muddeprived

i think we both got great eals. mine was a few bucks more but came with free 1" free ball mount.

i think the hardware bag contains these flat washers to mount inside the frame so i dont have to make any. it also came with a wire made to fish the nuts or bolts into position. i have to look into it more but seems like everything is there.

BlueXJ

Mudd don't use the washers and fish wires. They will pull out of the thin frame/unibody rails. ASK ME HOW I KNOW. Go get a set of nutstrips from the stealership. They are about $27 each and will spread the weight of a recovery from mud or a bog much better. You don't want a pull to just recover your new hitch do you?

muddeprived

Are you talking about the same thing? The rectangular 3/8" thick washers with square holes? I think they go in the frame and the bolt goes in the square hole (bolts are squared to fit to prevent turning when tightening). They are called square holed spacers.

Are the nutstrips $27 each for EACH one or a package of so many? I dont know if i can afford that much for one nutsert. If you seriously recommend nutserts then i will just install this for towing and focus my recovering up front with the tow hooks until i afford the $$ to buy nutstrips.

muddeprived

http://fileresource.sitepro.com/file...A98570B6B5.pdf

These are the instructions. Let me know what you think.

Thanks Blue

BlueXJ

I used a similar set of instructions from my hitch which was purchased from U-Haul and was assured by them that the square washers would be as strong as the nut strips from the dealer. I believed them and used them just as depicted in your instructions. I pulled my motorcycle trailer all the way from Georgia to Texas twice. Once with my motorcycles and the second trip with several yard tools and my gas grill. Both trips went well. No problems. I went wheelin with a old friend here in Texas and got stuck in a canal close to the river. He has a Dodge diesel and when hooking onto my hitch which both of us thought was very a very secure place to hook, he pulled me up the incline backwards and at the top of the muddy embankment we both heard something pop. I was pretty much out of the canal by then. We both crawled under the back of my Jeep to see what was the origin of the popping sound and found that all the square washers but one on each side had pulled right out of the sheet metal of the frame rail.
I now have a homemade rear bumper with the receiver built in to it and have welded a strip onto the frame rail where the original holes tore through. The welded strip is made of 1/4" thick strapping steel.
Hope this helps to clarify my position on that type of hitch attachment. Trying to help you out buddy so you don't have a similar occurrence.

muddeprived

Thanks for sharing and glad you did. I wouldn't want that to happen. What if i made a long strip of 3/8 steel, drill holes for the bolts, and used that on the inside of the frame and then put the individual square washers on top of that. They couldn't pull out individually because it's one large piece below them and it's alot thicker than the frame itself. I don't have access to a welder or know anyone who can so i don't think i can get anyone to weld it.
It looks like hitches on xj's are good for towing but not for tow points. If i can't get a welder or afford the nutstrips then i won't tow from the hitch. This makes me wish i had my tj's rear bumper. It had a built-in receiver and d-rings on both sides.

BlueXJ

I think that will surely help mudd. The hitch wored fine for towing a light trailer but not as a recovery point that was my point. Those strips should be aligned to the hitch and as small a hole as you can make and still get the provided bolts through. You should be fine.

muddeprived

Alright blue, i'll try that. Time to cut some metal.....

BlueXJ

Post up sum pics when you get a chance!!

muddeprived

Well i didn't have to make any cuz i found one already in the passenger side frame rail. I think these are the stock ones for factory hitches. They also hold the exhaust hanger on.

This is the one i found in the frame rail:


Beautiful piece of chunky metal huh?

I had my buddy sand blast it for me at his work and got another one from the dealer for the driver's side:



Should work and be safe to yank a stuckie out of the mud

HeepSpeed

I'm eventually going to be getting a trailer hitch and was looking at the Class III from my local Uhaul for $140. If I'm not mistaken from what I've read, I should get these extra parts you guys are talking about instead of just bolting the hitch to the frame with the U-haul bolts? Thanks!

motoxpete

Man this tread answered alot of questions for me. I'll start with the price of my hitch....Free!! nice.. a buddy took it off his before resale and had it laying around. He gave it to me but no hardware. Now after this thread I know exactly what i have to do.... Man i love this board!!!

00xj-classic

I just got my CURT hitch back from the guy i sold it to 5 years ago.. I have 6 of the square washers and all the nuts and bolts.. i plan on getting the stips from the dealer soon, i also might make my own.. I am assuming the rear bumper has to be removed to install the strips..? so should i use the 6 washers i have on the bottom?? the old factory strip is still in the passenger side frame rail, should i use it??