Hi,

Has anyone ever tried to find a front mounted receiver hitch for a 1973 F250-350 with 4 wheel drive? I have not been able to find one for my F250. I wonder if it has something to do with the leaf spring setup being in the way?? In case you are wondering, I have a winch that is mounted on a receiver drawbar that is why I would like the front receiver.

Thanks,
Abrams

 

Build one, that way you can make it the way you want and be sure of the strength. Maybe start with a used hitch and modify to fit the front of your truck. -Ed

 

I have to agree. I've seen a few front receivers in catalogs, ever since they started offering winches on receiver-mount plates. But they looked pretty small and wimpy. If you build your own, you'll know what you have. Heck, depending on what you want, you could get creative and combine it with driving light moun, front end guard, step to reach engine bay, tow hooks, or whatever you wanted.

 

Yep, I might have to do that. I suppose some junkyards might have a receiver hitch on hand that would fit my width of framerails?


-Abrams

 

I've searched for a front receiver hitch for my '74 and, like you, have been unsuccessful in locating one.

I've been kicking around several designs for a custom built unit, but have yet to figure out something that achieves my goals, which are 1.) strength (at least enough for the old 8000lb ramsey sitting in my garage), 2.) retain as stock an appearance as possible, and 3.) loose as little ground clearance/approach angle as possible.

Part of the problem is the design of the frame at the front of the highboys. Like you say, the springs pretty much eliminate a typical design that bolts to the bottom of the frame rails, so you're talking about a little more complicated fabrication to get it to mount. Otherwise you could just modify a "universal" fit unit.

I'd love to modify the frame brace that ties together the front spring perches and have the receiver opening right below the bumper, but the positioning of the bottom radiator tank behind that brace means that you can't do much bracing back there, or have much depth for a drawbar to slide in. The options - having it stick way out the front or dropping it down below the brace, are not that appealing to me, though I may end up dropping it below the brace.

If I didn't like so much the way the stock bumper looks, I'd just go with something like a warn classic and forget about it.

Maybe when I strip the body off for my cab swap I will figure something out. Oh well. I'd love to hear from someone who's done it, or to hear from you if you figure something out.

 

my truck has a custom welded up reciever on the back of it, that looks to be your only option. have a shop weld one up for you if you can't do it and it should look quite nice.

 

I made one for my truck. What I did was take one that was too wide, and cut it down to fit inside my framerails. I took the bolt on sideplates that attach it to the rear frame (normally) and cut them to make bolt on plates. I then welded it and fit it inside my frame. I had to grind the front edge of the frame to get it to fit in, and had to remove the radiator to have room to move. It hangs down a little, but I had to notch my stock bumper. Here is my gallery that has the front hitch in it. https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...6&albumid=6679 Of course, I used a different frame than you guys, but the idea is the same. It will take some modifying.

 

That's a really nice job with your hitch. The factory frame brace on the factory 4wd trucks will require some additional modification to get one that nice and tight.

 

I wonder if a person could replace the factory frame brace with part of a new receiver if you built one.

The guy that had my truck before my apparently used the frame brace as a tow-chain attachment point. It is all torn up and bent out. I would like to replace it anyway.

-Abrams

 

I had an idea to build a bumper with two 3" stainless tubes and hide the receiver between them and attach a brace to the back of it and down to the frame. Just an idea so far I have not tried it yet. Might be worth a try?

 

In general (and especially because I recently bent the right end of the stock bumper on my 2WD F250), I like the idea of a really stout bumper. And if it's stout enough, there's no reason it cannot also carry the receiver for a front hitch. If those two 3" tubes you mentioned were spaced 2.53" apart, one might slip the receiver between them and weld it in place.

 

Here you can see mine, just for more ideas. Tied into the frame and front cross-member. Its not going anywhere.