Front end receiver hitch?

[STxWrangler]

I would like to know if a front end receiver hitch can be installed with the AEV Premium front end bumper. I want to put a fishing rod rack on the front and need a bumper with a winch to pull me out in the event that I get stuck in soft sand. Any comments?

[sickchilly]

It would reduce your approach angle, but I'd guess it would be fairly easy to install a standard tow bar to the front frame rails that hangs directly below the bumper. May require removing the stock "bash bar" though.

[STxWrangler]

I wonder if it would be difficult to cut a hole in the front skidplate to accommodate the hitch receiver.

[JKMax]

This is just a guess, but you might be able to find a tow hitch mounted to a cross bar that fits the standard mounting points available on the front end tow points. Like with the Blue Ox and Roadmaster tow bars to pull the Jeep, there may be some companies with a tow hitch that needs to bolt in at the same width.

http://forum.aev-conversions.com/showthread.php?t=611

[AEV Dave]

Since you're not looking at major loads here...maybe some surf rods and a cooler I would imagine and maybe moving the occasional boat around - I would think that you could do a simple bolt on consisting of an angled pc of 3/16 steel that sandwiches between the fairlead and bumper and then also picks up the bottom two center fasteners on the skidplate. For more weight/abuse, you could probably weld a receiver tube to the bottom of the winch mount and cut a hole through the skid. Major problem with that option is the corrosion issue.

dh

[STxWrangler]

Thanks Dave.

I spoke with a local Truck/Jeep accessory installer. He said that I could mount a Curt front end hitch receiver on the stock plastic bumper...he thinks they even include a template to cut through the plastic skid plate to allow the receiver to go through. If this is true....I bet I could use the template to cut through the AEV steel skid plate. I will get the front end hitch receiver installed and experiment from there.

Thanks again for your help!