Hitch compatability

I tried putting the reciever from my 87' on my wife's 97' but it seems the gas tank sticks out a tad too far and the reciever wont line up with the holes.

So what kind of reciever should I be looking for for a 97'? Is the trim going to matter at all? It's got no Sport/Classic badge on the side...not sure if that will make a difference.

I need to find the right reciever pronto because we use her Jeep to haul our trailer to go mow lawns and whatnot.

Are there certain years that will work for her 97'... something I should be looking for in particular?

Thanks!

You must have gotten a weird hitch. Hitches usually fit all years and models of XJ Cherokees. Try here - http://www.etrailer.com/hitch-1997_Jeep_Cherokee.htm -. Valley fits my 2000 with a factory gas tank skid. My buddy has a Hidden Hitch and a gas tank skid

I know that the draw tite I was running on my 88 fits perfectly on a 99, the only issue on the 99 was a nutsert that we had lost along the way. Once the bumper was removed my buddy got a bolt into his 99 channel and a wrench and it works perfectly. That was one stout hitch.

Could you loosen the tank mounts and shift it enough to mount it?

Is it the tank itself or a skid plate? BFH the skid plate?

It seems that the holes on the 97 are a tad wider than my 87 and the hitch reciever doesn't quite fit. Anyone run into this before or is the reciever I had on the 87 just a weird one?

Are the bolt holes in the receiver round or oblong?

Make it fit! Drill, file, grind. If it's just a "tad" out, you can MAKE it work.

gas tank skid plate? I have a 93 stock hitch on my 87, the guy who put it on for me said that it would not fit with the skid plate, so they took the skid off. but that shop is a bunch of dumbasses so I dunno. If you have a skid you could try taking that off, tho I am also a fan of the "MAKE it fit" philosophy.

Well, if I tried to make it fit... the driver side would be kinda off and wouldn't be as sturdy as it should be. It doesn't quite line up with the rail on that side to have a sturdy enough bolting system there.

We pretty much only haul a small utility trailer with the hitch for our little side lawn mowing business... but if push comes to shove it'd be used for recovery as well if my wife's Jeep ever got in that situation... which would only hopefully occur during the winter since my Jeep is the camping/trail rig.

I dunno though... i'll have to get measurements. It also seems that the gas tank sticks out a little further than on my previous 87. Haven't measured the difference on the 96' I just bought to compare.

It's only got the cheapo plastic gas tank skid too.

First two pictures are from the 97.



The last pic is from the 96.

You can see a big difference between the gap of the gas tank and the rear bracket. I don't have a picture of the 87, that got sold. It's kinda weird that there's such a big difference...any ideas why? Could it be that the bumper is a little in the way? Or that heat shield protecting the gas tank from the muffler? It doesn't seem to have a skid plate at all...