For my '95 XLT Bronco, I'd like to add a receiver hitch to the front of the truck. Attach my receiver mount winch, park my trailer easier, etc.

All three of the manufacturers that I've looked into (HiddenHitch, DrawTite, Warn), state that the model they have available won't work with the "forward mount stabilizer bar". Well, my truck looks to have that sway bar.

Do any of you understand how to get around this constraint or otherwise know how to get a front receiver on a Bronco while maintaining a reasonable "sway bar" performance up front?

MerCrew66

'95 XLT Bronco (stock)
'66 F250 Crew Cab (under build-up)
'65 M100 Short-bed Mercury Pickup (w/429)

 

Try asking someone at a welding shop. A reciever can be made pretty easily, and as you are not going to be pulling the trailer down the road with it, it's wouldn't have to be certified or anything. How big of a winch do you have? This is the primary consideration, as it will need to handle this much of a pull.

Jared

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 24-Nov-02 AT 03:08 PM (EST)]The reason for the problem with the front sway bar is that there is no place on the frame with a flat surface to mount the receiver. Autofab.com has an interesting article on a prerunner setup which addresses the "collapsable frame" sections between the sway bar mounting point and the front bumper and how they got rid of them. the frame between the sway bar brackets and the bumper looks like an accordian. These frame sections supposedly are designed to collapse in a front end collision. Now, I have never seen this actually happen and its probably a good thing too since to fix the frame would then require cutting off the old sections and somehow welding in new ones.

Personally, if I was going to do this I would do away with the front sway bar. Well, actually I already have. When I lifted my 92 XLT the lift came with drop brackets for the front sway bar but I never got around to putting it back on the truck. The dual front shocks and the larger tires actually compensate for the lack of sway bar quite well. So that left me with a perfect location for a front reciever or a pair of recovery hooks. Hooks are under there now in place of the old sway bar brackets. I would think you could get a reciever to mount pretty well in that space.

'92 XLT
4" Tough Country EZ-Ride lift w/6 RS8000 shocks
33x12.5 BFG A/T's
Mickey Thompson 15x10 Challengers

 

To Ford SIX: the winch is a Warn "Pull Pack" rated at 3500 lbs. I don't expect it to do any heavy duty work, of course. I have it for my race trailer and with the receiver it's pretty convenient to move around. Only need it for the front for occasional emergencies (i.e. hopefully never).

To GreyStreak92: Yeah, I see the accordian frame deal that you're talking about. The sway bar mounts are the first flat part of the frame. HiddenHitch actually claims that their hitch will work after all, I've got it on order and we'll see what we get. It is unreasonable to bolt it in to the same holes that mount the sway bar and then drop the sway bar by the 1/4" or so thickness of the hitch plate or replace the bushings with thinner ones? Doesn't seem like a big deal to me, but hey, I'm no mechanical engineer. Maybe the install instructions explain it well enough.

MerCrew66

 

I bought a draw tite front receiver for my 94 Bronco and it was listed for the f-150 only. I had to add some 1/4 inch plate and bolt the plate to the brakcets for the sway bar and then the receiver to the plate with the sway bar to the receiver. This dropped the sway bar about 1/2 inch and I have had no adverse effects. This model from draw-tite also bolts to the back side of the front bumper. Very easy install.