HITCH PLATES!

[Chad R]

Got my hitch today thanks

[krustyballer16]

Ok. Just got a new quote on materials for this round of hitches! Cost hasn't gone up that much so I'll stay at the same $235+ shipping.  This round though I'm doing an even more limited run than my last "limited run". I'll be ordering parts and material Friday or Monday.   I'm only building 12 hitches right now, which is about half as many as last round, and will have a 10 week build time on them. So about mid August they should all be shipped out. (Doing a longer build time because I'm scheduled to be on the road more for work, so less time to build)  If you have messaged me before, message me again. I can't remember everybody. These will be prepay again and first come, first serve.   12 HITCHES ONLY! $235+SHIPPING. 10 week build time.   Thanks for all the support guys!

[krustyballer16]

Ive got 4 left!

[Leveljester1082]

Are the hitches still $235? If so you can put me down for one.

[Airborne Janitor]

Thanks krusty for getting me the hitch plates! Figure I'd make a little DIY/write-up I will title:

 

BUILD YOUR OWN TRAILER HITCH THE EASY(IER) WAY, for aftermarket bumpers.

 

I run the Fey/Westin bumper, which is a little shorter than the OEM rear bumper, which I find typical with most MJ aftermarket bumpers. The OEM hitch has the 2" receiver welded underneath the square tube, so it will hang down a bit on an aftermarket bumper. I wanted my hitch to sit a little tighter, so here's what I did:

 

1) Order hitch plates from krustyballer16

 

 

2) Go to the junkyard and pull the trailer hitch off a Ford Expedition/Lincoln Navigator. The 2" receiver sticks straight out perpendicular to the square tube. Note this hitch has a 7-pin wiring bracket that comes off with one bolt, and the trailer hitch itself it is not perfectly straight but angled towards the ends, by design. This hitch comes off with 3 nuts/bolts per side.

 

 

3) Cut the brackets off, I used oxyfuel

 

 

4) The hitch should be at least 48" wide for this application. I was able to cut the outer ends off on my chop saw to get this length.

 

 

5) Install krusty's hitch plates on the frame.

 

6) Because the Ford hitch is angled on the ends you'll have the bevel the edges of the hitch plates to properly insert the hitch. A 90* 3" grinder is great for this.

 

 

7) Insert the Ford hitch. I drew a line in the center of the hitch then measured from center to edge of each plate. Mark your weld zones, tack your plates on and prep accordingly.

 

 

8) Weld her up!

 

 

9) Clean up your hitch, paint, dry, then reinstall.

 

 

 

For the Fey/Westin bumper, I did have to grind down the edges of the brackets to make them fit. It's a very tight fit!

 

 

THE END

 

 

 

[krustyballer16]

I'm thinking about taking another round of pre-orders for another run.

 

Trying to get a count to see if theres enough interest and/or see if i need to order parts for 6 or 12 or more....

 

If interested, comment here and ill count them up.

Pre orders thru here will be $220+ shipping. Anywhere else will be listed as $235+ shipping.

 

Juat like always, i don't have any control over how fast parts get lasered out so I'm gonna put a march ship time on them, but that could change. Especially since ive been cutting a lot of signs and stuff on my plasma table at home.

Thanks.

[krustyballer16]

First 3 people that pay for a hitch, ill knock $10 more off. So $210+ shipping.

 

Send me your zip code for a shipping quote. I take paypal or venmo

[howeitsdone]

You looking for some orders to help get materials? I mentioned grabbing some brackets on FB. Happy to pay for those upfront if it helps.

[PCO6]

@krustyballer16 - I'm interested in a pair of hitch plates.   Are or will they be available and would you be able to ship them to Canada - Toronto area?     Thanks.   

[oleskool]

Worth every penny!!!

 

 

[krustyballer16]

On 12/27/2022 at 9:07 AM, PCO6 said:

@krustyballer16 - I'm interested in a pair of hitch plates.   Are or will they be available and would you be able to ship them to Canada - Toronto area?     Thanks.   

Message me your address and ill get a quote friday or monday.

[PCO6]

3 hours ago, krustyballer16 said:

Message me your address and ill get a quote friday or monday.

 

Will do.   Thanks.

[krustyballer16]

[Car Enthusiast]

Hey Crusty I would like to get one of your hitches. Anyway I could get one by February?, if you have any just laying around. I am wanting to take the trailer with the Comanche in February.

[Romain]

OK folks. Given the jobs I've done on my MJ, the hitch was easy. Everyone on this thread spoiled my expectations though that this would be a 5 minute job. LOL. It was not.

 

1. The hitch quality from krustyballer is incredible. So much appreciation his way.

2. On the short bed, the spring shackle bolt must be partially removed, which means the truck body needs to be supported.

