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Custom Tire Carrier Bumper Craigslist Find - Towing Concerns

L

LKN_xj

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Cornelius, NC
I picked up this sweet tire carrier a guy locally had built for his XJ. Guy sold his XJ and kept the bumper to sell separate to optimize cash return for his sale. Long story short, I picked it up for a steal.

My concern, however is that this bumper only bolts to the stock 8 bolt holes in the body and doesn't tie in like my hidden hitch I removed to accommodate this bumper.

I've searched for similar topics, but most aftermarket bumpers come with tie in strips.

I don't plan on towing anything huge - nothing more than a utility trailer with a few hundred pounds on it. Does anyone have experience towing with only using the bumper mounts?

I'm certain it's not recommended but I'm trying to figure out if it will get me by for a couple months until I can buy my pickup truck that I'll use to tow crap.

Any experience here?

afb0720d19f9b8b134ee33977b0dc5d8.jpg



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I wouldn't tow with it.
 
IslanderOffRoad said:
I wouldn't tow with it.
Click to expand...



I don't want to either :)

I still have my hidden hitch so it's no biggie to swap it back on for a little bit.

I was hoping for a response of "yeah I did that for a while with no issues" or "yeah I did that and the back of my jeep ripped off when I accelerated"

Ha - but seriously I know there are bumpers rated for towing out there for trucks, so I was wondering if this has been tried.


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You won't hear a lot of 'I towed just fine' because many of us know that it's a game of roulette. best to use the hidden hitch till you get a truck or modify the bumper to tie into the uniframe better
 
Demonoid369 said:
You won't hear a lot of 'I towed just fine' because many of us know that it's a game of roulette. best to use the hidden hitch till you get a truck or modify the bumper to tie into the uniframe better
Click to expand...

Exactly
 
Yep okay I get it. Thanks guys.

I do like the bumper. After I get a towing vehicle I'm considering seeing if I can modify the "arms" of the hitch (hack them off) to weld onto the bumper. Currently I can't use both. Would solve all problems.


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LKN_xj said:
Yep okay I get it. Thanks guys.

I do like the bumper. After I get a towing vehicle I'm considering seeing if I can modify the "arms" of the hitch (hack them off) to weld onto the bumper. Currently I can't use both. Would solve all problems.


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Click to expand...

you could probably just sell the hitch for the price of material and beer, and just make your own tie ins by sleeving the unibody.

regardless of how you accomplish it, tie in would be a great idea to help support the weight of the spare tire. the factory bumper mounts were never meant for that.
 
One way people go about it is to cut a rectangular hole In between the four bumper bolt holes and sleeve a tube into the uniframe. Like this:
635dabfeb31954e38ee980f10f23cbfe.jpg

69395e605be0911f491edd52e3d6db0b.jpg
 
You could definitely bring it to a welder and have them tie it into the unibody strips. That's what I would do. It was custom built so I would have them look it over for weld quality and design. It's possible that it would be fine, but it might need some modification.

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Demonoid369 said:
One way people go about it is to cut a rectangular hole In between the four bumper bolt holes and sleeve a tube into the uniframe. Like this:
635dabfeb31954e38ee980f10f23cbfe.jpg

69395e605be0911f491edd52e3d6db0b.jpg
Click to expand...



This is a great idea. A little permanent and hard to weld on the backside right? Trying to make sure I'm understanding that right.


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LKN_xj said:
This is a great idea. A little permanent and hard to weld on the backside right? Trying to make sure I'm understanding that right.


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Click to expand...



Never mind I'm seeing it now. That is a good idea to reinforce it for sure.


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Demonoid369 said:
Ya those nuts welded to the box tubing is what the hitch bolts go into
Click to expand...



Yeah I actually reached out to Eric who made these to see if this is something he'd like to fab up again. Then I can just adapt to my existing bumper and call it a day. It probably wouldn't hurt to "pinch" the unibody frame rail sheet metal between the box tubing on the inside of the frame, and plate steel strip on the underside. That way the bolt is in shear with two thicknesses of plate. The bumper itself would probably be the weak link at that point.


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That's basically how I did mine, since I plated the frame the whole way back. My mounts are similar to those, except I made nutstrips that I put in the tubing so I could keep the beam strength of the 2x4. I should tie it back in to the factory mounts some day, but for now, 10 1/2 in bolts is working pretty well.
 
trippled said:
That's basically how I did mine, since I plated the frame the whole way back. My mounts are similar to those, except I made nutstrips that I put in the tubing so I could keep the beam strength of the 2x4. I should tie it back in to the factory mounts some day, but for now, 10 1/2 in bolts is working pretty well.
Click to expand...



Oh so you're not even using the 8 bolts on the back of the jeep, perpendicular to the frame rail?


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trippled said:
No, but I would've been more hesitant if my frame wasn't plated all the way back
Click to expand...



Come to think of it, a hidden hitch only uses bolts in shear, not tension as well. You're probably not losing much strength the way you have it. I wouldn't be bothered either.


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Just to close the loop the on this, I saw a thread (I believe on Cherokee Forum) about universal tie in brackets. Come to find out, Nates launched exactly what guys in my situation need. For this price you can barely buy the material. Really, you can't beat it.

I'm off an running and my bumper is tied in just like a hitch, only inside the frame rail and not bolted underneath.

http://www.nates4x4.com/mobile/Product.aspx?id=37636

805722eaaf583b933f018fb3dd31535d.jpg



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