Gas Tank Skid - Tow Hitch Compatibility

My '95 came with the factory tow hitch option, but was not equipped with skids. I'm picking up a used mopar front, tc, and gas tank skid this weekend.

Can the oem gas tank skid be used with the oem tow hitch, and if so, do the nutstrips do double duty, ie; secure both pieces?

An earlier post on gas tank skid nutserts mentioned part #s 52001174 & 52001175, and a post for tow hitch nutserts on the ColoradoXJ List mentioned the same numbers, so I figured either there's two pair of the same numbers, or one pair does double duty.

Crossing my fingers that I can add the gas tank skid and still retain my tow setup.

Thanks!

Yes, the one set of nut strips do double duty. They use 12 mm bolts and the ones that came with my skid plate were grade 9.8 but got some 8.8 at the parts store for the hitch. If i recall the skid had 50 mm long bolts.

You will have to remove the rear bumper to install the nut strips. Depending on the year of the vehicle you install hitch then skid or skid then hitch. You can find the installation instructions for the hitch at http://www.hiddenhitch.com/images/products/instructions/87591.pdf

Read them over, they will get you set up on the proper installation order.

Just remove all the hitch bolts, except for the two rear ones (one on each side). These two bolts will hold the hitch in place. Position the gas tank skid with a floor jack. Reinstall the remaining bolts. Takes all of 10 minutes. No need for new nutserts.

Cool, I was hoping that was all there was to it. Thanks a lot guys

So it looks like Hidden Hitch doesn't use the nut strips, just washers and bolts/nuts and still rates it at 5000 lbs and 500 tongue wt. I have been warned against doing that.

The nut strips part # are for a R and L .In my case I put the tank skid on first and the hitch on last. Get all the bolts started before tighting them all down.
The plastic cover over the stock tank will need to be trimmed so the skid will fit.
Wayne

Guys, I posted the link so you'd know which came first for your XJ - skid or hitch. I have a Draw-tite hitch and when I installed my skid plate I pulled off the hitch, removed those carriage bolts the draw-tite dealer installed and re assembled with the nut plates and bolts.

I like the nut plate method, provides for a very good clamp up between the hitch and the chassis. I had considered doing the nut plates alone but Chrysler had the inventory clearance in late 2001 on accessories so could not say no to a $25 gas tank skid plate from the dealer.

I also used a torque wrench when tightening the bolts. I found running a tap through the nuts welded to the nut plates made life easier. The paint in the threads make it just too hard to start bolts but once I had removed it with the tap they threaded in great.

Also when you install the nut plates you will see a 1/4 inch hole. The factory rivets in the nut plates. I went to my local hardware store and picked up some plastic wall anchors with the center pin you push into the center to expand the anchor. This did the trick. If you do not install something like this the plate will try to raise up when you are threading the bolts in. If you are lucky your hardware store will rent 1/4 inch pop rivet guns and you can just pop rivet it in place.

martin said:

Also when you install the nut plates you will see a 1/4 inch hole. The factory rivets in the nut plates. I went to my local hardware store and picked up some plastic wall anchors with the center pin you push into the center to expand the anchor. This did the trick. If you do not install something like this the plate will try to raise up when you are threading the bolts in. If you are lucky your hardware store will rent 1/4 inch pop rivet guns and you can just pop rivet it in place.

Click to expand...

I used a flat pry bar inserted into the frame rail to apply down pressure when trying to line up and thread the bolts. I had a heck of a time getting the dirverside rear gas tank skid bolt to line up and thread correctly.