did bolt patterns for receiver hitches ever change?

I went to a Jeep-only salvage yard (not a u-pull, and not cheap, but good), and asked for a hitch for a Cherokee. He sold me a nice one, practically new, for $75 with bolt retainers for the frame rail (not the nutsert strips, but usable).

I got the thing under my '96 XJ, and the darned holes don't line up! Am I an idiot? I thought the bolt pattern was the same throughout the entire XJ production - they didn't change, did they? The guy is certain he took it off an XJ, but for one thing it doesn't fit very well over the metal lip of the gas tank, and only the last (rear) pair of bolt holes line up! And I was supposed to pick up a trailer today!

It's possible that he's right, and I'm an idiot who can't line up the right holes. Can anyone post pictures of the frame rail where the bolts are supposed to go? Also, what are the measurements between the bolt holes? The last hole is right in front of the rear cross-panel, right?

I'm not sure who is correct, but our Jeep only, Pirate forum loving, yard here is full of idiots that rip you off. I don't bother even calling them for price quotes anymore unless I'm in a time crunch. Mainly I think what it is, is that they are a bunch of Wrangler posers that don't wheel but have huge lifts to compensate for something. Not sure what it could be So if your yard is anything like ours, they probably screwed up.

Well you are definitely correct in knowing the XJ frame rail holes didn't change over the years. I know this because I have an '01 hitch on my '90 and that's a few years difference. Why don't you try to set the hitch on the ground and place the nutstrips over it and see if the holes line up that way. You could also try posting pics of the hitch/strips themselves to see if we recognize it that way. If I had access to a camera right now I'd go take pics, but I don't.

Wow... $75 for a used hitch? Class III?

I'm not sure if the prices have gone up, but I bought my Curt Class III BRAND NEW for $110-ish (so time ago, don't remember exact price). I'd say try and return it (is that even possible to junk/salvage yards?) telling him it doesn't fit and get a new one.

Oh, and to my knowledge the bolt patterns never changed, many companies list their hitches for 84-01.

Well it looks like they've gone up in price a ton since I bought mine at my local autoparts store on sale, so mabye the used ain't that bad.

Here's what I had on my XJ:
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=CHT%2D13084&N=700+400050+309488+4294908280+4294908279+4294860902+4294924744+4294907043+4294860894+115&autoview=sku

However, ordering a hitch doesn't solve you picking up the trailer today issue.

Edit: After some quick looking they can be had for cheaper (about $135-140ish) and Summit price matches. Other manufactures out there have cheaper versions, like Hidden Hitch can be had for about $110-120.

are you shure he didnt give you one off a grand cherokee

The hitch was practically brand new, so $75 wasn't that bad. The paint was still shiny.

I had it up under the back end, and I must not have had it positioned right, because it sure didn't look like the holes lined up, and he's positive it came from an XJ. Do grands have similar style hitches?

The shiny paint assures that it will work,"take it back"!New ones that FIT can be found for a 100$!

RCP Phx said:

The shiny paint assures that it will work

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Everything you read on the internet is true too.

I only paid 15 for mine, and all I had to do was cut off the trailer plug thing, and clean it up. I also decided to spray a fresh coat of paint on it. I pulled it off of a '93. Are you running a gastank skid. At first I thought mine wouldn't fit either, then I realized that it was formed to fit inside the gastank skid.

TMXONR said:

At first I thought mine wouldn't fit either, then I realized that it was formed to fit inside the gastank skid.

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I did the same thing.

New or not, it's not very hard to bend out of alignment if some knucklehead dropped it after it was off, so make sure it isn't just a little tweaked.

I bought a brand new Draw-Tite and it was off just a little bit and I had to do some modifying of 2 holes IIRC. Not too ugly.

I have one I'll sell you for $60 plus shipping it came off my 90. I don't need it since I built a rear bumper with a reciever hitch built in. PM me if you want it