Front hitch

Slownsy wrote:
Looks like I may have to have something made op. As the of the rack only allows 9000lb pull and I intend to use a 17000lb winch. Thinking side brackets 1/4” thick, 3x3” 1/4” wall tube across, With a 2-3” receiver . And make the mound for hitch out of a short section u channel 8”x3” 1/2” thick.
What do you think.
Frank.

At that point it may not be the hitch itself, it's the hardware bolting it in and also what it's bolted to on the truck. Before you get ahead of yourself you may want to call Curt or DrawTite and ask them where their rating comes from...is it a limitation of the receiver itself or what it's bolted to?

Having a front hitch custom fabbed is great but if it's too stout it won't fit into place as a bolt-up. I'm not sure even replacing the bumper gets you to 17K lbs....

Me Again the idea is to move the truck and not what I hook op to when getting bogged in sand or mud, or lack of traction. Truck 9k FW 9K. Hear in Australia we go camping not RV resorting and the terrain and weather don’t always cooperate, as we travel by our self one also has to help oneself as others are not always around. We have had 4 deaths in the last month from peaple braking down getting bogged and lost when trying to walk out.
Hornet28 nice setup.
Frank.

Front hitch/grille guard I built for my truck. It goes into the frame and uses the mounting holes for the OE tow hooks. It's been tested with a dead load big enough to almost stall my 12K winch that I also built a carrier for.

Slownsy wrote:
Looks like I may have to have something made op. As the of the rack only allows 9000lb pull and I intend to use a 17000lb winch. Thinking side brackets 1/4” thick, 3x3” 1/4” wall tube across, With a 2-3” receiver . And make the mound for hitch out of a short section u channel 8”x3” 1/2” thick.
What do you think.
Frank.

With a 17000lb pull winch you will have to maybe re-enforce the frame rails. The hitch it's self may not be your biggest issue. Now are not planning some way to anchor the rear of the vehicle, other wise the amount of pull will just drag a 8K truck rather than rather than move something on the other end of the wench cable. Or is that the plan, to drag the truck with all four brakes locked up? Confused!

Looks like I may have to have something made op. As the of the rack only allows 9000lb pull and I intend to use a 17000lb winch. Thinking side brackets 1/4” thick, 3x3” 1/4” wall tube across, With a 2-3” receiver . And make the mound for hitch out of a short section u channel 8”x3” 1/2” thick.
What do you think.
Frank.

I built my own for our 2001.5 RAM. Spent a couple hours at a junk yard measuring old rear hitches to rebuild for the front of the RAM.







Left overs.

Clarification, I am considering getting a winch in a cradle, for front and rear fitting if getting bogged and traveling solo, yes it happens from time to time, also les money than replacing hole of front bumper and can be used in rear hitch for going backwards. Also less weight on front as can be carry in back of truck. Prefer to get of the shelf, but as in Australia delivery cost also a major consideration thanks.
Frank.

I have had a "Hidden Hitch" on the front of our Dodge Dually for 12 years. Works well, use it for a bike carrier and a tie-down for the kayaks on the truck roof.

JRscooby wrote:
Going to use it for a carrier, or to spot your trailer?
If to spot trailer I suggest you mount as close as you can to the right frame rail. Then the driver can at least see past 1 side of trailer.
If a carrier use 1 at each frame rail for a more stable platform.

Same impractical solution every time someone asks this question.
Yes it may be a great solution, but why not show one of your magical hitches and where to buy it?

And you can’t use the ole “it’s so easy, just weld a few pieces together in the shop and voila...”.

No welding needed, I just installed a Curt front hitch on my truck and it bolted right in, no drilling, no welding. Needed to trim the plastic air dam a little.

Here's the eTrailer link to the hitch that fits your truck.

Two issues with having it up too high are visibility and airflow. If you plan to carry bikes, they will seriously block your vision if they are up too high. In my case, I am using my front hitch for a cooler rack, and a 100-qt cooler will block airflow to the radiator if up too high.

Also beware of bolt-on receivers that mount where your tow hooks are, you don't want to lose use of those when you have a 4x4.

The etrailer link above also has tons of pics of what it looks like installed.