me almost 5 hours. The flat plates that go inside the frame rails were too big, so I had to grind them down fit. And I have tiny hands, and even I couldnt get my hands into the rails to drop in the bolts. I gave up and just took off the front bumper for better access. All in all is sucked and I dont ever want to have to do it again. Here are a few pics... I screwed up my airdam so I'll be making a trip to the junkyard tomorrow for a new one.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y145/zfinger/Jeep%20pics/HPIM1300.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y145/zfinger/Jeep%20pics/HPIM1307.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y145/zfinger/Jeep%20pics/HPIM1296.jpg