Booty-fabbed Nutstrips
 

So I bought a 2" hitch off Craigslist for $50, and couldn't really justify buying a set of nut strips for the same price. So, I built my own for free :thumbup1:

I ended up using 3' of 3ga 2" wide steel, 1' of 1/2" solid square stock, 4" of 1/2" square tubing, and 10 1/2" nuts.

I don't have a bender of any sort, so I used the square tubing (with one side cut off) for the small "arch" and the square stock, along with extra 3ga, for the large "arch". I know my welds aren't pretty, but the whole thing stood up to me jumping on the middle with a cinderblock under each end.

Took me about an hour and a half, including measuring, marking, cutting, welding, grinding, and painting.

If any of y'all would like to see a writeup, I'd be happy to make one.




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please excuse my bare feet and messy floor

Looks damn good to me. I'm going to have to build something similar when I build my rear bumper in the near future.

These look better than the nut strips smittybilt sends out with their bumpers.

lol thanks guys. Want an opinion: I ran out of wire as I was welding on the last nut, and only got one of the six sides of it down. Do you think that'll be enough, or would I be better off wire brushing the paint off that area and finishing it proper?

I'm sure six would be decent as there is three other nuts on that side. But if the amount of work compared to the piece of mind would make me just go ahead and finish the other sides.

Agreed, except.... it would give you peace of mind.


Very nice work! :cheers:

Not to high jack but had question. What exactly do these nut strips do/bolt to? And are they worth replacing when installing a new off road bumper?

It's to creat more surface area on the inside of the "frame" rail and so that your bolts don't pull sheet metal when tightening/putting stress on them.

Looks good. That's about as stout as I made mine. :) You've got issues if those pull through! I have the factory hitch, but when I had to remove it to install my lift I mangled the crap out of the flimsy OEM nut strips trying to get the hitch off. Don't think I'll have that problem with 1/4 stock! You shouldn't have any problem with yours either.

Sure hope my stock ones hold. Carry a motorcycle pretty often, ha.

It's easier to just weld the nuts to the bumper mounts and use flat stock on the outside to sandwich the frame rail. Far less measuring and cutting.

Update after 2 months of using these guys: holding out well. Since putting on that hitch I pulled out two f150s and towed two 650cc bikes about 1500 miles. Took off the hitch to repaint it this weekend and pulled out the strips to check out the inside of the frame rail. Couldn't see any marks or indentations from them, so I guess they're doing their job