Looking into a future project for a front mount receiver hitch to mount a Portable/removable winch set-up.

I have checked out Curt, Reese and a few others.

Anybody have any recommendations on brands for quality and fit.

I am aware of items like the fog lights and plate would need to be removed etc.. I would like to keep my light bar but probably will need to modify it a bit.

Thanks for any help or comments.

Dave

 

I used a curt on my 04 and it worked great. Foglights can be remounted but it requires some engineering.

 

love my set up. it the hidden hitch behind the bumper. i did'nt have fog lights so no loss for me. i did mount my plate to a reciever tube. it only sits about one inch higher than stock.

 

I seem to recall that there's a receiver hitch that mounts in place of the tow hooks and also one that can be attached to a snow plow mount. Sorry but I can't recall who made them though I think I saw it here on FTE a couple years ago...

 

I had similar set up on my 00 model F250. I had the hidden receiver along with the winch tray. I also added quick disconnects so I could use the winch from front to back hitches.

 

I love mine and am so glad I put it on. Mine is a Rigid Hitch. I have since painted the bolts black to match the outside ones and taken the sticker goo off the left side.

The problem with putting fog lights back in the factor areas is it is hard to put the pin in for the reciever.

 

This was my approach. It has worked nicely on both the '03 and the '08.

I ran heavy gauge cable to front and rear hitches with Anderson connectors. Winch stays secure and dry in the cab.

 

Sorry for the late reply.
Thanks alot for the responses.
Did any of you run into any issues during installation? Installation looks pretty straight forward but always want to know any little quarks.

Thanks again

 

Well from what it looks like, the newer models 03 and up, you have to remove the front bumper for the install. I didnt have to do this with my 00 but from what I can tell, I have to with my 04.

 

Just a word of caution receiver mount hitches are fine for other accessories but as for using them with a winch be EXTREMELY careful.

Do some math

How much does your truck weight?
What is winch rated at?
What is hitch rated at?

If your doing straight line pulls or just slightly off center your fine but if you start pulling to either side you could be in for a world of hurt. If your truck is really stuck and you use a ****** block it is easily possible you will be putting 20,000lbs plus of force on that two inch receiver.
I had this set up on a Bronco with a 8000lb winch and bent and broke the receiver more times then I care to remember in the end it was more plate and weld then original.

Just be careful if you ever really start torquing that receiver at an angle.

IT is really nice to have the winch movable from front to back and the ability to leave that extra weight off the front suspension when you don't need it.

 

Wagion,
It is a 8000lb winch that will be used for light retrievals. The hitch (Drawtite) has a 9000lb line pull rating and 500lb vertical weight rating which i have no intention of exceeding. There can always be that one time though i guess but i don't like to take chances. I had my share of them in my younger years.

Yes, the dangers of winching can be devastating. I have had past experience with a few near misses with line snappings and it's scary. Thats were the old towel comes in handy.

PS- Like the Ruger SP101 avatar. You should see the wife fire mine with .357 rounds. Pretty funny.

 

The avatar is a 500S&W

 

I'd like to see his wife shoot that

 

It
It is really not that bad until you get into the 500g plus rounds by 5'4" 120lb girlfriend shoots it with no problem the compensator helps a lot and it is a big chuck of steel so that helps to. The snubby 500 they make I shot once you couldn't pay me to shoot it again.

 

Ok yeah, big difference. I initially didn't think they made a 4" barrel on the 500 but i stand corrected. I believe that would be the 500S model correct. From my quick view they looked similar.
Sorry, hope i didn't embarrass you. LOL
OK Back to trucks.