Front recovery point idea

So I've been spending some time thinking over the past week about front recover points and ideas, and I'm trying to brainstorm some new ones. I'm looking for something that I can either fab up myself, or have a local shop do without too much trouble.

I've decided that I don't really trust my front tow hooks, they're similar in design to the HiCountry Offroad tow hooks, in that they mount to the bottom of the frame rail, but from everything I've read, tow hooks really aren't as sturdy as a good front bumper or a front receiver.

I'd like to stay away from the front reciever hitch for two reasons, one because it hangs to low, and two because I'm planning on staying at 3" of lift for a little while, and I want to be able to use a front skid when I find one.

I really like what Love2Ride450 did with his: http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=934995&highlight=tow+hooks

And I also really like the idea of the Detours Backbone:
http://www.detoursusa.com/xjbackbone_install.php

But I also think that it wouldn't be all that hard to come up with something similar that might even incorporate both. I like the balanced look of the Detours with the two shackles hanging down. No offense Love2Ride, but I'm not sure I like the single reciever with the shackle hanging out. Kinda looks like you're sticking your tongue out :laugh3: .

If I was going to design something from scratch, how would I go about doing two recovery points? They could either hang low like Detours does, or they could come out the bumper, I'm not opposed to that as long as it doesn't stick out too far. What type of material/design would be strong enough for a receiver to be set into? It seems like most actual hitches are 1/4 mounting plates and then 1/4 wall tube with the reciever mounted through it. I'm also not sure just how much room I'll have behind the stock bumper itself, but this is along the lines of what I'm thinking. This is what I have in mind (top view), thinking at least 1/4" mounting plates, 2x3 or 2x4 box steel for main beam with a reinforced receiver on each side.




This is what I'm starting with, would I be better off just welding the mounting plates flat to the end of the box steel, or should I cut a box out of the mounting plates so the box steel slides through it and weld it on both sides? I'm open for ideas.

http://www.kevinsoffroad.com/zj/zj_rad_support.html

might take a look at that design

Sounds good, but you have to make one for me also.

Yeah, similar to the Kevin's offroad ZJ piece. Except bigger and better!

Flush mounted and pulling straight off the mounts!
http://hometown.aol.com/rpayne9421/page8.html

RCP Phx said:

Flush mounted and pulling straight off the mounts!

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OK, you hooked me. Where can I get a bumper like that?

You aren't hurting my feelings any. I agree about it looking somewhat funny with just one shackle. It doesn't look as weird with the shackle out, and will look even better once I get down to business and build a license plate mount for it. I like your idea too, basically a backbone system without the winch plate. When I started planning mine out, I thought it would be a bit more "stealth" without the shackle in, and the plate on. Oh well, it works for me, and I already have someone trying to buy it from me. :thumbup:

One of the things I'm slightly concerned about would be figuring out where to put the recievers in such a way that I can get at the hitch pin. I don't think I can get it behind the bumper anywhere, just because there's not much room. I don't think I'd be removing the shackles much, and if they were behind the bumper I wouldn't worry much about them being stolen or taking them off at all. I guess i could custom make some reciever shackle mounts out of solid stock to allow me to locate the hitch pin hole wherever I want it.

Love2Ride- can you give me a measurement of how far out of your bumper your reciever sits? Can you also tell me what the dimension is on the reciever from the back of the hitch pin hole to the front of the reciever? Did you mount yours as tight to the bumper as you could get it, or was some of that determined by the fact that you were using a premade piece?

The end of the receiver tube is 2 1/4" out from the face of the bumper. The back of the pin hole is 2 3/4" from the end of the tube. I could have made it a little shorter, but wanted the full length so the shackle mount would transfer the load fully to the receiver in a side pull.

Hey RCP, how do you unhook the shackles from the bumper to hook up a tow strap?

Okay, well after further review, I'm not totally sure this is going to work. There just isn't any room to be able to take the hitch pin in and out. If I do what I'm thinking about doing, the only way you would be able to get at the hitch pin would be by taking the bumper off. I wouldn't mind doing something like RCP Phx has in his aftermarket bumper, but I'd like it to coordinate with the stock bumper endcaps on my 98. Oooh I just had an idea! I'll be back with a new sketch!

