Rear tow hook and trailer hitch

Bill,

I don't think that one will work. Here is are a couple pictures of how the hitch is mounted on the drivers side.

. Any idea how I could reuse the factory tow hook? Any more sugestions? Patrick ?Ô

Also in case you are interested, here are other jeep pics.

. The yellow one is the one I traded for the Rubicon Unlimited. Patrick ?Ô

Pull those two bolts out on the driver's side of hitch, slap an aftermarket hook on from your local 4x4 shop.

Carl

Carl,

If I use the one Bill sent a link to, the strap will slip off due to the change of angle. We don't have any local 4x4 shops, but I will see if I can find one that isn't too far to go to. If any one knows of one near me, I live in north georgia, just south of Chattanooga TN.

Patrick ?Ô

Can you mount it up-side down? You could also use the either hitch bolt to mount the top of the hook, and then drill a new hole in the hitch to accodate the lower bolt(s) and an angle you feel would be more suitable. I have two spare chrome two-bolt hooks, though shipping would probably cost more than the hook is worth.

Carl

I think I might adapt the factory rear tow hook

Patrick ?Ô

I ment I might try to adapt the factory tow hook to the side of the frame similar to the one you linked to.

Patrick ?Ô

Patrick - if you look at Stu's site you'll see that the lower/left bolt on your hitch is the "existing" hole in the frame. To do Stu's install, you need to drill the second hole, which will be to the left and above the existing hole. I have both a Draw-tite hitch and the hook as per Stu's setup. If somebody wants to host the picture, I'll email a pic or two of my setup.

I also have the Warn receiver shackle bracket. I don't see why that would be any weaker than the regular hook - the hitch is attached with

4 bolts to both frame rails. It would seem to distribute the force more evenly. Frankly, I was always a bit concerned about the angle of the hook, in that the pull is applying a rotaional force in respect to the bolts, rather than pulling in-line with them.

Make sure you use Grade 5 bolts too - not grade 8.

-Ed

postmaster@ the domain in my sig

And I'll can either throw them in the temp directory

create a seperate one.

The hitch is held on by 6 bolts. two are underneath where the bumper is connected to the frame. My only concern is having to use a spacer to makeup the difference of the thickness of the hitch. I haven't had a chance to look at the rear of the jeep again since the install, but will look again tomorrow after work, if i get off before the sun sets. I might see if I can mount it to the top of the frame just like it was on the bottom, that way it will have a straight pull on the bolts. You can e-mail me pics if you would like, I have no limit on my account. just remember to remove the spam. also why use grade 5 bolts instead of 8?

Patrick ?Ô

I just used 2 washers as a spacer.

bottom, that way it

Don't think there's enough room on top of the frame rail.

Grade 5's are better in shear applications. They'll tend to "give" a bit before they fail, where 8's will just let go without warning.

I sent Doug some pics. the hook on there was $10 at Advance Auto. It's the same as the ones I use on the front. It comes with gr. 5 bolts

hope that helps,

-Ed

Got em.

Thanks for the info, I will see what everything looks like in the daylight, and probably listen to everyone and goto advance auto parts and spend $10.

Patrick ?Ô

I got 2 pieces of metal cut from billet by an engineering shop which fitted over the tow hitch like an 'no' in shape, and put a 19mm / 3/4" shackle through the hole. I replaced all of the 6 bolts holding on the tow hitch with grade 8 ones.

Here's a bad pic - sorry for the quality as I took it with my camera phone.

Dave Milne, Scotland '91 Grand Wagoneer, '99 TJ