This weekend I installed a front receiver for plowing.
History:
I looked into available products and came across 4xgaurd, but the owner there discouraged plow use saying it was setup for pulling, not pushing. I further found a mount from Bear Personal Plows, however this only attached to the front crossmember and didn't appear mush stronger than 4xguard's. I then found a nice mount from Western Plows that mounted between the front crossmember and engine/differential harness. This looked to be what I was looking for for strength, but no receiver mount. Next I found a 12,000lb/1,200lb tongue generic weld on receiver from Curt:
http://www.etrailer.com/Specialty-Trailer-Hitches/Curt/15902.html?feed=npn
The crosstube was 44" inches long (about the same as the front crossmember on th xk) and it was made out of 4" square tube, meaning I would be able to reach in from the ends and work with nuts and bolts.
I ordered these two parts and they formed the bases of my plan of which the details changed several times up until Saturday morning.
Work begins:
After taking off the front grill and bumper (which only took an hour thanks to the great instructions on this site that I had read before), I cut off the front crossmember of the frame about 1/2" back on the side rails. The new receiver hitch would replace the front crossmember.
I then attached the mounting brackets from the plow mount that were meant for the front crossmember to the receiver.
I used 1/8" x 2" angle iron, cut in 4" lengths to mount the receiver to the frame rails. These were cut and drilled and mounted to the receiver.
Next, the receiver was fit to the front and the rails were marked for drilling. (this is where the pictures start)
After drilling the frame rails, the mounts had to be removed from the receiver and bolted to the frame rails, as you can't get into the frame once the receiver is in place.
Now it was time to install the plow mount.
First the front of the mount was attached to the mounting brackets that had already been installed on the receiver.
Next, the mount was swung up into place on the engine/differential cross member, marked and drilled.
Once it was all bolted up, all that remained was to cutout the front bumper and reinstall.
It seems simple in the writeup, but took about 16 hours from start to completion over the weekend.
Here are some of the final pictures, I'll share more from earlier parts of the project when the camera has enough juice to transfer them......
History:
I looked into available products and came across 4xgaurd, but the owner there discouraged plow use saying it was setup for pulling, not pushing. I further found a mount from Bear Personal Plows, however this only attached to the front crossmember and didn't appear mush stronger than 4xguard's. I then found a nice mount from Western Plows that mounted between the front crossmember and engine/differential harness. This looked to be what I was looking for for strength, but no receiver mount. Next I found a 12,000lb/1,200lb tongue generic weld on receiver from Curt:
http://www.etrailer.com/Specialty-Trailer-Hitches/Curt/15902.html?feed=npn
The crosstube was 44" inches long (about the same as the front crossmember on th xk) and it was made out of 4" square tube, meaning I would be able to reach in from the ends and work with nuts and bolts.
I ordered these two parts and they formed the bases of my plan of which the details changed several times up until Saturday morning.
Work begins:
After taking off the front grill and bumper (which only took an hour thanks to the great instructions on this site that I had read before), I cut off the front crossmember of the frame about 1/2" back on the side rails. The new receiver hitch would replace the front crossmember.
I then attached the mounting brackets from the plow mount that were meant for the front crossmember to the receiver.
I used 1/8" x 2" angle iron, cut in 4" lengths to mount the receiver to the frame rails. These were cut and drilled and mounted to the receiver.
Next, the receiver was fit to the front and the rails were marked for drilling. (this is where the pictures start)
After drilling the frame rails, the mounts had to be removed from the receiver and bolted to the frame rails, as you can't get into the frame once the receiver is in place.
Now it was time to install the plow mount.
First the front of the mount was attached to the mounting brackets that had already been installed on the receiver.
Next, the mount was swung up into place on the engine/differential cross member, marked and drilled.
Once it was all bolted up, all that remained was to cutout the front bumper and reinstall.
It seems simple in the writeup, but took about 16 hours from start to completion over the weekend.
Here are some of the final pictures, I'll share more from earlier parts of the project when the camera has enough juice to transfer them......