• Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum! If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.

i need help installing my hitch help me!

M

MaxxXJ

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Bakersfield CA
ok... so whats the easiest way going about this?

my deal is, i WAS going to take it to 4 wheel parts to get it installed but they put it up on the lift and cuz their 150 lb torque wrench wouldnt remove the bumper they gave up basically they put some penetration crap on it and told me to come back later, thats only after they made my fiance wait for 2 hours 1 for them to go to lunch and come back then put it up on the lift and let it sit. so to end the story i bought the hitch and told them i'll take care of it myself and save a $100 ( 80 dollars labor and 20 dollars for a shop fee which means i would pay for the lube they used, any grinding wheels they used etc... shop fee)

so anyway its a draw-tite 75054 class 4 hitch and i have a 2000 jeep cherokee sport that came from michigan, then san diego now bakersfield... anyway so the bolts are rusted a little bit for the most part.

i saw 2 bolts that are bolted to the bottom of the bumper and im thinking theres maybe 2 more on top, can i just remove those and leave the mounts bolted to the frame... i plan on doing it tomorrow. can anyone help?
 
Once you do get your bumper off, see if you have anything inside the frame for the bolts to attach to. Some Cherokees have one nut strip inside the frame tubes, and once in awhile they have both sides, but if they don't, buy the nut strips. New ones cost about $32 and are not stripped, and you don't have to work hard to get them.

You may or may not have the nut strips inside. If you don't, get them from the dealer or work your ass off and get them out of a junk car. Once you get your bumper off, slide these nut strips inside, and it is now possible to bolt your hitch on. This would be a good time to install a gas tank skid cover. I used a stock one and then welded 1/8 thick strips to the bottom to make it stronger.

Use Grade 8 metric bolts for the hitch, and use locktite.
 
Take your rear bumper caps off if you already havent, then there should be 2 bolts inside the bumper itself that you can see if your looking at it from the side, take those 2 off and remove the bumper. The bumper brackets should still be on, from there just take the bumper brackets off and install the hitch from there, then reverse the process to put the bumper back on... if the bolts are stuborn then get a breaker bar and try to break them loose, mine werent really a pain to get off, its just that tiny space that you have to work with to get the nuts off inside the bumper. Hope that helps!
 
Used an impact wrench, if you can squeeze in there..

I would expect those bolts to break since it can from a rusty state..

Heat works too.

E
 
can i just leave the bumper brackets on there?... i think i could feed my hand into the tube and drop the bolts in... i really dont want to spend 60 dollars on nut strips when i could honestly just tack the bolts to a welding rod and feed them in that way bolt it up and break off the welding rod. ill take off the side bumper caps tomorrow after work and attempt to remove the bumper and see what i can see from there. hopefully i can get away without removing the brackets and save me some time.
 
You can do that but its a PITA. The nut strips work great.

Also, grade 8 is for SAE bolts. The metric rating would be 10.9
 
yeah... pita or not i think i'll try my idea before i go and "give up" and buy nut strips lol

i'll tack the square block things that keep the bolts from spinning in the frame to the bolts so they dont pop outta place
 
when i installed my hitch recently- my friend had an ingenious idea of using baling wire to get the carriage bolts into place. personally- i think having the carriage bolts instead of the nutstrips is a better configuration. in fact- my instructions said to remove the nutstrips.

to do this, once your bumper is removed, take a length of about 3ft of baling wire. corkscrew the wire around the threads of the carriage bolt on one end and bend the length slightly with a slight hook in the opposite tip so that the wire will be easily manipulated into the desired hole placement (start forwardmost on the frame rale- deepest into the channel).

once you have the baling wire through- you can pull on that and and the carriage bolt will seat itself into the frame rail. continue this process untill all bolts are in place. for my install- there were specific washers that accompanied each bolt in a particular position.

be sure to consume beer while installing.
 
Given how many times you find yourself removing the hitch and or gas tank skid over the years to fix this or that, replace fuel pumps, etc ..

Get the damn nutstrips. They will save you DAYS of heartache in the end.
 
