Rear bumper/hitch/tank skid

looking for ideas on how to run all three for the most reasonable $. I will be towing a 14' or so aluminum fishing boat so I need something that will take it. I would like a rear bumper with hitch incorporated but I dont know if that is the strongest set up. Thankx for the help.

wannabe said:

looking for ideas on how to run all three for the most reasonable $. I will be towing a 14' or so aluminum fishing boat so I need something that will take it. I would like a rear bumper with hitch incorporated but I dont know if that is the strongest set up. Thankx for the help.

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A good rear bumper with a hitch built in will utilize all the hitch bolts along with the bumper bolts. I wish I would have used the hitch to justify an aftermarket bumper when I did it the first time.
Billy

I have the Tomken rear bumper with the reciever, it bolts on using all 8 bumper mount bolts and two straps to the frame rail with 1 bolt.
IMPO I would want a hitch that bolted to the 6 holes in the frame rail if I was doing any towing.
I could be wrong,but I would want the strongest mount possible.
Wayne

Wayne Sihler said:

I have the Tomken rear bumper with the reciever, it bolts on using all 8 bumper mount bolts and two straps to the frame rail with 1 bolt.
IMPO I would want a hitch that bolted to the 6 holes in the frame rail if I was doing any towing.
I could be wrong,but I would want the strongest mount possible.
Wayne

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wayne, can you take a pic of how that tomken attaches to the frame rails, I'm planning on the tomken myself but want to see if it would interfere with my factory rear hook bracket or it could just go under the bracket...

RichP said:

wayne, can you take a pic of how that tomken attaches to the frame rails, I'm planning on the tomken myself but want to see if it would interfere with my factory rear hook bracket or it could just go under the bracket...

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Rich,
Not able to take pic,will try to splane--
Bracket attaches to the last bolt hole in the frame rail. Now looking at the bracket on the 87 ,Tow hook on Drivers side,The tow hook bracket and the bumper bracket use the same last hole.
I do believe that with just a longer bolt both would work as the bumper bracket is pulled up to the rail when the bolt is tightened down and this puts a little pre -load on things.
The Tomken bumper is on my 96 and the tow hook is on the 87 of my sons.
Wayne

Any recommendations on bumpers that use all the hitch and bumper bolts.

wannabe said:

Any recommendations on bumpers that use all the hitch and bumper bolts.

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I think the Warn one does. :dunno:
Billy

Wayne Sihler said:

Rich,
Not able to take pic,will try to splane--
Bracket attaches to the last bolt hole in the frame rail. Now looking at the bracket on the 87 ,Tow hook on Drivers side,The tow hook bracket and the bumper bracket use the same last hole.
I do believe that with just a longer bolt both would work as the bumper bracket is pulled up to the rail when the bolt is tightened down and this puts a little pre -load on things.
The Tomken bumper is on my 96 and the tow hook is on the 87 of my sons.
Wayne

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What holds the bracket to the bumper ? Could you use a longer piece of steel to get more bolts on the frame rails ? I'm assuming that the bracket that tomken uses is just a piece of flat steel 2 or so inches wide and maybe 1/4 or less inch thick, or is it welded to the tomken bumper ?

Rich,
One bolt into the bottom of the bumper.Yes I believe with a little work a longer bracket could be made.
Tomken bracket is about 1/2" tube,about .120 thick with the ends mashed flat and bent to pick up the bumper and the last bolt in the frame.About a 2" difference between bottom of bumper and rail.
Wayne

wannabe said:

looking for ideas on how to run all three for the most reasonable $. I will be towing a 14' or so aluminum fishing boat so I need something that will take it. I would like a rear bumper with hitch incorporated but I dont know if that is the strongest set up. Thankx for the help.

Click to expand...

wannabe said:

Any recommendations on bumpers that use all the hitch and bumper bolts.

Click to expand...

I don't know how you feel about Rusty's, but they've got this one for the swb's for $175 (but the 2" receiver is an add-on), and it's supposed to be available "soon" for the xj.

When I called a month ago, the guy said "soon" should mean june-ish, and that yes, it will use all 14 mounts, bumper and frame...

I'm hopin for it...

Robert

Instead of using flat steel to extend along the underside of the framerails, I'd use angle in some form or another. Something like 2x2x1/4 or even 2x1.5x3/16 would work great. You won't get much vertical strength from flat steel, which if you are wanting to get the most out of your hitch isn't a good idea. Angle on the other hand will give you a lot more strength. Something like this...


I wouldn't even consider making a bumper with a receiver and/or d-rings that didn't have the frame rail mounts.

I_1BADXJ_I said:

I don't know how you feel about Rusty's, but they've got this one for the swb's for $175 (but the 2" receiver is an add-on), and it's supposed to be available "soon" for the xj.

When I called a month ago, the guy said "soon" should mean june-ish, and that yes, it will use all 14 mounts, bumper and frame...

I'm hopin for it...

Robert

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I like it, but if it follows the typical XJ pricing schedule it will cost over $300, they seem to think that if you drive an XJ you must be wealthy.... Like I said before, both warn bumpers for the TJ's were under $500 w/shipping & handling per TJ... Thats what makes the tomken bumper a bargain if you want to get some heavy metal on both ends...

since the rustys huitch that was mentioned uses all bumber and frame mounts, would that make it worth of a weight-distrubuting setup? I've got a 24' Aluminum Travel Trailer that weighs in around 4,200 lbs. loaded. Any takers, since the tow package i ahve now has the mopar hitch thqat hitches to the frame, that could only make this better since it uses additional points...right? (seeking any and all input)

I would say no. The added attachment points are not enough to significantly increase the weight rating. One thing you'll also notice about most any aftermarket bumper is the lack of any class/weight/tow rating. It's pretty much one of those "unspoken" deals where if you talk to the person building/selling it they'll say "sure it should handle it" but on paper they'll rarely give you a specific rating. I've seen some bumpers with a receiver hitch that I wouldn't trust to more than 1000lbs or over 150lbs of tongue weight. On the other hand I've seen a few that I believe to be stronger than any reciever hitch out there for the XJ. The amount of attachment points is only one factor to consider, the design, construction, type of materials used all play a very important role.

Sorry for the vague response but better safe than sorry. Without actually seeing the bumper and it's mounting system there really is no way to know.