Strewth, not another receiver!

[Chris]

With the weekend looming, I wanted to get that damn towbar off so it doesn't act as a land anchor. But short of time, I have had to make a bit of a lash up to provide a rear receiver point.

Now before you lot start, no. It's not pretty. It's not painted. It's not finished. It's not straight as it's not bolted up yet. Have I missed anything Gav? Oh, yes, it made out of scrap parts from the bin in the garage! OK? And I do need to trim the bottom off the extension plate.

The beauty of this is that it doesn't alter the towbar at all. It's a bolt on receiver! Now I don't care about all that legal towbar nonsense and anyway, mine is pre 97. So there. it will take a shackle or a towball in there. Hoe's that for versatile.

It will get tarted up before Friday.

Come on then, let's have it! Honestly, why do I bother. I know what you're thinking. Just remember who's going to be pulling you out



Chris

 

[Rob]

Could you not just bolt on the one from GW?

 

[spackrackman]

looks pretty good to me, I just tried to rush weld a smaller bumper for the 55 and yours puts it to shame

 

[Chris]

Nope. That was my first option Rob and clearly the obvious choice. But - the cross member from GW is a good inch shorter than this one. OK so swap the tow bar hangers and do a complete swap. Well, it took utter brute force and an hour to get the bolts out of the hangers and the cross member never mind the hanger bolts. They are captive in the chassis which means removing the bumperettes etc etc. Been on there for 7 years I guess. Damn they were rusted stumps. That's for another day. Nope sorry, only option was a bolt on affair.

Chris

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

that's a proper scrap bin job that is Chris

 

[Chris]

Now that's what they call a backhanded compliment Dr J.


It's what I like to think of as 'functional'

C

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

It's a very good scrap bin job, but you don't need me to tell you that, looks very sturdy, nice.

 

[Chris]

Well thanks. But it really is just for the weekend. As usual, there is a considerable amount of weld in there. But as much as you can put in, it's only as strong as the bolts holding the plate to the chassis. Oh yeah, they're pretty strong.

I'll build it into the bumper in the end. As long as it doesn't drag!!!

C

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

I think it's quite an interesting idea I thought about making a bolt on reciever for my 'off road' bar but never thought to triangulate it quite like that

 

[Gav Peter]

Usual over-engineered POS as ever Chris...

Getting you a new HD transfer case guard organised BTW...

 

[Chris]

Handy the way you can bolt into the rear cross member. I found that the last one would tend to move when it got bashed on something. That made it difficult to get the pin out. This is all enclosed like. Doing it this way allowed me to get the tube much higher up so that it won't catch. I have various towballs on drop plates that will slot in for normal towing. I'll mount the lectricks on the side somewhere.

More pictures of scrap to follow, I'm sure.

HD bash plate Gav, did you chap manage to bend them in the end then? Obviously mine is mounted so you can have a laugh at it this weekend. I didn't hit it particularly hard actually. It was on the crest of a mud bank. But it's pretty distorted.

C

 

[Gav Peter]

HD bash plate Gav, did you chap manage to bend them in the end then?

Nope, fraid not... I'll be slitting them to fold them & weld up...

Looking forward to seeing how you sculpted yours

 

[Chris]

Well you know what a Quaver looks like....

C

 

[Andrew Prince]

Nice work, Chris What are the dimensions (cross-section) of your receiver?

 

[Chris]

Well I didn't have any 50mm ID box so I used 60 OD which leaves it a little slack on the insert. So, I welded some thin plate to the insert (the shackle thing) as a sort of shim to make up the few mm difference. It's a sort of get me running device really. They'll be smarter once I go into production.

Nah, don't even ask. I'm not serious.

Actually not difficult to make one of these things.

Chris

 

[Andrew Prince]

Hmmm not sure it'll fit mine then. I mean pity it's not 50mm OD It's just help in place with a pin, right? No padlocks or anything?

 

[Chris]

Sorry Andrew not with you mate. The slot in bit is 50mm OD (modified) and the internal is about 53mm ID.

Are you wanting something making up? There are all sorts of ID and OD bits in my garage. What is it that you have?

Yes held in with a pin. But the shackle bit is not completely hollow. It's 2 pieces of 50 x 25 welded together so there is an internal wall as well. No, no padlocks, but remember I own guns.

Chris

 

[Andrew Prince]

Oh ok - I have fitted my OEM 80 series receiver (finally!) and my plan is to have a similar towing eye to yours. I've just got the OEM towball/"tongue".
To be honest I haven't measured the dimensions precisely - I think it's 50mm rather than 2" but I need to check.

We can compare and discuss this weekend Just don't fall asleep....

 

[nivapilot]

Can anyone tell me the distance from the front of the reciever tube to the pin hole? what is the diameter of pin?

I fancy making a reciever hitch, and need to know this dimension, so that, if I purchase a tow hitch or whatever from the states, I want to know that it will fit.

many thanks
Alan

 

[Chris]

Alan, there isn't a standard for this. The beauty of making your own is that you know where you want the hole. You might get someone to give you the dimension of something that they bought, so as long as you buy the same you'll be OK.

But if you can make a receiver, then you can make the hitch too. If you make the tube endless then the hole position doesn't matter much. I tend to cap off one end because of the way I use an old towbar to start with. Then the dimension do matter. If it's an 80 remember that you'll hit the spare wheel if you go too long.

Andrew might post a pic of the one I made for him. I didn't take any at the time.

Chris