Okay, here's a new idea. The tabs would be D-ring tabs that would stick out through the bumper so it'd be easy to connect the shackle. It might be easier to work this out if I move the D-ring tabs tight up against the frame mounts and then notch the square stock around them, instead of trying to sink them right into the middle of the tubing. They'd also have more welds on them, so they'd be more secure. I'll just have to pick a large enough diameter square stock that the D-ring tabs won't be sticking out too far without any support. I want to keep the shackle holes as close to the square stock as possible.

I think the general concensus will be that it would be better for your shackle mounts to be the same piece of material that bolts to your frame. I can draw you a pic if you like, but it seems you are much better at that than I am.

I know you said you did not like the reciever option, but IMO it is best bang for the buck. $115 delivered from etrailer.com. I just mounted mine about a month ago. It is even with the center of the air dam. That is not really all that low and the receiver pin is very easy to get to. Detours woould have been my 2nd option but i did not like the cost or the empty winch plate sitting up there. Keep us up-to-date on what you drawup or plan to do.

Love2Ride450 said:

I think the general concensus will be that it would be better for your shackle mounts to be the same piece of material that bolts to your frame. I can draw you a pic if you like, but it seems you are much better at that than I am.

Click to expand...

"Drawing" is a bit of an over-statement, but I get what you're saying. I think that it would be stronger to be pulling right off the frame instead of through the middle. I guess what I'm trying to do could be described as tow hooks, but tied together with a nice and solid front brace. Here's another mock-up. P.S. I'm just using Microsoft's photo editing program, it's far from anything like a CAD program.

Love2Ride450 said:

The end of the receiver tube is 2 1/4" out from the face of the bumper. The back of the pin hole is 2 3/4" from the end of the tube. I could have made it a little shorter, but wanted the full length so the shackle mount would transfer the load fully to the receiver in a side pull.

Hey RCP, how do you unhook the shackles from the bumper to hook up a tow strap?

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I access both the shackles and receiver from behind.The face of my receiver is only 2-3/4" from the face of the GRILLE!

Here, I modified it for you. I think it would be much stronger this way, and then you are relying less on your weld, and more on the tensile strength of the material. The brackets that bolt to the frame will be half of your shackle mount. I only modified the left side of course, to show the difference.

Turfzilla said:

I know you said you did not like the reciever option, but IMO it is best bang for the buck. $115 delivered from etrailer.com. I just mounted mine about a month ago. It is even with the center of the air dam. That is not really all that low and the receiver pin is very easy to get to. Detours woould have been my 2nd option but i did not like the cost or the empty winch plate sitting up there. Keep us up-to-date on what you drawup or plan to do.

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But were you able to keep your skid plate??

And RCP Phx, I like your bumper, except the color uke: . I especially like how low profile it is, it seems like it would be a pain in the tail to mess with those shackles when you needed to hook a strap on. Having to reach under to put you hitch pin in is one thing, but every time you want to hook up and unhook your strap, seems a pain. Although it wouldn't be bad if you just kept an extra shackle to attach the strap to that one, but then if the one on the bumper breaks... Someone might lose an eye, or skull.

That was just primer.....

RCP Phx said:

That was just primer.....

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I figgered it was, it's just that is the only pic I have seen of your bumper, and it's in multiple threads sooo..... I decided to give ya some sheet about it.

Love2Ride450 said:

Here, I modified it for you. I think it would be much stronger this way, and then you are relying less on your weld, and more on the tensile strength of the material. The brackets that bolt to the frame will be half of your shackle mount. I only modified the left side of course, to show the difference.

Click to expand...

I hear what you're saying, but I don't think the way I have it designed is weak by any means. There are a number of bumper manufacturers that sell bumpers with D-ring tabs simply welded onto the face of their bumpers. I'm not saying that is a good idea, but I think my design is stronger than that. I think it is a little simpler than your idea, and I would like to keep it simple if possible. If I wanted complicated and expensive, I'd just build my own bumper.