Welding Rear Hitch...

MIA_02Liberty · **Posted:** Mon Nov 16, 2009 8:43 am

Good morning everyone,

I looked around but could not find anything on this so here goes... I was interested in finding out if any one has ever welded the rear hitch to their vehicle? Possible? Safe? What are your opinions on this?

Reason I ask is because I got this awesome deal on a hitch and the bolts they gave me are too big to bolt on to my KJ. The guy states it came off a 2003 KJ and I have a 2002 KJ? I went to the hardware store and tried every bolt size available and they just would not go in the hole or were just too small. Have the bolt size/pattern changed for those years? Is there any harm in welding the hitch to where it originally would be bolted down to?

tommudd · **Posted:** Mon Nov 16, 2009 8:58 am

I would say the bolt holes just have some rust in them and you will need to clean that out and then you should be good to go. Personally I would not weld it, in case ever wanted to remove it etc.

MIA_02Liberty · **Posted:** Mon Nov 16, 2009 9:05 am

Tom,

Would you happen to know what the bolt pattern is for those bolts?

JeepMorrison · **Joined:** Thu Jul 16, 2009 11:34 am **Posts:** 1236

X2 what tommudd said

mine was a chore to get in, but the last one my neighbor came over and had a tap to clean it out, and Tons of rust fell out, mine only had 13,000 on it then. I would get a tap and SLOWLY do it......or just cheater bar the bolts with some lube.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Mon Nov 16, 2009 11:01 am

M12x1.75 x 40mm

Boiler · **Posted:** Mon Nov 16, 2009 11:11 am

It is a good idea to run a tap through any female threads on the undercarriage that haven't had a bolt in them. They rust really badly.

Then use new bolts with a little antiseize or grease on all of the threads of the bolts.

If you force a clean bolt through the rusty threads (good luck) there is a high probability of breaking it and having a bigger problem. Worse yet, you can get them in, then over a couple years the extra length of the bolt that is inside the frame will rust and you'll have a major nightmare trying to get them out.

No way would I weld it on if I had any other choice.

dgeist · **Posted:** Mon Nov 16, 2009 11:53 am

Boiler wrote:

It is a good idea to run a tap through any female threads on the undercarriage that haven't had a bolt in them. They rust really badly.

Then use new bolts with a little antiseize or grease on all of the threads of the bolts.

No way would I weld it on if I had any other choice.

...somewhat unrelated, but your post reminded me to ask, Boiler: when you have a hitch and a tank skid, which goes against the frame rails. I would think the hitch since it's structural when towing or used as a recovery point, but I dunno. Also, does your Al skid affect the mounting of a hitch at all (different torque, etc).

I guess it's not completely off topic since if you have a skid and a hitch in there, welding things on would pretty much make the fuel tank unserviceable....

Dan

tommudd · **Posted:** Mon Nov 16, 2009 12:02 pm

Gas tank skid has to go on first , the hitch would be next, no way to mount it/ them any other way

Whoops I'm not Boiler :oops:

Boiler · **Posted:** Mon Nov 16, 2009 12:27 pm

dgeist wrote:

...somewhat unrelated, but your post reminded me to ask, Boiler: when you have a hitch and a tank skid, which goes against the frame rails. I would think the hitch since it's structural when towing or used as a recovery point, but I dunno. Also, does your Al skid affect the mounting of a hitch at all (different torque, etc).
Dan

Yeah Tom is right. He's too fast / I drew a sketch...

First drawing shows a rough freehand shot of the rear of my skid and a mopar hitch....I just drew this from memory so give me a little slack. I left my model files for the mopar hitch at home. It is impossible to mount the mopar hitch first, as it is wider.

Now if you had a hitch that was wider yet AND had the angles turned around, you could mount it first.

There isn't really an difference structurally as to which gets mounted first. It is all one big compression bolting joint. And your torque amount on the bolts should be the same as whatever the Jeep spec is. Aluminum will not affect it. My skid was designed to stay very close to the gas tank, and the mopar hitch maintains clearance around it.

Rayze78 · **Joined:** Wed Sep 12, 2007 8:41 pm **Posts:** 36

This past summer I got a great deal on a factory hitch for $60 from the junkyard for my '03 (didnt even have rust on it!) The holes were rusty on mine too, but not bad enough to tap. I sprayed water in the holes to get all of the dirt out. Later in the day after they dried I soaked them with WD40, and installed the hitch the next day, and all of the bolts went on really well. Definitely recommend a helper to put the hitch on with you! I honestly dont remember the bolt size...maybe 7/16 or 9/16? It may help to have a pry bar or two handy as well; once you start bolting it in, you may need to pry on it to get a couple of the holes lined up (if you are a driveway mechanic like me

JeepinJarhead03 · **Posted:** Tue Dec 01, 2009 10:53 pm

when mounting multiple things like a steel bumper and a skid, or a skid and a hitch, it can be very handy to have one long arse bolt for gettin things "up there" I have one that's about 6 inches long, identical to the others except in length that i use for putting up or taking down anything, it keeps me from dropping 200lbs of bumper plus 60 lbs of tank skid on myself *again*

Welding Rear Hitch...

Who is online