'98 Expy Front Receiver Hitch
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'98 Expy Front Receiver Hitch
Per request, here is a little info on my front receiver hitch. As my handle implies, i fish. I use my '98 EB primarily as my beach buggy, and it sees a lot of beach time from early Spring, to early Winter.
I have an aluminum cooler rack, that will hold a 94 qt cooler, 2 five gallon buckets, and about 8 rods. It requires a dual 2" receiver, about 20" a part.
To get it mounted to the expy, I started with a standard Curt front hitch
And had my welder add two extra tubes. I decided to leave the center one on, since it gives me different options. It was painted with Imron after the tubes were added
Installation was very easy. Basically I had to remove the tow hooks, drop the rubber that sits behing the opening, fish the hitch in, and bolt it up. Because of my extra two tubes, i had to use the die grinder and widen the opening a little, but it was pretty simple. Took me about about an hour or so.
I have an aluminum cooler rack, that will hold a 94 qt cooler, 2 five gallon buckets, and about 8 rods. It requires a dual 2" receiver, about 20" a part.
To get it mounted to the expy, I started with a standard Curt front hitch
And had my welder add two extra tubes. I decided to leave the center one on, since it gives me different options. It was painted with Imron after the tubes were added
Installation was very easy. Basically I had to remove the tow hooks, drop the rubber that sits behing the opening, fish the hitch in, and bolt it up. Because of my extra two tubes, i had to use the die grinder and widen the opening a little, but it was pretty simple. Took me about about an hour or so.
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Bucket holders block the headlights. I have some snow plow lights that i've been planning to mount, ( you can see the mounts I added to put them on) just haven't gotten around to it yet. I usually just keep the buckets in the back while I'm on the road and use the fog lights as well, works pretty good, but i need to get the plow lights done soon
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thanks
a lot of guys do put on back, and they even make swing out arms to allow them to clear the tailgate.
I like it up front for several reasons: the not being in the way of the tailgate is a big one. I also like that i can see it up front. I'm always afraid when it's in the back i might forget it's there and back into something. Plus i run some 10 & 11' surf rods, so having them upfront makes it easier to watch for clearence issues with wires, branches, drive thru windows, etc..... It sits higher in the front than it would on the back, which also gives me more ground clearance.
a lot of guys do put on back, and they even make swing out arms to allow them to clear the tailgate.
I like it up front for several reasons: the not being in the way of the tailgate is a big one. I also like that i can see it up front. I'm always afraid when it's in the back i might forget it's there and back into something. Plus i run some 10 & 11' surf rods, so having them upfront makes it easier to watch for clearence issues with wires, branches, drive thru windows, etc..... It sits higher in the front than it would on the back, which also gives me more ground clearance.
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Yea, I think Bodiak went out of business recently (or could possibly be having some legal problems) I emailed them after ther website went offline, and one of the owners responded and just said something like they were " temporarily suspending production". Sounds a little sketchy at the very least
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That is very impressive!
Did you make the aluminum cooler rack or buy it? That thing looks like a piece of art.
Did you make the aluminum cooler rack or buy it? That thing looks like a piece of art.
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Thanks
I bought the center section and made the bucket holders on each side. You can see where they wrap around the center section and bolt on. It's functional and i didn't want to weld into the main rack since that is anodized
I bought the center section and made the bucket holders on each side. You can see where they wrap around the center section and bolt on. It's functional and i didn't want to weld into the main rack since that is anodized
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Hell of a set-up. There are better plow lights available, but they are not cheap, try Meyer "Night Saber", they are among the best and much smaller. That Expy reminds me of the 99 I traded-in a while back, one of the best vehicles I've ever owned. Had 182K on it and still ran like new.
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Yea, I looked at the Night Sabres but the $300+ price tag was a little hard to swallow. I'm sure they are well worth it if you are a commercial snow plow operator, but my needs are just to drive a couple miles from my place at the shore, to the beach entrance, then i just need to be able to see enough to avoid holes in the sand and drift wood.
I bought these NOS Grotes on ebay, brand new for $50 with shipping included. They will suit my needs just fine. I wired in a plug in harness and since the front signal plugs in the fronts are the same as the rear on my truck, i just used a plug-in style trailer harness to tap into the parking lights and signals. I was very happy with this since i didn't have to tap into, or cut the OEM harness at all. I just need to put in a couple relays and a on-off-on switch in the truck for the hi-low beams and i'll be done
I bought these NOS Grotes on ebay, brand new for $50 with shipping included. They will suit my needs just fine. I wired in a plug in harness and since the front signal plugs in the fronts are the same as the rear on my truck, i just used a plug-in style trailer harness to tap into the parking lights and signals. I was very happy with this since i didn't have to tap into, or cut the OEM harness at all. I just need to put in a couple relays and a on-off-on switch in the truck for the hi-low beams and i'll be done
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