Wifes trail damaged jeep(long)

Wife and I were trail riding last weekend and she was attempting to climb a hill we call browntrouser(going down is scary/fun for florida), must turn 90 deg right and 45 deg down at the same time, so you cant see the turn, with an relatively uncontrolled 40 foot decent following). ANY HOW. Its a pretty steep hill and with the super dry weather it was semi climbable. She gunned it and almost made it to the top, hit the brakes, and slid straight back down, BANG stupid little class II hitch nails a rock in the ground. It looked like it just bent down the hitch and bumper, but then the hatch wouldnt open, and once we got it open it wouldnt close. Got it on the lift today and WOW, bent subframe.


I think I can bend the body back straight enough to get a class III hitch on and use it to suppliment the subframe. The hitch I have attaches with 4 bolts on each side....I think I might have to add more steel to strengthen this area. Any one else have damage like this? Is there anything else I might be missing. This is pretty much just a trail jeep but must remain capable as a DD if one of the other jeeps break.

wow... you actually bent the rail and not just the bumper brackets?? i think a high lift jack under he bumper might bend it up enough to align the latch to close the back at least.... get some factory nut-strips to re-mount the hitch.. they will help strengthen the weak area and support a load better...
mike

Looking at my class III hitch, it doesn't look like it extends any farther forward than the area shown in your first picture. If yours is similar, I think it may be a good idea to add perhaps some angle iron between the hitch and the subframe and extend it towards the front a bit farther. The hitch does seem to reinforce the unibody, because once I started 4-wheeling mine, the factory hitch seemed to deteriorate quickly. I replaced it a couple years ago with a Draw-tite, which has held up pretty well so far.

10-4 seems like the right way to go. Thanks for the help. Should be super strong after this.

I´ve had similiar damage. Which I straightened with a tow strap and and electricall pylon out in the boondocks. Worked well, just tried to picture the compression in reverse and un bent it as closely as possible, to how it was bent (4X low range works well). Getting a good seal on the hatch, is troublesome. I´ve still got a small area that doesn´t seal correctly. A good selection of very strong C-clamps and assorted wooden blocks really helps with straightening. So you can spread out the pressure some.
I made a set of nut-strips, threaded some, 5/16" inch stainless flat stock (wide enough to fill the frame rail).