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I looked around here but couldn't find to many photos or to much info on this subject so I thought I would share.
For those that would like to use a winch but don't want to buy a new bumper this is another option for you. Keep in mind this configuration is not meant for heavy winching. Don't go with this if your looking to pull yourself out of a large mud hole. This set up is more or less meant for straight line pulls. They say " 15 degree angle up or down from horizontal and 45 degree angle left or right from straight ahead" Now we all know that there is going to be times you have to go beyond that but....
Ok so I went with the Curt 31310 front hitch. (GROSS LOAD CAPACITY WHEN USED AS A WEIGHT CARRYING HITCH: LBS. TRAILER WEIGHT & 500 LBS. TONGUE WEIGHT.
GROSS LOAD CAPACITY WHEN USED AS A STRAIGHT LINE PULL: 9,000 LBS. MAX. LINE PULL.) Curt does make three different front hitches that fit these trucks.
Install is very straight forward and I did it myself in about 30 mins. It fit right on like they said it would and there is not drilling. It would be nice to have a second set of hands though. Anyways here is a few pics for those looking to something like this.
I also made a front hitch tag plate to put on there for daily use and to hide things a bit.
Nice write up and nice truck!! Thanks for sharing. Would this work as a recovery or straight line pulling point with just a shackel? I dont plan on getting a winch but wish there was a tow point on the front of the truck for pulling or getting pulled. Also do you think the hitch would be too low on a stock height 4x4 f150? I may put f250 coils in. Thanks!!
the front hitch on my 88 came off a wrecked dodge pickup.
it is bolted/welded to the frame, plow mount, and the front bumper.
not sure how strong it is, but it did pull a John Deere 450 dozer up onto the trailer after the engine died to get it back to the shop to rebuild it.
i also hooked the chain to it to pull start a loaded mack dump truck a few times. .
Since everyone here seems to love front hitches so much I might as well take the other side of the debate.
Congratulations on murdering your approach angle, giving your winch leverage over the rest of your truck and making it convent to take off and leave at home (because that's when you're gonna need it) and it's just one more thing to bounce around in, or out of the bed if you don't forget it at home. Front hitches are ok for trailer duty but you may as well go wheeling with plow mounts bolted on if you're gonna go wheeling with a front hitch.
mine is not for a winch, mine was put on for ease in spotting trailers in tight spots.
and i do not worry about approach angles. if i go offroad i do it in a vehicle designed for offroad use, not a 9,000 lb diesel truck.
I built a front receiver hitch that sits in the small center opening of my front bumper. No approach angle issues, as I already stuff the front bumper from time to time. It's a good spot for the high lift jack when needed, and that was the primary reason for it. Full tube bumper may be better but this was simple enough. It is a bit high (drop hitch fixes that) but works great for moving trailers into tight spots. For what the OP wanted, sounds like the bolt on kit fits the bill. His truck is too clean to go bashing through the woods in anyway!
I have front receivers on both my F-250 and my Bronco. The F-250 is mainly for pushing trailers around. It also makes a nice tow point. So I went with the simple bolt-on. It doesn't affect my approach angle in any significant way (not significant because approach angle doesn't matter much on this truck).
The Bronco is an off-roader, so both front and rear receivers come through the bumper. The rear sticks out a little, so I have dragged it, but the front doesn't affect approach angle at all.
So far I don't have a winch, and I never expect to need one for the vast majority of the use either truck gets. But eventually I'd like to get a receiver-mount winch that I can use on either end of either truck. My thought is to build a bracket so I can mount it vertically in front of the grill on the Bronco when I'm 'wheeling, to have the least impact on approach angle (I'll obviously mount it straight horizontally when using it). But that's way down the budgetary priority list.
Since everyone here seems to love front hitches so much I might as well take the other side of the debate.
Congratulations on murdering your approach angle, giving your winch leverage over the rest of your truck and making it convent to take off and leave at home (because that's when you're gonna need it) and it's just one more thing to bounce around in, or out of the bed if you don't forget it at home. Front hitches are ok for trailer duty but you may as well go wheeling with plow mounts bolted on if you're gonna go wheeling with a front hitch.
Clearly someone didn't do any reading they just looked at some pictures and decided to play captain obvious. Clearly this isn't an off road rig. Thank you for your concern though.
Nice write up and nice truck!! Thanks for sharing. Would this work as a recovery or straight line pulling point with just a shackel? I dont plan on getting a winch but wish there was a tow point on the front of the truck for pulling or getting pulled. Also do you think the hitch would be too low on a stock height 4x4 f150? I may put f250 coils in. Thanks!!
08-30-2016, 12:12 PM
