Have anyone made or mounted D-rings on the front of their truck?

I have a rally chrome push bar but thinking of putting a D-ring mount on the frame on each side up front. Might have to make a bracket but looking to add a pulling point. So id like to see what others have done.

 

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ml#post9994930

here is the route I'm going. I'm going to pick up a stick welder to get better penetration first though. But badass idea in general

 

You do NOT want to go that route. Pulling on one will Z the frame.
Pulling on both will bend the frame rails together




The the OP. If You you want a pulling point I suggest a front receiver

 

"z" the frame?

what is that?

 

Ok, and what would be different between bolting a D ring mount on the bottom of the frame and using that vs tying a rope to the outside edge of the bumper?

This mount is not being used to pull the truck out if stuck this mount is so if I have to pull a car from the front to get it out of a garage again I have a mount vs having to tie on to the bumper like I have been doing.

Aside from that I am going to buy from the local 4wheeldrive part store a D ring receiver hitch for use on my rear hitch for actual pulling.

But I am just wondering on the front cause I have had to use the truck a few times for moving a car out of a garage or out of a position where I couldn't back up to it. So with a Jeep at work I put a lift kit in I saw the bolt on D rings and thought to myself maybe I could mount something like that on the bottom of the frame. But if its going to be a issue then I will just forget it cause I don't want to add more weight on the front nor the expense of another receiver hitch just to be able to pull a vehicle when I can do what I have done before and just tie off to the edge of the bumper itself.

 

I think the biggest danger would be bending a frame horn slightly if you were using these mounts to extract from a side pull

that could be easily remedied by putting another crossmember between the frame horns (hidden behind bumper). the bumper already at this point is acting like a crossmember (albiet weak one).

either way, there is no real difference between this style mount and a front receiver in my eyes

 

The difference is you will bend the bymper long before you damage the frame going that way. Later in your post you say that you won't be using the tow point for hard pulls. With no hard pulls obviously you weon't damage anything. But most people putting a solid tow point on the frame are looking to be able to make hard pulls.

Yes, a front receiver adds a crossmember right at the front frame horns. That will prevent pulling the frame rails together (or bending a frame horn out). It also makes it more convenient to pull off both frame rails, greatly reducing the likelihood of Z-ing the frame (pulling it into a parallelogram) by pulling too hard on one rail.

How likely isit to Z the frame? I don't know, but pulling off both frame rails makes it less likely. You could add two tow points and a crossmember, or just add a front receiver and do the same thing.

 

Thanks for explaining the Z thing. Makes sense

So visually, the method I posted looked better. And it's easy enough to fabricate a framehorn crossmember with some plate steel and 2" square tube

 

I think the idea where he bolted through using the bumper bolts is ok, the bumper will help support the front of the frame, and the frame is thicker at the front where the bolts go through. On my ranger pickup, I needed something to hook to when cutting wood, to pull logs and help persuade trees to go certain directions when cutting. I took one bumper bolt out on each side and drilled it out and replaced it with something like this.



The problem with bolting to the frame is the frame is so thin. You can do it, but you need to make up a plate to go on the other side of the tow hook, sort of like a huge washer sandwich type deal.

 

Thank you for explaining it so I didn't have to

 

I planned on cutting down a thick piece of steel the same dimensions as the mount to sandwhich on the other side. But the thing is I did do some searching for front receiver hitches couldn't find anything for these trucks but they aren't too expensive seems to be around $100 - $200. I would consider getting one for that price if I could find one made for the truck. Would be easier for me in the long run cause then instead of having to buy three D rings all Id have to do is just buy that one hitch with the D ring mount and I can use it front or rear then.

In any case I planned on investing in something like a bubba rope but need to do more reading on it. This rope isn't going to be mainly use for recovery but for pulling. Some times at work I have to go run and pull the boss or my coworker back to the shop and I don't like using a customers vehicle to pull another customers vehicle. So need a rope that can be used for that as well.

Makes sense. I don't go off roading but doesn't mean that when I am on our property and I am out in the field if I do get stuck doesn't mean I wouldn't need some form of recovery to hook the tractor to. Big reason why I am going to invest in that $30 hitch with the D ring mount on it. The front mount I wasn't going to use for anything but easy jobs. Theres been times I had to pull a car out of a garage but with my camper and antenna I couldn't get close enough backing up so had to nose in and use the front. One case was here with my '63 the wheels were all frozen and couldn't get to the car as the car was too big for the garage to begin with. So had to pull it out sliding the tires. Would have been easier just to be able to have a mount to hook a rope to vs tying it off.

I would consider a front mount hitch like I stated above I did some searching but couldn't find nothing for a '82 F150, only rear mounts but the front mounts for other vehicles I seen aren't too crazy price wise seems to be around $100 - $200 depending on what kind of receiver.

 

You need to tie the frame rails together, the bumper is not strong enough by itself. I have seen a frame pulled out of square with even one of the good push bars that ran underneath the bumper and tied to the side of the frame. Not something your average guy is going to do, but, it can happen. I personally like to weld in a crossmember right at the front of the rails behind the bumper.
There used to be front mount hitches for these trucks, but like many other aftermarket items, they are now out of production. You could make one pretty easily with one of the weld together kits for a service body, if you have the welding capability.
There are a bunch of different styles, but, here is an example:
https://www.etrailer.com/Heavy-Duty-.../41991-07.html