Installing a Front Hitch on a JL

[RussJeep1]

Yesterday I installed the Draw-Tite Front Mount Trailer Hitch

https://www.etrailer.com/Front-Hitch/Jeep/JL+Wrangler+Unlimited/2018/65079.html?vehicleid=201866679

I'd like to share some observations about doing so to help others contemplating/planning similar installations.

While other brands of front hitches may certainly exist that are compatible with the JLU, or may come to market in the future, the two I saw that were certified to work were here:

https://www.etrailer.com/fmr-2018_Jeep_JL+Wrangler+Unlimited.htm

I chose to separate this from the "What did you do to your JL today" thread because it's long winded.

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For either hitch, and I suspect any future front ones that may be designed for the JL, it is pretty much necessary to remove a metal piece behind, and that helps hold the plastic air dam in the front bottom of the vehicle in place. Both product descriptions of the two compatible front hitches at this above link note this permanent removal, referring to the same piece requiring removal as either a "steel skid shield" or "front metal air dam." I'll use both terms when referring to it; FCA may have yet another way of describing it.

While it may be possible to cut away sections of this metal piece to get it and a front hitch to fit, my impressions are that you'd have to cut away so much of it, that it may not serve its original purpose to the plastic air dam in front (as discussed below): which is to hold two metal bolts in place that secure the back of the plastic air dam (again more below).

That this metal piece may serve other purposes than securing the plastic air dam's 2 metal bolts (discussion to follow) I am not aware of.

Instructions on how to remove the plastic air dam on the JL can be found here: (even if this video was intended for the removal of other pieces off the rig.)

At exactly 2:19 into the video we can see Rob of Quadratec removing this plastic air dam

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(Try to freeze the video at the end of 2:19)

Immediately behind the plastic air dam is a metal piece, the "steel skid shield" or "front metal air dam." easily removed by unscrewing its two bolts on either side and lifting it up and out. Again, this metal piece's purpose, at least to the plastic air dam, is to hold the portion of the air dam closest to the vehicle's back, held on by two 7 or 8mm bolts (I can't remember)--Rob says 8mm but I seem to recall it being 7mm (I may be wrong.)

We can see Rob removing 8 plastic clips (each of which have two parts: a pin and a receptacle) that hold the front of the plastic air dam on here:



with a trim tool, after which he removes the aforementioned two metal bolts that the "steel skid shield" or "front metal air dam" we need to also remove (although unlike the plastic air dam, permanently remove), serves to accept these 2 metal bolts.

Note: the 8 plastic clips seem to be a little harder to get to on the Sahara than the Sport Rob's working on in the video, but certainly accessible. This is because the area in front of these 8 plastic clips seems to be designed differently on the Sahara than the Sport shown in the video.

With both the plastic air dam and the "steel skid shield" or "front metal air dam" removed, (and by the way: we can/will put the plastic air dam back with some caveats), hitch installation is pretty straight forward. For the hitch I used, 3 bolts keep the hitch in place on each side. 2 of these 3 bolts involve the use of "handle nuts" as featured in this video of installing a front hitch on a JK (not a JL) at around 5:37.

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(Please only use this JK video as a guide for 3 specific things: 1) demonstration of what a "handle nut" is (if you're unfamiliar), 2) how to cut off the excess of the handle nut after installation if desired (I just tucked mine away)

and 3) the BASIC IDEA on how to cut the plastic air dam

to allow it to be reinserted on to the rig, if you choose, now that the front hitch would prevent its assembly were this cutting not done.)

The precise areas you will need to cut your air dam are hitch and Wrangler model specific. Please use this JK example as only a conceptual guide, not as guidance for the exact locations where your plastic air dam will need to be cut in order to fit it back on once your front hitch is installed.

Some people choose to leave the plastic air dam off at this point.

Some people take it off and never even install a front hitch etc., enjoying the more rugged look.

I like the look of the plastic air dam and hear it helps with gas mileage. So I cut out the section of the air dam where the hitch sits, using a ruler to take careful measurements of where the just installed front hitch sat, and an Oscillating Cutting Tool.

Placement of the plastic air dam back on the rig as a bit tricky even assuming the cut in the air dam easily allows its reinsertion on the rig around the front hitch.

The reason why this is the case is that the back of the air dam, where the two metal bolts exists, has no place for these two bolts to attach to now that the "steel skid shield" or "front metal air dam" is permanently removed to accommodate this hitch.

This has a tendency to drop down the back of the plastic air dam towards the ground, and can make reinstallation of the 8 plastic clips a bit tricky as these clips work best when the plastic air dam is installed with these two metal bolts, which restrict the air dam's movement up or down in the back and help to position it properly.

For the time being, I made a huge knot in two pieces of strong cord on each side of the air dam (passengers and driver's side), passed it through the two holes where the metal bolts normally sat, and attached the cord to points in the vehicle's undercarriage. This resists the plastic air dam from dropping, but unlike with the "steel skid shield" or "front metal air dam" installed, not from rising as wind passes under the rig at speeds--much that there's little play that testing (physical pushing and driving at speeds) proved harmless.

