Let's see those front Hitch set ups.

[MattJL]

I have been hauling rods, coolers, and other fishing gear with my Jeeps for years, but my first project wasn't on the front, it was on the rear of my Cherokee.

I built this setup out of a Harbor Freight rack, some plywood, u-bolts, and sections of plastic plumbing tubing. This rack served me well for years taking equipment to and from my boat at the marina.

It was even pressed into service (briefly) when I traded the Cherokee for a 2013 Wrangler Sahara.

The home-made rack worked with the Cherokee because the lift gate cleared everything. Not so on the Wrangler as it blocked the swing gate.

Enter the front mount receiver hitch.

I bought an "Anglers Rod Racks" rod holder that fit the front receiver hitch, but on my 2013 Wrangler the outboard tubes covered my fog lights, so some trimming was in order.

Now mounted to my 2018 Wrangler, the front hitch mounted rack transports my 10' St Croix surf rods to the beach.
I've been doing this for many years.

The only disadvantage of my setup?
You need to be careful in the neighborhood with street trees.

Those rods are expensive and I can't afford tree strikes.

Good design but kinda annoying if they get entangle with anything. Your rods aren't retracting?

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[GitU1]

Curt (or DrawTite) - for Wrangler or Gladiator.

Handy for maneuvering long trailers into tight parking spots, you can see where you are putting that trailer when you have almost no room to turn it around.

They don't hang down that low and you can trim the skid plate to fit around the receiver.

Imagine being able to situate a long camper into a tight park space, or driving your boat trailer down the ramp and knowing exactly how far in your are and keeping it perfectly straight the whole time............

And there's still room for a Western snow plow mounting bar below it!

Nice. I noticed your snow plow mounting bar is missing a nut on the drivers side.

 

[Sand Flea]

Good design but kinda annoying if they get entangle with anything. Your rods aren't retracting?

No. All rods (except the 10' surf rods) are one-piece St Croix rods.
Even broken down, the 2-piece surf rods are too long to carry inside comfortably.
The St Croix company motto is, "Best Rods on Earth".

 

[Yawnie'sPapa]

Nice. I noticed your snow plow mounting bar is missing a nut on the drivers side.

I was taking the bar and brackets off for the summer months and decided to take a pic from that angle since I was laying down anyway.
They figure you mount it and leave it on - I figured for 15 minutes to take it off in the spring and another 15 to put it back on in the fall - why leave it on all summer?
It's a lot of weight, and I can clean up and if necessary, replate any of the hardware, touch things up. Two of the bolts are easy to get out of the frame on each side - the one farthest back I carefully put a washer and nut on to keep that bolt in place - you have to remove the bumper to reach the very very long handle welded to that bolt.

 

[thadius65]

That was good thinking on the visibility stick. Where did you find that? Lowe's or Home Depot or a local shop like Ace?

Lowes. It was a bit long, but I cut it down to the needed size for my visibility. works well.

 

[bww392]

Hassle and a half mounting the winch plate and the hitch together but I was convinced it could be done. Big fan of the hitch pan on the front to get in and out of the trunk when we’re camping. Even got the steel skid plate notched out

 

[Grateful1]

Hassle and a half mounting the winch plate and the hitch together but I was convinced it could be done. Big fan of the hitch pan on the front to get in and out of the trunk when we’re camping. Even got the steel skid plate notched out

Tell me more about this "notching" of the steel wench plate. Any pictures?

 

[bww392]

Looking through old pictures, don’t know if I have a better one than this. This is the factory steel skid plate notched out for the hitch to poke through.

 

[Grateful1]

Looking through old pictures, don’t know if I have a better one than this. This is the factory steel skid plate notched out for the hitch to poke through.

Gotcha. Thanks. Not too bad. I could live with that.

 

[SOTA]

With the hitch on the front you could run the engine on a cold morning in camp to make this more comfortable :

https://www.amazon.com/Bumper-Dumper-Original-Mountable-Portable/dp/B006IVN03O

 

[Grateful1]

With the hitch on the front you could run the engine on a cold morning in camp to make this more comfortable :

https://www.amazon.com/Bumper-Dumper-Original-Mountable-Portable/dp/B006IVN03O

Real men of genius. (That old Budweiser commercial)

 

[dragoneggs]

I like the idea of a front hitch but would be concerned with reducing my approach angle as I off-road frequently. If it was somehow easily/quickly removable, then you might have something.

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