n3elz is right.... this deserves it's own thread


thanks to Tom (TBarCYa) for my new rock sliders
he may have beat the record for install, about 1.5 hours
I passed him a loaded question though and asked if he was not doing anything would he help me put on my front receiver hitch
hitch was supposed to be a direct bolt on
well 3 hours later we finally stopped for lunch
anyway hitch and sliders sucessfully installed

 

looks great....

 

again, you got any picture of the lights on?

 

Those sliders look pretty girthy

You have plans for a lift in the future?

 

ohh now that i think of it... a question, does that drasticly (sp???? i suck at it ruin your aproaching point? or the clearence in the front....

 

I lost about 5 inches.....now if only I could take that off my waist
there is a receiver insert that is angled so the front box will ride up over obsticals I guess I will purchase tomorrow
ground clearance is the same, but the angle of approach was changed, over a centered 3" wide spread only
so far that would not be a problem as I could not get over something that high in the middle anyway
the lower suspension cross brace and torsen boxes on sides both sit lower than the bottom of the receiver bar
I can not remember a tall obsitcal that I took LIL BLUE over head on where the loss of front approach would present a problem
most things have been walked up, one tire at a time
all the impacts to the front valance have been on the sides

 

offended, is this the way your mom taught you to ask nicely for things?
since you say again I guess you mean your post on GE - any reason you have not responed to my PM over there on the HID lights?


I do not have a picture with the all the lights illuminated as I just installed the Hella fogs on Saturday

from my photo archives here are some shots of the rest.....

 

Looks great (especially the sliders).

I still don't think that thing hanging down in the front is going to benefit you off road. The cross member is between the wheels so it being further down is less of a problem.

You're right in that it's approach angle I'm more concerned with -- but I think I'm more concerned with going through certain types of obstacles more than many of you anyway -- so maybe it's just me!

I just see that as dropping your front clearance to street-truck level.

It might save your valance sometime though!

 

haha, i was actually interested in seeing the ones that were near your headlights, haha..

And i'm sorry i haven't responded. I will PM you back in a few. SOrry!

 

the beneifit of the front receiver off road comes when I have my WARN 9000i winch pluged into it
any way the loss of approach is clear, although with the ramp installed I should be able to run up over anything
the photos are deceiving as the lower suspension brace is actually quite far below the reciever
the front receiver bar is just below the turns of the tranny cooler fittings and my radiator is the most protected one in North America

 

lol! I think that tranny cooler piping location is one of the big "errors" in the design of our trucks. Makes a skid plate (or front receiver) even more important.

You'll want to not put the winch on maybe until you are in trouble? With the winch on there, your approach angle is REALLY going to suffer.

Why not get Tom to design you a front receiver bracket that goes up top? you could cut the one you just bought up and combine it by welding it onto what Tom makes.

 

that sounds like a very interesting idea john... i would like to se a drawn up diagram soon please.... :) jk

 

I'll have to talk to Tom about it. I've wanted to do like Neil just did -- but I don't like the low mounted hitch at ALL. I could easily put the winch underwater (well, considering my last outing I can put it under water regardless) and hurts that important approach angle too much for my needs.

I'll see if Tom could adapt the design of his old winch mount to instead put a receiver hitch with 2 shackle mounts on it as well. The resulting assembly would replace the two hooks and bolt right to those mounting points.

 

Reese and Draw-Tite are actually made by the same company
I have to reconfirm that there was not another model available that would have protruded from were my front plate is now - between or just below the tow hooks
if there is I may make a change
otherwise the front assembally that connects the tow hooks is just not strong enough for the torsenal forces that the front winch will create
a whole new connecting plate will have to be fabricated
I doubt I would cut up the store bought receiver but return it for credit and receiver parts to create your own

 

Those tow hook mounting points are what Tom used to mount his winch adaptor -- they are PLENTY strong, Neil. Consider the forces when Tom winched me up the hill in St. Clair last year.

 

looks awesome neil... so what was that hitch designed for?

 

I plan to plug my winch in when I need it Billy
winch will stay in the cab until needed then it can plug into the front or rear receiver hitch
I wanted to keep the weight off the front end as much as possible (receiver bar weighs about 65 pounds)
winch weighs about 80 pounds (plus mounting plate) and would have been exposed and further out front
if I ever get a lift (not deemed needed yet) I probably will change the set up again

 

Your winch will probably also last longer not being out in the weather all the time.

 

John, I do think that I could fabricate a receiver that would stick out the hole in the valence but it's unlikely that you'd be able to keep the tow hooks. In fact, I could do it with a single piece of C channel between the hook mounts and then purchase the receiver piece and either bolt or weld it in place. Another option would be to buy the 2" ID (inside dimension) square tubing and fabricate the whole thing from scratch. Either way, I don't think it would be too difficult and once I design the plates at the ends, all I need to do is find someone who can bend the plate for me (hint hint) and it would be fairly easy.

 

lol! Read what I wrote again and you'll see I wasn't expecting to keep them. I said to "replace" the tow hooks, with loops for shackles which would perform that function.

 

holy approach angle killer, batman

 

I like it, Neil! My cousin has come a long way! When the heck did you get the Mud's?

 

Clink HERE adam...

 

I tried to clink, but I don't know how to clink...hmm...

Nah, thanks man. Now I feel back in the loop!

 

^^^

No Prob...