Since this upward rise is minimal, in time I'll probably figure out some way to secure these two points in the back of the air dam with threaded steel rod (or something similar), to resist down- or upward movement of the back of the plastic air dam, at which time, as Murphy's law of Wranglers would have it, someone will introduce a component into front hitch installs to do this better than anything I could jury rig.

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[RussJeep1]

This is a picture of the "steel skid shield" or "front metal air dam." Masking tape keeps its two bolts with the device so I don't lose them. My finger points to where 1 of the 2 metal bolts of the plastic air dam screw in. Its rigidity keeps the air dam from rising or lowering in the back.

The picture that follows is a jury rigging of holding up the back of the plastic air dam where one of the two metal bolts that would hold it in the back can no longer screw into the otherwise now necessarily missing aforementioned piece, held up by cord in a pinch--better solutions that freeze the back of the plastic air dam's movement up or down to follow.

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[RussJeep1]

Not to bump this thread--it's long winded explanation only targeted for front hitch installers and contemplators, the aforementioned cord I used at initial install to keep the back of the air dam from dropping, that didn't prevent it from rising was substituted with threaded rod. Here is one of two identical pieces: (about 3" X 1")

I grabbed a long piece of it for leverage, bent it at 90 degrees, and then cut it to size, twice.

Two nuts at each end of each piece (8 nuts in total for both "J" pieces) lock the piece into existing holes in the rig's structure above, at the 1" segment, and into each hole in the air dam where the two metal bolts use to screw into the now removed "steel skid shield" or "front metal air dam" at the 3" segment.

Now the air dam is fixed for movement in any direction at its two back holes, just as it was when the "steel skid shield" or "front metal air dam" was in place from the factory prior to the front hitch install, and the two metal bolts at the back of the plastic air dam screwed into it.

 

[BigJimSlade]

Could you post some pics of the hitch installed?

 

[RussJeep1]

I take portions of a wire hanger and attach it to the hitch cover, looping the hanger behind the hitch pin hole. The locking hitch pin then sits in front of this wrap around portion of wire hanger and makes removing the hitch cover impossible short of destroying it.

For some reason I can't explain, people think its okay to steal hitch covers like they were collector's items or something.

Behind the side view of the front hitch lies a fence post that has nothing to do with the image.

The following isn't a great picture, but it seeks to show how the aforementioned 90 degree bent threaded rod is secured at one end into a hole in the chasis, and at the other end into the passenger's side (one of two holes) hole where the 1 of 2 metal bolts in the back of the plastic air dam use to screw into the "steel skid shield" or "front metal air dam" that's now been removed to accommodate the front hitch

The following is a picture of one of the 8 plastic push pins that secure the plastic air dam in it's front. They are a tad more difficult to get to in this Sahara owner's setup than that in Rob of Quadratec's Sport given the difference in the front bumper of this owner's Sahara at this place. They are accessible though to pop out with a trim tool when accessed from the side. The top of the picture is closer to the back of the rig.

 

[BigJimSlade]

Thanks! That looks good. It seems to be tucked up there pretty well.

 

[Torero]

Nicely done. It sounds like it was complicated to get that clean finish look. Thanks for sharing. I was skeptical but now I will follow.

 

[RussJeep1]

Nicely done. It sounds like it was complicated to get that clean finish look. Thanks for sharing. I was skeptical but now I will follow.

I'm not that handy. So much so that my first step in doing this was to price out a replacement plastic air dam (around $50) and availability (very much so-1 day out of the local warehouse) from my local dealer in case I turned the cutting out of the hole in it, to accommodate the front hitch, into a hatchet job.

The air dam has clear indications of where its center point is. So with a ruler and an oscillating trim to I began cutting into the center point of the air dam where the hitch lies, periodically lining it up with the hitch to see if more cutting was indicated.

I would suggest the air dam fit snug, but not ultra-tight around the hitch: you need slight play in the air dam to make sure that you can sit the front of the air dam flush against the 8 holes in its front where the plastic rivets are, or those rivets may be inclined to want to pop out once installed.

At the risk of pointing out the obvious, measurements against the air dam should be done as if the air dam where a 2 dimensional drawing. In order words, if some cut is to be made 2" down front the top of the plastic air dam, it's NOT 2" down around the curvature of the air dam, which would be less than 2" straight down.

If I can do this it will be trivial to most people on this board.

I deliberately left out instructions on things like having a torque wrench etc., endemic to all hitch installs not because said tools and methods aren't important, but because my focus was on JL specific things to be on the lookout for. I will say that the custom "J" bolts previous mentioned, or the air dam cut out notwithstanding, there is simply nothing easier to install in the hitch world than a Wrangler one: front or (especially) back--7 pin electric installs discused in prior forum threads, in the back, notwithstanding. Unlike other vehicle's installs I've done, there are no bolts to pull through beams with metal guiding wire, etc.

Final point: what would be a front hitch for most without some electrical hookup?

I have no relationship to this guy other than he makes great heavy duty custom cables with any ends/length you want to energize said hitch.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2-GAUGE-6FT-Hi-amp-UNIVERSAL-QUICK-CONNECT-WIRING-KIT-WINCH-DUMP-TRAILER/182485498364?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

Happy hitching!

P.S. Here's Rob from Quadratec removing the "steel skid shield" or "front metal air dam" or as Rob refers to it, as a crossmember.

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