Trailer hitch for TJ?

Eric, do you offroad your TJ? If so, you won't like a bolt-on hitch since it's guaranteed to drag on the terrain. A bumper with a built-in hitch like Olympic's Rock bumper is not much more than a bolt-on hitch but being at bumper height, it won't drag.

Jerry

Get the integrated hitch/bumper I know you said you can't do it anyway :

I did this. In fact I bought a Hidden Hitch from etrailer.

I'm pleased. I wanted something cheap that would hold me over until I decide which $500+ bumper system I'm going to buy. I go camping more than I do extreme offroading so the low cost was worth the problems it will give me on the trail.

I would recommend the tube hitch though. I bought the standard one because it was like $20 cheaper. However, the tube one mounts with three bolts to the side of the frame. The mounts on the square-tube version are not as good. Two bolts mount to the rear cross-member which is useless. Two more replace the bumper bolts on the bottom of the frame, which is annoying on the exhaust side and forces the removal of the factory rear tow hook.

Get the tube version- it has none of those problems and still mounts through existing holes. You have to fish 6 bolts through the frame instead of only two, but it turns out that isn't too hard because the holes in the frame are large enough and they provide the fish wires to do it with.

I didn't take pics of the install (it's too easy and the downloadable install docs are really good and show everything. Check out the hitch and the mounting locations here:

Eric wrote:

I bought a draw-tite from a local dealer for $105. I put it on myself, took about 25 minutes. I had to remove the rear tow hook, but I can always get a receiver mounted hook.

I got the hitch only, since I'm not going to lift it until the stock tires wear down. I don't get too crazy off road, so I don't have any hang up problems with it. I'll get the integrated hitch when I lift it. That won't be for a while.

I went for the class III. Way overkill for only hauling a jet-ski, but all the decent hitch accesories are all 2". It's rated for way more than the Jeep is safe for.

I haven't seen a decent integrated hitch for under $250... if you can find me something for around $120, I'll get it!

My Olympic Rock bumper/hitch combo was $170 or $180, can't remember exactly which. Has a 2" receiver hitch at bumper level, not welded underneath the bumper like many are. Quadratec's and 4Wheel Drive Hardware's catalog both have it.

Jerry

Found one for $179 (50" version), but says you shouldn't tow with it. (So why have the hitch built in?!?).

Eric, it was rated to tow the Wrangler's 2,000 max weight towing limit until the lawyers made them nervous. It's fine for towing, that's what it was designed for. I use my f/r Olympic receiver hitches all the time, and even use them to push/pull my 4,000 lb. boat around my property.

Jerry

On 03 Jan 2004 09:59 PM, Jerry Bransford posted the following:

I can say with certainty from personal experience that it will tow more than you have any business towing with a Wrangler. Olympic's lawyers most likely realized that Jeep's 2000 pound limit is a true max limit with little safety margin, and decided that the best course of action from a liability standpoint was to disown towing altogether.

Damn near swallowed the seat cushion on two separate occasions, with two different TJs, pulling the same overloaded trailer using Olympic bumpers ( I don't do that anymore). If the road conditions had been anything other than dry pavement either time I would have been toast.

---------------------------------------------------- Del Rawlins- del@_kills_spammers_rawlinsbrothers.org Remove _kills_spammers_ to reply via email. Unofficial Bearhawk FAQ website:

I could only find pics of the 57" bumper and really like how it fits to the rear. I'm not sure the 50" would look so good. I didn't realize I was looking at a pic for the 57" on a page for the 50"...

If I had the extra $$, I'd just buy that, but as it stands, I can get a hitch at U-Hell for $170 installed...

I'll probably take it off in a year or so and sell it when I get some money to upgrade my bumper. I'm going to want an integrated tire carrier too since I'll probably be up to 33's. :-)

Go to my webpage and you'll see that you can run both the $180 Olympic bumper and an aftermarket tire carrier that is both better and stronger than a tire carrier that is integrated with the bumper.

Jerry

-- Jerry Bransford To email, remove 'me' from my email address KC6TAY, PP-ASEL See the Geezer Jeep at

It just bolts right to the existing holes for the OEM one. Mine took about an hour to remove the old and install the new, but most of that was because I did it alone and it was difficult to hold it up and bolt it in at the same time.

I highly recommend it. I have the 57" as it goes all the way to the edges of the Jeep on the sides to give some protection to the rear corners. Since it's angled towards the edges, it still has quite a bit of clearance there (although from the posts, it doesn't sound like that's too big of a deal for your use).

I do spend time on the trails.. usually once a month in the spring/summer/fall timeframe. I don't think I can shell out the extra dough right now for the 57", so I'll just end up waiting.

No one did answer my original question -- what is the difference, if any, between Canadian and US TJs that would make them need different hitches?!?

Thanks guys.

On 04 Jan 2004 07:29 AM, Eric posted the following:

For a rear bumper you definitely want the 57" version.

That is almost exactly what my Olympic Rock Bumper with receiver cost. A little more, actually. Aside from the fact that U-Haul is staffed by ignorant pricks, you should still go with the rock bumper because it is simple to install. There are only 4 bolts; there is some additional bracing included but I'm not even using that since it isn't compatible with my Tomken fuel tank skid. Some of the guys who have had theirs for a while talk about drilling holes and hard to reach bolts, but in the current version of the bumper those extra bolts have been eliminated. They were originally intended to fit holes present in '97 and prior Jeeps but missing from '98 and later models. Seriously the bumper is about the easiest thing you can buy to install on your Jeep.

If you are going to replace it, keep in mind that there is probably a bigger market for a used Rock Bumper than there is for a used Uhaul hitch. Personally I kind of wish I had just spent the bucks on the bumper/rack combo in the first place but the Olympic bumper is working fine, other than some damage to the powdercoat.

---------------------------------------------------- Del Rawlins- del@_kills_spammers_rawlinsbrothers.org Remove _kills_spammers_ to reply via email. Unofficial Bearhawk FAQ website:

Where did you get your bumper? The 57" is showing up for $249 (I believe) and up. Not including shipping...

Wish I could help with the US/Canadian version question, but I'm really not sure. To answer another of your posts, I bought mine from

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On 04 Jan 2004 11:58 AM, Eric posted the following:

Rosser Jeep. I'm sure that the price has gone up some in the 3 years since, but I wouldn't think by that much. It was between $160-170 at the time.

---------------------------------------------------- Del Rawlins- del@_kills_spammers_rawlinsbrothers.org Remove _kills_spammers_ to reply via email. Unofficial Bearhawk FAQ website:

Oh, by the way, if you don't like the price of the Olympic bumper ( currently $210 on quadratec) here is another alternative. The hitch does hang lower than the olympic unit but still better than buying the separate hitch:

---------------------------------------------------- Del Rawlins- del@_kills_spammers_rawlinsbrothers.org Remove _kills_spammers_ to reply via email. Unofficial Bearhawk FAQ website:

I wanted to go with the bumper/hitch combo but I needed to tow something like tomorrow so I ran up to Barry's Trailer in Sarasota & was given a price of

L8r - Jersey George in FL