Topic: bumper hitch?

[king of kings]

i currently have a hitch on my jeep bc i tow mu 16ft aluminum fishing boat and a small trailer with my quad.  I would like to get a bumper with integrated hitch to help my departure and approach angles.  i see alot of bumpers that have a 2" reciever but arent rated for towing.  They all look the same to me and i dont see why as long as it has the same mounting spots as a rated one why it wouldnt be ok for occasional towing.     Just looking for some oppinions on this

[oldjeep]

They don't rate them for towing for liability reasons.  If it's strong enough to use as a recovery point it will be strong enough for an aluminum boat.

[sirchesshire]

Just from personal experience, if they leave the hitch unrated...it will be a Class 1 hitch.  This means it has a 200# tongue weight and 2000# towing capacity.  More than enough to tow your boat.  As long as you stay under those two numbers, you should have no problem towing anything. 

[king of kings]

Just from personal experience, if they leave the hitch unrated...it will be a Class 1 hitch.  This means it has a 200# tongue weight and 2000# towing capacity.  More than enough to tow your boat.  As long as you stay under those two numbers, you should have no problem towing anything. 

did u look into this with the company or something?

[oldjeep]

If it's only good for 2000lb towing capacity, it's useless/scary as a recovery point.

[BigCountry]

Just from personal experience, if they leave the hitch unrated...it will be a Class 1 hitch.  This means it has a 200# tongue weight and 2000# towing capacity.  More than enough to tow your boat.  As long as you stay under those two numbers, you should have no problem towing anything. 

agreed. unrated, the most i would push it to is the ratings for a class 1. but if your boat falls within the range, then it should work just fine.

[Jeffy]

If it's only good for 2000lb towing capacity, it's useless/scary as a recovery point.

Honestly, the problem with any of those hitches is not the bumper, it's the Jeep.  Most use only 6 or 8 bolts to hold it to the frame cross member and do not tie into the frame at all.

So, if you're worried that the hitch will somehow break off the bumper, it won't.  You're more likely to rip the bumper off the Jeep first.

[neale_rs]

With a TJ it is easy to tie into the frame with some brackets (no shackles to get in the way).

[BigCountry]

With a TJ it is easy to tie into the frame with some brackets (no shackles to get in the way).

or just weld everything 

[oldjeep]

or just weld everything 

That's how mine is tied in.  Reinforcement brackets welded to the sides of the frame rails that capture the outter bumper bolts.