MaxxXJ said:
thats only after they made my fiance wait for 2 hours 1 for them to go to lunch and come back then put it up on the lift and let it sit.
Click to expand...


all else aside, why do you expect them to delay their break for you? OR your girlfriend? i take break at 10am, everyday, a job super comes to me at 9:50 w/ a request... thats fine, it'll be the first thing after lunche, break is break.

MAYBE you shouldnt be using your fiance as a personal assitant. i bet you couldve installed that hitch in those 2 hours... what are you, afraid of turning a wrench? 4wp is for suckers.
 
Do you have to remove the bumper on newer models? My 89 and my dads 92 did not require removing the rear bumper.
 
alright... well i finally got that SOB installed! took me 3 hours or so and it was a total PITA but i got it... i removed the bumper which was the easy part right... took me like 30 minutes for that... then came the fun part the passenger side nut strip... the exhaust hanger was pretty much rusted to the famous nut strip... both bolts in fact the first one was cake i had a breaker bar and actually snapped the head right off the sucker 1 point for me =) the other one wasnt as easy... breaker bear just wouldnt do it, so i got out the grinder and cut the head off.... well all was find and dandy until i tried to pull the nut strip out only to see that the bolts left in were going to hold me back...so i notched the little oval hole big enough to slide the strip out and the rest was total cake i have this tool that is long and skinny and has a little grab thing on the front.... looks like a robotic arm or something... but the carriage nuts went right in, the hitch went right in bolted up and everything, tomorrow i'll install my bumper cuz it got dark too quick with all new bolts and lock washers... should be fun right... right =)
 
bcmaxx said:
Do you have to remove the bumper on newer models? My 89 and my dads 92 did not require removing the rear bumper.
Click to expand...


my 2000 i had to, my nut strip that came factory was fubar... i couldnt bolt up to it or anything i had to notch the hole for the nut strip cuz the bolts were rusted to it ... im going to install my rear bumper tomorrow morning after i go and buy new bolts for it.
 
tone said:
Take your rear bumper caps off if you already havent, then there should be 2 bolts inside the bumper itself that you can see if your looking at it from the side, take those 2 off and remove the bumper. The bumper brackets should still be on, from there just take the bumper brackets off and install the hitch from there, then reverse the process to put the bumper back on... if the bolts are stuborn then get a breaker bar and try to break them loose, mine werent really a pain to get off, its just that tiny space that you have to work with to get the nuts off inside the bumper. Hope that helps!
Click to expand...

ya man it helped... and actually i left the brackets on the bumper and just un bolted the 8 from the frame, i then used a breaker bar and broke a bolt on my exhaust hanger and the other one i had to cut off with a grinder... so my nut bar was useless

but i used this tool
http://hdtools.co.uk/family/albums/album16/Ullman_Grabber_tool.jpg

i was able to install the castle nuts super easy and the hitch went on really easy once i took out that stupid nut strip. so tomorrow the bumper will go back on IF i can get some new grade 8 bolts for my bumper.
 
silverslk said:
Cool. Glad you got it taken care of.
Click to expand...


man 3.5 hours later... talk about a bear lol i had just gotten off work, the last thing i wanted was a PITA hitch to install. its funny, i thought i pressure washed all the mud off the jeep... boy was i wrong lol. it was still caked on inside the bumper
 
Elias said:
Used an impact wrench, if you can squeeze in there..

I would expect those bolts to break since it can from a rusty state..

Heat works too.

E
Click to expand...

lol one snapped with ease and 1 i had to grind off. im glad neither one was a bumper bolt =) either way the bumper bolts are getting treated with all new grade 8 bolts.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Anak
Hitch Stinger Storage
Replies
0
Views
549
Anak
Anak
ZomBrady
Things are looking up or how a couple of XJs gave me back my life
Replies
6
Views
173
ZomBrady
ZomBrady
Anak
Ah. The Joys of Living in Idaho
Replies
8
Views
92
JohnX
JohnX
M
Installing heated factory seat
Replies
3
Views
839
mortenhj
M
Carol.92124
  • Poll
NAXJA Holiday Party Saturday 12/2/2023 in Long Beach
Replies
6
Views
2K
Bent
Bent
Back
Top