Trailer Hitch Installed Winch

[MadGerbil]

Greetings:
I've a Wrangler JL on order (two door) that should arrive by April.

I want to get a winch put on and I was set to buy an ARB bumper & WARN Winch; however, I see that it is possible to get a trailer hitch installed winch, which makes me wonder if someone has ever put a trailer hitch on the front and back of the Jeep you could have the benefit of two winch points with once winch.

If anyone has done this I'd like to know how it was accomplished.
Maybe it is a bad idea - comments and suggestions welcome.

I can just see myself getting in a snow bank with the front of the Jeep buried, a winch on the back might be the ticket.

- MG

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[GATORB8]

3,500 lb rated tow hitch, 4,000+ lb jeep, normal minimum winch pull rating 8,000 lb.

 

[Shibadog]

Did it back in the 90’s with my old TJ. Worked well the few times it was needed. Biggest pain was the cables needed to tun power to the winch-picture long “jumper cable” type, fastened to winch on one end, clamps for battery on the other. Not super quick to set up, but worked fine.

 

[stumblinhorse]

This is the way to go if you are a causal winch user. Gives a ton of flexibility. Many self recoveries are backwards and this works great. Also it doesn’t tie the winch to 1 vehicle. Can be used on anything. Super flexible if you do the receiver up front also. And another plus is leaving the winch at home for all the miles and road that it isn’t needed.

 

[AnnDee4444]

3,500 lb rated tow hitch, 4,000+ lb jeep, normal minimum winch pull rating 8,000 lb.

How does that work on a 2-door?

 

[GATORB8]

How does that work on a 2-door?

Not sure I understand the question. While 2 door tow rating is 2k, I believe it's the same 3.5k hitch from the JLU.

 

[AnnDee4444]

Not sure I understand the question. While 2 door tow rating is 2k, I believe it's the same 3.5k hitch from the JLU.

It was a bad attempt at humor.

I would be willing to bet that hitch can pull more than the tow rating. If the 2-door is reduced because of it's wheelbase, then I suspect the 4-door's wheelbase factors into it's tow rating as well.

 

[azwjowner]

Depending on your winch location, you can run the line underneath the axles:

 

[Yawnie'sPapa]

BE careful of receiver mounted winches. For a light vehicle and a straight pull it may be ok. But receivers at least for JT and JLU are rated for 9,000 STRAIGHT PULL only. Nothing off to the side, and nothing over 9,,000 pounds. So don't go getting a 10,000 or 12,000 pound capable winch and put it out there.
The winch on a receiver will also be sticking out there a ways - a whole lot of leverage if you go trying to pull at any angle - it's going to break or bend things unless you use snatch blocks and get creative to make it a straight pull.
Me, 66, back troubles and all, I don't feel like traipsing through mud and brush to put a winch in the receiver when stuck......... but if you leave it in the receiver all the time, now you have a lot of extra length and weight out there jouncing around.
I'm not against it, in fact I even bought the parts thinking that's what I was going to do - then I decided naw -to be prepared it either had to be in the back of my vehicle, or in the receiver ready to go.

It's not the tow capability of the tow vehicle, it's the rating of the receiver. Receivers are made for rolling loads, not hard pulls, and typically straight behind you. Even when backing say, a 4,000 pound trailer, the load on the receiver is small.

I put a 2" receiver on the front of my JT with two thoughts in mind - maneuvering my car hauler into a narrow parking spot by my shop, and, a winch. When I realized the limitations on receivers, I dropped the idea of the winch.
Glad I did - it's a ton of weight up there all the time but I was driving to town one day 2 winters ago and ran upon a fellow who had lost control on the icy, snowy roads and slid off into a ditch.
He was still there. (he had called for his brother to come pick him up). I offered him help and his response "you would do that for me?". Yeah, I would. Just give the word.
It was so icy I had trouble walking around my JT to open the hood and turn the winch power on. I stopped where there was just a bit of roughness to the ice on the shoulder. A truck hauling scrap iron stopped behind me as I was turning on my winch and pulling the rope out. He offered if my Jeep slid we could tie my Jeep to his truck.
The look and smile on the guy's face when I got his car up onto the shoulder - priceless. I told my wife - that makes it all worthwhile. (I suspect he was fairly new to the country and was surprised anyone would stop, let alone offer help. Other vehicles just crawled on by)

Anyway - that's my take on winches, receivers/hitch mounts and so on.
You can only plan so much and the time you think you'll be fine is when you wish it was with you.

I've watched the videos by the Aussies - pulling themselves out backwards and pulling themselves out sideways from a fairly deep wash. Amazing.

 

[GATORB8]

It was a bad attempt at humor.

I would be willing to bet that hitch can pull more than the tow rating. If the 2-door is reduced because of it's wheelbase, then I suspect the 4-door's wheelbase factors into it's tow rating as well.

I’m probably more cautious than most, I’ve seen bad things happen with rigging for hoisting.

Of course, decision is up to the individual.

To pass SAE J684, a 3,500 lb hitch in tensile has to take the following load for 5 seconds without permanently deflecting 5 degrees:
Longitudinal Tensile Load = .23* Rating + 1530 LB = 2,335 LB.

