ZUKIWORLD Online | Suzuki 4x4 Editorial and Forum
ZUKIWORLD Discussion Forum => Suzuki 4x4 Forum => Topic started by: RazBarlow on February 27, 2009, 07:04:32 AM
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Anyone ever mounted an 1 1/4 ID square piece of tubing to this round crossbar tube to make it into a receiver hitch ? I want to pull my small 4x8 trailer with my tracker and I think this will work . I have a good welder and would also weld a plate to it for the trailer safety chains.
just can't see spending The $100+ when this is already mounted and looks like it is mounted the same as commercial assemblies .
Yes or no ?
Thanks,
Raz
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e73/RazBarlow/rearcrossbar.jpg)
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NO.
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May I ask why ?
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Yes I have and it works good for a real small and lite trailer, I cut a piece of 1 1/2'' angle iron to fit snug on the sides for welding and then drilled a bunch of 1/2 '' holes all over it and then welded it to the ends and then filled the holes with weld and then welded a small square tubing with a pin hole in it to the center of the angle iron, it looks good and works good for pulling it out of the deep snow here also.
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Yes I have, and No you should'nt. The bar is made of very thin wall stuff, and If you take it off and shake it, you will most likely hear pieces of rust inside. I used it to pulla very small 4x6 trailer to haul wood to my campsite on our farm. It never failed on me, but I never got over 10 mph, and it had started to sag and crack pretty badly, so i ditched it and welded on a heavy duty piece. Now I feel safe pulling even my 10x6 trailer FULL of firewood.
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If the bar is rusted that bad then your frame could be also,we don't have rust where I live and I welded to the sides of the frame hangers and I'm over 200 lbs and I can jump on it with a trailer hooked to it and it is just fine so I guess it depends if your in the rust belt or not!
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I removed that whole piece and made a new one out of heavy steel to mount a 2" receiver on. Pretty easy to do....just some angle iron for the frame mounts on the side and some box tube or C-channel for the cross piece....then some 2" ID box for the receiver. I don't pull a trailer, but I have one of those cargo racks that slide in the receiver.
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I removed that whole piece and made a new one out of heavy steel to mount a 2" receiver on. Pretty easy to do....just some angle iron for the frame mounts on the side and some box tube or C-channel for the cross piece....then some 2" ID box for the receiver. I don't pull a trailer, but I have one of those cargo racks that slide in the receiver.
I agree we did kind of the same thing. If you have a welder and a grinder. Buy some metal and your set. It would be stronger and safer. We did not use C-channel for the cross piece we used 2"x2". Everything 1/4" thick
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Pretty sure there's holes under there that are intended for a bolt-on tow package.
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If the bar is rusted that bad then your frame could be also,we don't have rust where I live and I welded to the sides of the frame hangers and I'm over 200 lbs and I can jump on it with a trailer hooked to it and it is just fine so I guess it depends if your in the rust belt or not!
Even if it's not rusted at all, it's still not a very strong peice. It's a lot safer, and a pretty easy, to just replace that piece with a heavier piece... Mine was warping down pretty bad when I had a reciever on the stock piece, which is why I replaced it. It's not just a rust issue, it's a strength issue
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The hitch replaces that bar and bolts in the same location. Buy or build one but dont use that tube its weak. Most hitches have 1-1/4 receiver for that weight class.
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Do you guys have any idea what that bar is there for? I do!
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I believe it's a reinforcement in case of a rear end collision.
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Anyone ever use one of those universal receiver hitches like for Acme,drawtite or reese ? Do you happen to recall the part # ?
Thanks,
Raz
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I cut out the sides and welded square stock to it that would fit inside the square stock from a random hitch i had laying around then welded that on and it works fine ive pulled 2 snowmobiles on a 4x8 trailer i dont know if i would recomend it tho because the ends of the old peice i used are pretty weak
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So if it is strong enough for a car to slam into the back of it and keep your rig from blowing up like a ford pinto it's not Strong enough to pull a hundred pound trailer I guess!
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So if it is strong enough for a car to slam into the back of it and keep your rig from blowing up like a ford pinto it's not Strong enough to pull a hundred pound trailer I guess!
You should take a minute and pull it off just for S&Gs. You'll be shocked how light it is. Shocked, I tellya.
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So if it is strong enough for a car to slam into the back of it and keep your rig from blowing up like a ford pinto it's not Strong enough to pull a hundred pound trailer I guess!
You're talking about 2 totally different functions, and therefore two totally different designs. The bumper is designed to survive a 5 MPH impact (yes, that's it - that's all they're required to do per DOT standards), it's not designed to save the fuel tank. The boxed frame is designed for that. There's also a difference between impact, and towing (pulling, twisting, and lateral movements).
There's bolt holes on the bottom of the bumper for bolt-on tow packages. Use them! They're specifically designed for what you want to do. Why all this effort on designing a work-around?
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So if it is strong enough for a car to slam into the back of it and keep your rig from blowing up like a ford pinto it's not Strong enough to pull a hundred pound trailer I guess!
Sounds like you already have your mind made up... SO why did you ask us for advice? Everyone here has given you thier honest and experienced knowledge on the subject, but You've got a reason why we are all wrong... No offense. I hope it works out for you, I did the same things and pulled a VERY SMALL trailer, and it didn't hold up; maybe your luck will be different :-\
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I was not the one asking the big Q but I did build one for a cheap friend of mine and he has hundred's of miles on it, mine that I built for me was made from a f350 one ton hitch class III with extra grade ten bolts torqued to fifty pounds each with large washers on the frame, so I know where you are coming from but like I said we have little to no rust here.
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I was not the one asking the big Q
Oops :-[ .. lol, sorry about that. Guess I should pay better attention next time, huh? haha
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There are threaded holes on the bottom of the frame for a hitch, I know cause the hitch was the first thing I ripped off for more ground clearance/departure angle.
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There's bolt holes on the bottom of the bumper for bolt-on tow packages. Use them! They're specifically designed for what you want to do. Why all this effort on designing a work-around?
I hear an echo...
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So if it is strong enough for a car to slam into the back of it and keep your rig from blowing up like a ford pinto it's not Strong enough to pull a hundred pound trailer I guess!
The tank saver is not for a rear end collision, but more of a bump protector for those people that like to reverse into garbage cans and "no parking" signs.
It is very flimsy, most of these factory add on's are... I actually cut off my gas tank skid plate yesterday with a set of channel lock crimpers ???
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I went to uhaul and got the hhitch.
When you take out the 4 bolts that hold this to the frame, the uhaul hitch bolts right up.
You can then run your wiring right under the bumper and into the left tailight housing.
It was about $120 for the hitch and is very solid.
kb