Saw this on Xterra.tv It's seems to be functional. I'm not sure if there are frame stiffeners, or the steel goes farther into the frame.

Looks like it'd be very functional. Although I think it would be just as easy and probably cheaper to get a (cough)KMA(cough) rear bumper. I'm sure when you pull those things out for day to day driving that it looks like crap.

That does seem to be a good idea.
I would give up looks for function anyday.

I also work out of my truck on a daily basis so i would probably be running into the damn things all the time :). I do apartment maintenance and have to use my own vehicle for work. I basicly drive around in a parking lot all day, so much fun... :)

I don't know that they are any better than say a Class III receiver hitch. But they definitely look too tacky for me. They do appear to be functional as long as you don't care about how your truck looks. I guess I will take my tow hooks bolted to the frame. They are little tough to get to until you learn to do it blindly, but after that, they are out of sight, out of mind. Whatever works for you and you can live with looks wise I guess.

Gordon, did you attach your rear tow hooks to the same place that the Class III hitches go to? Do you have a pic? That would have come in real handy had Sclud not had his KMA/Hedberg bumper!

War,
I'm also interested in seeing a pic of your hook placement. I'm planning on a rear bumper w/ tire carrier in the next few months, but I would like to add a couple hooks in the meantime. Thanks


Dog

That picture just cracks me up :D

All I have to say about that setup is that I hope the two receivers are tied together behind the bumper to stiffen the rear section of the frame. Otherwise that guy is going to be suffering from Bent Frame Syndrome. Thing is, if they are tied together, then he may as well have done a hidden receiver in the center behind the license plate like I was going to do. Then, it would be useable for towing a trailer, would be centered, and would be hidden by the spring loaded license plate when not in use.

Originally posted by ChuckH
All I have to say about that setup is that I hope the two receivers are tied together behind the bumper to stiffen the rear section of the frame. Otherwise that guy is going to be suffering from Bent Frame Syndrome. Thing is, if they are tied together, then he may as well have done a hidden receiver in the center behind the license plate like I was going to do. Then, it would be useable for towing a trailer, would be centered, and would be hidden by the spring loaded license plate when not in use.

I never thought about that.
The only thing that I liked was the fact that the tow points were high (unlike my hitch right now).

I like Chucks idea.

BTW this weekend was the first time to test the Turds receiver hitch welds. Amazingly they held up. :D

Originally posted by rhombus


I never thought about that.
The only thing that I liked was the fact that the tow points were high (unlike my hitch right now).

Yeah, when I was originally going to have a local hitch company build me a tire carrier and hitch, the plan was to build up the hitch and swing arm support framing behind the factory bumper and then run the receiver through behind the license plate and have a mounting bar run along the top area of the bumper to hold the swing arm. It was my design, but the guy said he could do it. Problem was that it would have ended up costing me about $900 and that didn't include the swing arm portion. Just to do the custom hitch with the hidden receiver probably would have probably been between $400 and $500, so it would have been a good alternative to the factory hitch except that the framing would make it impossible to fit the spare tire underneath. Anyway, I really liked the idea, but not the cost.

I dunno guys, I wouldn't think the roof rack would be a very wise recovery point. It's just aluminum, and it's so high that even if it didn't break, you'd probably just pull the X right over on its side like that.

:D

Brent

Originally posted by ChuckH
All I have to say about that setup is that I hope the two receivers are tied together behind the bumper to stiffen the rear section of the frame. Otherwise that guy is going to be suffering from Bent Frame Syndrome.

I don't know about that. Since you install tow hooks, one on each side of the frame, based on that you could potentially encounter frame bending. But I guess leverage will also play a part in it. Since he located his out so far from the frame the extra leverage could cause the section of frame that is not tubular to bend in extreme pulls. But that is going to depend on where those tubes are mounted and how strong the rear bumper is at the frame mounting points. I generallly cross-tie my hooks with a 6 or 10 foot tree strap to evenly distribute the pull between tow hooks. But in extreme angle pulls, you can't do that and at that point you could bend the frame if the pull point isn't set up correctly.

As for my tow hook setup, the bad part about it is that it counts on the fact that you have a hitch. I use the hitch bar to route the strap under the bumper to prevent the strap from getting cut by the metal edge on the bumper. That looks like it is getting ready to change with my new bumper I am getting ready to install. I won't know for sure until it arrives. In a worst case scenario, they will be a lot easier to get into with the new bumper once the spare tire has been removed from under the vehicle.

Originally posted by Schludwiller


BTW this weekend was the first time to test the Turds receiver hitch welds. Amazingly they held up. :D

Mine has held up really well - I've been towing a 2K lb. camper through the small mountains around here with no problems ... when Alison and I moved 60 miles further out into Western MD, I towed the camper with a good 200 extra lbs. of stuff in it, without incident. Maybe I got the best bumper out of the batch? It's not the prettiest but it works for what I need it for. But I'll keep my fingers crossed anyway. :)


BTW - I don't like the looks or the idea of what this guy has done to the back of his truck. It looks like crap and I'd be really apprehensive about pulling off of one side of the frame ...

EDIT - I guess we don't know if the frame rails are connected on this truck somehow in the back?

Hey my second post! :eek: Whats Xterra.TV? Also I bet that guy has an H shaped bar that slides into both side receivers with a 2" receiver in the center for towing. This would give him the stability he needs. It would still put more stress on the frame due to the extra length but would work.

It's that web site the guy with all the cameras on his truck owns. I don't have the right URL, but it's on the .tv domain

Originally posted by ChuckH
All I have to say about that setup is that I hope the two receivers are tied together behind the bumper to stiffen the rear section of the frame. Otherwise that guy is going to be suffering from Bent Frame Syndrome.

I dunno, that's what the rear bumper is for. It's considered a crossmember. Granted it's removable, but it's tied into the whole frame when bolted on.