Receiver Hitch

[Andrew Brierley]

Currently have a standard tow bar arrangement, but it is also a great anchor!! I have decided to grind off the adaptor plate, and weld a receiver in its place. Is it best to simply get a piece of 2" sq. 6mm box section and fabricate, or find a proper receiver to weld on? Love to hear from anyone that has tackled the same problem. Tx

 

[Chris]

You mean like this?



to this?

 

[Andrew Brierley]

Sure do Chris. Exactly what I'm looking to do

 

[Chas]

When 4x4 R-Us built my rear bumper/wheel carrier they offered to sling a receiver hitch underneath, I asked can you put it behind the bumper rather than under? they did with reinforcement behind, it might be the wrong height for towing but I never do any of that anyway I'll be at Lincomb you can have a look, it may give you some ideas.

 

[Chris]

Shame I did not know. I actually chopped that one up on Saturday to use for something else.

 

[Andrew Brierley]

Shame I did not know. I actually chopped that one up on Saturday to use for something else.

Can you share what you did to make it?

 

[Chris]

Who knew? I did do a post on it IIRC.
Sorta like this really.

 

[Andrew Brierley]

Thanks Chris that's really helpful. A a few questions...
1. Was that 2" box section?
2. what thickness?
3. Is the additional plate just strengthening for the pin?
4. I guess that you then fabricated a flange for the front?

 

[Chris]

Andrew, I don't recall really. This was a long time ago. The extra plate was just some over engineering to keep people happy. When I cut it up at the weekend I had to use the plasma cutter. It was military spec I can telly you. The box will have been metric and I doubt it was 50mm. It will have been 50mm INSIDE so that a 50mm accessory will slide inside. So probably 60mm box with 5mm wall or something. Yes I made a flange, that's in the first pics. I just chopped out a section and let the receiver in. It was far stronger than it needed to be really. I have tow balls, NATO hitches, D rings and all sorts that slot in. I have made three or four of these over the years. Got one coming back from powder coating today. Not sure I am actually gong to use it now. Made a complete winch bumper but I can't see it going on the new truck when I get it.

 

[Chris]

Actually, I'd ditch the towbar and come off the four rear bolts in the X member with a drop plate and have a receiver there. I might even have made one myself like that at one point. Not hard.

 

[Andrew Brierley]

Actually, I'd ditch the towbar and come off the four rear bolts in the X member with a drop plate and have a receiver there. I might even have made one myself like that at one point. Not hard.

I'd been thinking about that, but concerned that it wouldn't be strong enough for snatch recoveries. Mine is stronger than most, because the Freeways rear bumper actually uses those 4 holes to bolt through, so I have x member plus rear bumper. Am I being a little too cautious?

 

[Chris]

Well you shouldn't really be doing snatch recoveries from a tow bar truth be told. if you put a pig tail under the chassis rail to snatch off, that's that sorted. The rear X member is pretty strong, but if you drop the ball then you will twist the X member under very heavy recovery. So, come off with the drop to a ball and on the 4 bolts simply have a ring there in the middle - bit like a Mitsi Shogun. Pulled in a straight line the cross member is very strong.

 

[clivehorridge]

I don't mean to interrupt this very useful exchange, but Chris has raised an issue as to the "standard" dimensions of receivers. I think there may be an influence from the USA where they use a different overall size. Whatever you read on titnternet suggests 2" as standard and (as Chris pointed out) that would be the external size of the "male".

I would measure mine, but it's off the car at the mo in someone else's shed for another week or so

I like mine because the access to the back of the receiver is un obstructed, meaning quite a long piece of square section can be used, telescoping (as it were) under the car. This is useful to me when I want to use it for a bike rack spine, giving me 1 to 5 bike options, if that makes sense.

 

[Andrew Brierley]

Well you shouldn't really be doing snatch recoveries from a tow bar truth be told. if you put a pig tail under the chassis rail to snatch off, that's that sorted. The rear X member is pretty strong, but if you drop the ball then you will twist the X member under very heavy recovery. So, come off with the drop to a ball and on the 4 bolts simply have a ring there in the middle - bit like a Mitsi Shogun. Pulled in a straight line the cross member is very strong.

No, I was actually thinking about a 4 bolt towing jaw onto the cross member just need to find one....), which would just be used for straight snatch pulls. I would def not use a drop plate from the cross member for recoveries, as it is sure to twist. That would give me a little time to sort the receiver hitch mods to the tow bar for general towing.

 

[stumog]

I have a spare nato hitch if required. its yellow and in good condition.
Stu

 

[Shayne]

Stu i'm just contemplating how to tidy the ass end of my truck after a body lift . its early days yet but already i'm thinking i will need a new tow ball and a fair bits besides . A few pics might help guide me towards where i will end up

 

[Chris Green90]

Sorry if this is a bit off topic but there has been mention of x members here. I recently took the back bumper off my truck and built a bit of one myself.



I am wondering if it would be OK to bolt one of these to the rear x member just to be used for pulling a caravan in totally normal circumstances.

 

[clivehorridge]

IMO the chassis cross member may be sturdy enough for a direct mounting, but if you use a dropper, then the rotational forces would likely do damage.

The reinforcement bar (shown in your pic above the chassis) would not contribute much to counter rotation caused by the dropper, therefore I wouldn't recommend it. Again, only my opinion.

 

[mrdelmonti]

Could you not run braces diagonally from the bottom of the drop plate to spread rotational loads a bit? I'm sure I had a dixon & bate hitch like this on a previous truck.

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

For the receiver part of my rear bumper I bought a hitch extender intended for rv's off a seller on ebay and chopped off the part I needed leaving a bit spare for a front receiver one day and a stub to make a drop hitch from by welding a plate on. More expensive than DIY but saves some messing about.

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