steiner

Anyone have any thoughts on this idea? The general plan I have in mind is to take four of those recovery point rings that you can buy to put in your 2" receiver and mount them directly to the frame rails through square holes I'll cut into the factory bumpers. The concern I have is over the strength of the mounting points. Anyone ever seen anything like this done before? Yes, I realize that new bumpers would obviously be better but I don't have that kind of money to spend right now and I currently have no recovery points. What do we think?

Lowrange2

This has been covered a few times in the past week.

Give me a sec and I'll try to dig up the threads.

BLKXJ 96

Detour offroad has something like you are talking about.

http://detoursusa.com/xjbackbone.php

I am running Hi-country offroad D-ring mounts on my XJ, they bolt up in the same place that factory hooks do. This lets you use D-rings instead of hooks, I think they are out of business now.

steiner

Awesome! Thanks a million.

tonka toy 72

Iron rock offroad has this!
http://www.ironrockoffroad.com/Merch...egory_Code=XPA
It is a pretty simple design that munts right under the stock bumper. but this will act as a recovery point and stiffen the frame a little

Northwoods Snowman

Do you have a JY around you could pick up some OEM tow hooks from?

steiner

Yeah, there's a junkyard nearby. I was just hoping to come up with something that has the tougher appearance of a steel bumper while actually just integrating a couple recovery points into the factory trim. I like the look of the Iron Rock recovery bar with D-rings. It looks like a great way to increase strength at the pulling points.

Northwoods Snowman

I've since also put OEM tow hooks on, but I ended up putting a front hitch on for a couple reasons. a) ties both sides of the frame togther b) can be used as a recovery point c) If I need to snake a trailer in some weird place I can d) will work with my movable winch when ever I get one lol.

Lowrange2

I've had no luck. Oh well.

letsgowheelin

Where did you get your front hitch? I desperately need one both as a recovery point and to help get my trailers into their rather small storage locations. I have found one on amazon but am a little dubious.

Northwoods Snowman

I got mine on Amazon. IIRC it's a Reese unit.

Berserker

I put a front receiver hitch from JC Whitney on my '93 ( mounts directly under the bumper) and use either a hook welded to the part that goes into the receiver (having a brain fart-can't think of the name of the part) or one that has a large clevis. These are available from harbor freight tools and are rated to 10k pounds. I realize it's only one recovery point instead of two, but is two really necessary?

Northwoods Snowman

Technically you would have three because you also have the two loops that you could run a winch cable back to. They're stout enough (at least on my hitch) that you could pull from those alone. The paperwork with my hitch said they were there specifically for running a winch line back to when doubling the line with a ****** block. All together with my setup I have five tow points on my front (2x tow hooks, 2x hitch loops, 1x receiver shackle) lol.

steiner

Well, after searching high and low, it looks like the best option is the Detours Off Road Backbone. This thing ties the front end together, reinforces the frame rail near the power steering gearbox, integrates recovery points into the factory bumper, and it adds a winch plate with mounts for a pair of driving lights. I researched this thing about as thoroughly as I could and it looks like it's stronger and more well-designed than anything else out there. Gonna save up some dough and go with this.

N20jeep

Great choice. If I was runnin a stock bumper id go for that