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Front Receiver Installation - Uniframe Question

9

98XJFEAT

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Denver, CO
Hello everyone,
I've searched the forums, but have not been able to find a definitive answer to my question about whether or not I need to reinforce the uniframe prior to installing a a front receiver hitch.

I have a Curt #31084 front receiver that I plan on using as a recovery point. It appears to attach to the uniframe with three m12 bolts on each side.

I don't do extreme stuff, mostly forest roads and trails, but if I get stuck I want to make sure that I'm not going to rip out the front receiver during the recovery.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks,
Doug
 
You will probably be fine. However, if you plan on keeping your XJ for a long time, I would highly reccommend doing unibody stiffeners, made a world of difference on mine.
 
Most after market bumpers use 6 bolts per side, but they weigh a lot more and have winches a lot of the time.
 
Same as the reciever n my XJ. You should be OK.
 
souske said:
You will probably be fine. However, if you plan on keeping your XJ for a long time, I would highly reccommend doing unibody stiffeners, made a world of difference on mine.
Click to expand...

I'm a Jeep newby, so when you refer to unibody stiffeners, are referring to the whole rig or just the front end? What stiffeners did you installed on your XJ?
 
98XJFEAT said:
Are you saying that the front receiver should hold up as long as I don't winch from it? Is is okay to use for manual recovery?
Click to expand...
I'd say as long as you don't exceed the rated limits, you'll fine and dandy. :D If you order some plate style bumper mounts from someone like JCR or RuffStuff, you'll be even better.
 
Darky said:
I'd say as long as you don't exceed the rated limits, you'll fine and dandy. :D If you order some plate style bumper mounts from someone like JCR or RuffStuff, you'll be even better.
Click to expand...

I was looking at the JCR plates for reinforcement, but I thought that I might have to cut the plate because it also reinforces the bumper mounts. My concern is that the OEM bumper backets on the OEM bumper will not fit because of the increased thickness of the bumper mounts when using the JCR plate.
 
I installed tow hook brackets under my OEM bumper brackets. It was a tight squeeze. It would probably require you to do some clearance of the OEM bumper mounts to get both the hitch and reinforcements on. You'll probably be just fine though with just the hitch as long long as you keep the rated limits in mind. ie, no 30 mph running starts on the recovery vehicle...
 
Darky said:
I installed tow hook brackets under my OEM bumper brackets. It was a tight squeeze. It would probably require you to do some clearance of the OEM bumper mounts to get both the hitch and reinforcements on. You'll probably be just fine though with just the hitch as long long as you keep the rated limits in mind. ie, no 30 mph running starts on the recovery vehicle...
Click to expand...

...and get into an even bigger quandary!

I've decided to go with some extra reinforcement plates even if I have to shorten them. I started thinking that it might be nice to have a winch someday in the future when I can afford it, so it makes sense to reinforce things now.

I appreciate all your input.

Thanks,
Doug
 
I have that same receiver installed on my XJ, and it should be fine for any kind of recovery point. I was bottomed out on rocks on both front and rear diffs going up a hill a couple weeks ago. I was pulled with a 9500lb warn winch until the winch bottomed out (wouldn't pull any futher) a few times. It stood up to that load no problem. It was also hooked to a d-ring shackle that fits into my receiver, so that may help for recovery versus just hooking to the hitch loops.
 
XJ_Man said:
I have that same receiver installed on my XJ, and it should be fine for any kind of recovery point. I was bottomed out on rocks on both front and rear diffs going up a hill a couple weeks ago. I was pulled with a 9500lb warn winch until the winch bottomed out (wouldn't pull any futher) a few times. It stood up to that load no problem. It was also hooked to a d-ring shackle that fits into my receiver, so that may help for recovery versus just hooking to the hitch loops.
Click to expand...

Thanks, because I was seriously considering beefing up the uniframe where the front receiver is attached. I have the same d-ring setup in the front receiver as you do. I appreciate the feedback. :cheers:
 
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