Front tow hook compatibility 95-99?

It looks (holding breath) as if I'll be getting a "new" 99 XJ soon to replace my poor old rotten 95. I'd like to transfer the front tow hooks and reinforcements from it. Are these compatible with the bumper brackets of the 99 or will I need a new set?

I installed Custom 4x4 brakets on my 2000 and have a pair in the shop for my 88. They look identical.
Tom

The factory tow hook brackets changed at the same time the body styles did and the old style doesn't fit the new and the new doesn't fit the older. This is because the bumper mount welded on the tow hook bracket is different. All the mounting holes and smaller reinforcement brackets are all the same 84-01. I have read, but don't really know for sure, that you can modify the bumper to fit the brackets. You can cut off the bumper mounts and re-use the tow hook brackets. I have some pics here that may help explain -homebrewed bumper

Hi Tom !

Tim_MN said:

The factory tow hook brackets changed at the same time the body styles did and the old style doesn't fit the new and the new doesn't fit the older. This is because the bumper mount welded on the tow hook bracket is different. All the mounting holes and smaller reinforcement brackets are all the same 84-01. I have read, but don't really know for sure, that you can modify the bumper to fit the brackets. You can cut off the bumper mounts and re-use the tow hook brackets. I have some pics here that may help explain

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????

The tow hook brackets don't have bumper mounts welded on. The bumper brackets are separate parts.

Eagle said:

????

The tow hook brackets don't have bumper mounts welded on. The bumper brackets are separate parts.

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This info is not correct. I have 2 set of OEM tow hooks out in the garage (1 pre97 & 1 97+) and both have the bumper brackets welded to the tow hook brackets.
I know that most aftermarket tow hook brackets do not have the bumper brackets attached and allow the use of your existing bumper brackets.
The early bracket can be made to work on the later Jeeps and vise versa but some fabrication will be required to fit it to the appropriate bumper -or- just cut off the welded on bumper bracket as Tim_MN stated.

I'll go get a pic of the 2 different OEM tow hook brackets (if I can find them) and post it back here.

Here's the pic of the 2 styles. 97+ on the left, pre97 on the right.



The 97+ bumper attaches to the through the top and bottom of the bumper and bracket. The pre97 bumper attaches from the bottom and the front. Also notice the longer 'drop' of the 97+ hook.

Not 100% percent sure but I believe that all pre97 OEM tow hooks are chrome. I've never seen a non-chrome OEM hook on a pre97. All 97+ are black.

save the hooks, but you are going to need new brackets. I have a '99, and I bought brackets from an earlier XJ, and as stated, the bumper mounts are welded onto the earlier models, but on the '99 they are two pieces. If you wanted, you could grind off the bumper mounts from your brackets and use the new ones that are on the '99. To clairify, the bumper mounts themselves are a slightly different shape, in addition to not being welded.

Thanks, folks. I had a feeling they'd be different. What I have now are old factory brackets, with bumper mounts included. So I guess I might try hacking and welding first if I can't find a later set at the junkyard.

No don't anybody tell me the class III hitch won't swap over either!

I have pulled about 10 factory original sets from the junkyard and the bumper bracket in the pic always been welded to the tow hook bracket, old or new body style. Jeep did it that way because it was easier to intall on the assembly line. The bumper bracket and tow hook bracket are not required to be welded together.

Tim_MN said:

I have pulled about 10 factory original sets from the junkyard and the bumper bracket in the pic always been welded to the tow hook bracket, old or new body style. Jeep did it that way because it was easier to intall on the assembly line. The bumper bracket and tow hook bracket are not required to be welded together.

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I find this very odd, because I have an '88 Cherokee, an '88 MJ and an '87 MJ all with tow hooks, and the tow hook brackets are separate from the bumper brackets. I don't know about you lads, but I know the '88 Cherokee has factory parts because I bought it new, and I know the '87 MJ had only one owner before me and came from the factory with the hooks. The other MJ appears to also be original but I can't vouch for it.

There may be variations by year that I am obviously unaware of. Assembly convenience makes a lot of sense. However, it certainly appears that the old style brackets can be made to work with the new style bumper simply by grinding off the remains of the old bumper brackets. And, Matthew, if you'll be selling the old XJ rather than junking it, you can buy the OEM-type bumper brackets from Quadratec fairly cheap.

How crazy is it that my '99 has what JeepZZ shows are pre-'97 bumper brackets? With all the factory parts catalogues I have, I'd think I'd have noticed the difference by now.
EDIT: I should mention that I have aftermarket hooks and brackets, though.

I have pre 97 tow hook brackets on my 98 right now. I had to do some modifying to make them work. Wasnt a simple bolt on. The older tow hook bracket with the newer bumper bracket made my bumper stick way to far out, so I had to do some cutting.