 

[Tech Tim]

The one thing I find common with people who have the receiver mount winch installed is either they just start leaving it off all the time and then they don't have it when they need it OR they run around with it installed all the time, so they just end up ordering a full-on winch bumper anyway.

 

[Ratbert]

How does that work on a 2-door?

Woah, that's kind of mind-blowing.

 

[stumblinhorse]

I will put a more simple answer. If you are someone that goes out by yourself, or in 1 vehicle, having access to a winch on a receiver is a low cost alternative to spending a lot more money to carry around a winch in your front bumper that you never use or couldn’t use to pull yourself backwards. Given the choice of no winch or a receiver mounted winch it is no contest.

I go by myself off road in 3 different vehicles. Having piece of mind that I have a winch cradle to self rescue , one that cost me a few hundred bucks, is a no brainer. Less than the cost of a paid recovery by a mile.

 

[J0E]

3,500 lb rated tow hitch, 4,000+ lb jeep, normal minimum winch pull rating 8,000 lb.

That's the rating for towing, not winching. I've got over 20 pulls from my receiver I'm sure were over 28,000 lbs, enough to break a 7/8" kinetic rope. That's why I use a double sized 1.25" kinetic rope.

normal minimum winch pull rating 8,000 lb.

You mean a wimpy winch rating.

How does that work on a 2-door?

I've always wanted to try that, but here, it's rare to find one anchor point.

BE careful of receiver mounted winches. For a light vehicle and a straight pull it may be ok. But receivers at least for JT and JLU are rated for 9,000 STRAIGHT PULL only. Nothing off to the side, and nothing over 9,,000 pounds. So don't go getting a 10,000 or 12,000 pound capable winch and put it out there.
The winch on a receiver will also be sticking out there a ways - a whole lot of leverage if you go trying to pull at any angle - it's going to break or bend things unless you use snatch blocks and get creative to make it a straight pull.
Me, 66, back troubles and all, I don't feel like traipsing through mud and brush to put a winch in the receiver when stuck......... but if you leave it in the receiver all the time, now you have a lot of extra length and weight out there jouncing around.
I'm not against it, in fact I even bought the parts thinking that's what I was going to do - then I decided naw -to be prepared it either had to be in the back of my vehicle, or in the receiver ready to go.

It's not the tow capability of the tow vehicle, it's the rating of the receiver. Receivers are made for rolling loads, not hard pulls, and typically straight behind you. Even when backing say, a 4,000 pound trailer, the load on the receiver is small. If I was going that route I might even stoop to a 5K winch, I'd want something light.

I put a 2" receiver on the front of my JT with two thoughts in mind - maneuvering my car hauler into a narrow parking spot by my shop, and, a winch. When I realized the limitations on receivers, I dropped the idea of the winch.
Glad I did - it's a ton of weight up there all the time but I was driving to town one day 2 winters ago and ran upon a fellow who had lost control on the icy, snowy roads and slid off into a ditch.
He was still there. (he had called for his brother to come pick him up). I offered him help and his response "you would do that for me?". Yeah, I would. Just give the word.
It was so icy I had trouble walking around my JT to open the hood and turn the winch power on. I stopped where there was just a bit of roughness to the ice on the shoulder. A truck hauling scrap iron stopped behind me as I was turning on my winch and pulling the rope out. He offered if my Jeep slid we could tie my Jeep to his truck.
The look and smile on the guy's face when I got his car up onto the shoulder - priceless. I told my wife - that makes it all worthwhile. (I suspect he was fairly new to the country and was surprised anyone would stop, let alone offer help. Other vehicles just crawled on by)

Anyway - that's my take on winches, receivers/hitch mounts and so on.
You can only plan so much and the time you think you'll be fine is when you wish it was with you.

I've watched the videos by the Aussies - pulling themselves out backwards and pulling themselves out sideways from a fairly deep wash. Amazing.

Nothing off to the side, and nothing over 9,000 pounds. So don't go getting a 10,000 or 12,000 pound capable winch and put it out there.

Agreed with straight line pull. 12K winch probably too heavy to carry back and forth. But disagree with bigger winch, other than carry weight. I have 12K winches on my JLR and my 3,200 lb TJR. I always use a snatch ring. So with a 12K winch on the receiver, use a snatch ring and anchor to the recovery hook on the frame. Now you've got half the pull on the receiver. Hopefully you're not in deep mud or otherwise so stuck that you need more than 4,000 lbs to recover. The only time you'd move the winch to the receiver is if you're wheeling solo, and most ppl are more conservative solo. I'd want to go with a very light winch, maybe a 5K. With a snatch ring if you can get on the first layer, you've got nearly 10K pull.

It's an interesting idea. I've always wanted winch in the back, but instead I got a TJR with a 12K winch so I never need to wheel solo.

Did it back in the 90’s with my old TJ. Worked well the few times it was needed. Biggest pain was the cables needed to tun power to the winch-picture long “jumper cable” type, fastened to winch on one end, clamps for battery on the other. Not super quick to set up, but worked fine.

I've seen 30' long, 1 ga jumper cable pretty cheap. That would work. Who needs super quick?

 

[stumblinhorse]

My 13k winch weighs 58lbs and cradle is 20. So 80 pounds. But my goal is to not have to put it on.

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