3. The hitch lined up great, the holes were just right.

4. Trying to line up the bumper mount brackets over the hitch, while hitting the frame holes is a two person job until it's secured and getting that line up was tough.

5. The bumper brackets are now further away from the bolt holes on the bumper. I thought the bolts were M12-40mm, but they were in fact 1/2-13x1.5". To span the wider gap between the brackets and the bumper, I needed to buy four 2" bolts (2 on each side) then crank them down and equalize the left/right bumper gap while cranking them down.

 

I'm so happy to have such a great new addition to the MJ, but felt more of the installation detail needs to be documented on this thread.

 

[krustyballer16]

First pic of a hitch with my new logo incorporated! Awesome!

 

Ya, the fey westin bumper fits on the outside, not between frame and hitch like a stock bumper.

 

I need to start asking what bumper everyone has and if its not stock, those little ¼" spacers can be left off and the brackets scooted in ¼" on each side. But its easier if i get a chance to build a few at a time to just build them all with the spacers.

 

I may look into removing the spring bolt too...

[Romain]

As the N'th owner of my MJ, I wouldn't be able to say what bumper I have, but it looks stock enough to me. It was full body restored in the mid aughts and put in numerous car shows. That work chromed it all up too that might have led to a bumper swap. I've gone to more of a black-out look.

[Car Enthusiast]

22 hours ago, krustyballer16 said:

 

I may look into removing the spring bolt too...

 

Leave that, I like the extra tie in point. Got mine on there yesterday. I dudnt get to put it on since I just had my L5-S1 vertebrae fused during a back surgery last month, and I will tell ya I can't live like this paying shop fees!

 

 

[Pete M]

11 hours ago, Romain said:

As the N'th owner of my MJ, I wouldn't be able to say what bumper I have, but it looks stock enough to me. It was full body restored in the mid aughts and put in numerous car shows. That work chromed it all up too that might have led to a bumper swap. I've gone to more of a black-out look.

 

 

looks like a Fey Westin aftermarket bumper. 

[Bezerk1]

I’m very interested in one sent you a pm

[krustyballer16]

I HAVE PARTS TO BUILD 3 MORE! GET THEM WHILE THEY LAST! REMEMBER HOW LONG IT WAS BETWEEN RUNS OF ORDERS LAST TIME? don't MISS OUT! CROSS POSTED IN ABOUT 10 GROUPS!

[acfortier]

Just got around installing on my '91 today, since the weather was decent. I'm a bit confused since I didn't need to use the provided nuts and washers? Not sure if earlier model MJs don't have the welded nut in the frame rail like mine?

 

I had the same issue as @mikekaz1 with the spacing on the shackle bolt.

 

Mine also isn't centered under the bumper--not sure if it's my truck or something else, but you can kinda see it here:

 

 

 

Spacing on the passenger's side between hitch and bumper bracket:

 

 

Which is a lot bigger than the driver's side:

 

Also ended up somehow stripping one of the welded nuts in the frame rail for the bumper bracket bolts. Not idea how, wasn't even using power tools. Took the bolt out and ended up taking some of the threads with the bolt, whoops! Should be fine enough, I don't plan on towing THAT much, lol.

 

Also, I have a stock-ish exhaust (fairly certain they are all Walker pieces and the clearance between hitch and exhaust pipe is extremely small--it'll definitely bump going down the road. Going to see if I can bend it, but probably not a big deal.

 

 

[krustyballer16]

For a second i was thinking that maybe i measured and built it wrong, but then i look at the pictures and see your bumper is smashed to $#!& and pushed to the drivers side quite a bit lol.

 Thats why its not centered.

 

The space at the shackle is just how it is. That face sits in further than the frame face that the hitch is bolted to.

 I'm not sure what the stock/factory solution was on it.

 

And the exhaust, I'm not sure. If any of yours has been replaced then it may be a tiny bit longer or further back.

These are copied off original hitches so they sit how they did 30 years ago.

 

The extra nuts and bolts are for the situation you ran into, stripping out the original welded in nuts.

[acfortier]

 Yeah, the brackets themselves didn’t seem to be bent, but that makes sense for it not being centered. Probably got tweaked when someone rear ended me on the passenger side…

 

Thanks for the reply! May have to go back and see if I’ve got enough of the bolt to put a washer/nut on the stripped welded nut.

[howeitsdone]

Wanted to note that I was following @Airborne Janitor's DIY up top. I'm not familiar with the different gens of Expeditions so there was one for sale near me for $70 and turned out to be a gen 3 (07-17), which is 3" because it doubles as an impact bar. Not the end of the world, just way longer to do since I only have a grinder. And I had to open it up 1/2" inch on two sides.

 

So if you follow his post, then you'll need a gen 1 or 2 (97-06). Brackets were different too. Didn't take many pics as I was powering through.

 

No finished shots since it got dark as I was still welding.