armymedic120

Hey folks, I bought my first jeep cherokee to play around with a few months ago, an it's definitely a fix'er upper. Anyway, I was gonna attach some tow hooks I bought the other day, and there doesn't appear to be any factory spots to put them in. Am I missing something or is this something I would have to fabricate? If it helps I have an 89 model

caged

you can buy hook mounting plates for the front (or fab them if yer handy), and you're good if you have a hitch for the rear.

mud-dog27

as said you need the bracket, you can buy em.....or if your the DIY type and can handle a torch and welder heres some blueprints i used way back when i didnt have a custom bumper.



EDIT: sorry its hard to read but this is as big as it will let me upload, if you do try this route i can try reworking the picture and getting the proper measurements.

BTW this is not my work i picked it up somewhere in my searches a long time ago and the name of the creator eludes me so i dont deserve any of the credit as someone else did all the work, i just happened to save it and hold onto it as it is indeed great work.

armymedic120

Thanks guys. This is my first jeep, and I really would like to do most of this myself. Right now I'm just trying to get errything running right, kinda hard to look at the fun stuff and have to tell myself no.

mud-dog27

LOL that never changes ive been wrenching my jeep for 7yrs and i constantly have to tell myself no.

HunterGreenXJ

Are these mounts for both sides of the frame in the front? Is there something extra neded to clear the steering box?

How did you bolt through the frame? Drill holes right through and bolt to the other side?

austinjoe13

I've been wanting to do this too...Subscribed!

mud-dog27

they go on the out side of the frame, and use existing holes and it clears the steering box bolts, you will need to fiddle with the factory bumper brackets to get them over it.....it is also advised to put some "L" brackets on the inside to sandwich the front where the stock bumper bracket mounts, front 2 holes so you do not bend the frame when side loading as some have experienced with stock setups.......hope that makes sense....if not i can make a picture

HunterGreenXJ

I think I understand what you mean. But a picture would work even better if you could. If you could make that picture above a bit clearer I would appreciate it. I'd like to take a look at doing this this weekend.

mithuth

I pm'd him and had him email me the larger image.

Here it is, and a pic of the Rusty's HD tow brackets.

HunterGreenXJ

Thanks very much. 1/4" plate is enough for this?

caged

yeah, probably. but i'd go 3/8

and a better design in my opinion, would be to make the bracket hang a little lower with a tab and a 3/4 inch hole for a d-shackle instead of a tow hook.

HunterGreenXJ

I agree. I have some 3/8 lying around that I think I will use. I was also thinking that the tab with the D-Ring Shackle would be a good idea. I have to figure out a way to clear the front valence since I want to keep that on and not cut it up

mud-dog27

yes i forgot to mention that, i used 3/8" plate instead of the suggested 1/4", this however made it a bit more work to get the bumper to fit over them but still doable.

ill put together a picture so that my above ramblings make some sense.

mud-dog27

ok managed to get a picture of an XJ minus front bumper, courtesy of XJ Stryker and his badass waggy build here on CF.


ok so i made it quick but its simple, colors are explained in pic, the idea is to sandwich the factory sheet metal tabs that come out of the unibody with your towhook bracket on the outside and the "L" bracket on the inside, the idea is this will make things more rigid and less prone to bending like the stock setup, as for adjusting the factory bumper brackets if i recall the holes drilled in the bumper itself are oblong allowing for side to side adjustment as this is the same way it was done from the factory minus the "L" bracket