Well, it's done. I have finished the trailer hitch installation, and the rear bumper running/stop/turn lights.

The hitch pokes though the bumper cover, and I have a steel plug that covers the hole when it's not in use. I made a bracket that holds the wiring connectors under the bumper on the left side. All you can see when I don't have a drawbar installed is a small black square on the bumper.

To get the lights working, I removed the stock bulb sockets and taped over the wiring. Nothing was cut. I then used some heavily modified aftermarket sockets and built a harness for them that plugs into the 4-pin trailer connection. The light housings remain unmodified.

I will have pictures of all the details in a day or so. I am also willing to produce light/harness assemblies if anyone is interested.

More to come...

Here's the hitch. Pics of the lights will come later. The whole thing is coming out for proper painting next week.

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q179/txblu/th_Hitch8.jpg (http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q179/txblu/Hitch8.jpg)
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q179/txblu/th_Hitch7.jpg (http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q179/txblu/Hitch7.jpg)
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q179/txblu/th_Hitch6.jpg (http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q179/txblu/Hitch6.jpg)
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q179/txblu/th_Hitch5.jpg (http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q179/txblu/Hitch5.jpg)
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q179/txblu/th_Hitch4.jpg (http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q179/txblu/Hitch4.jpg)
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q179/txblu/th_Hitch3.jpg (http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q179/txblu/Hitch3.jpg)
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q179/txblu/th_Hitch2.jpg (http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q179/txblu/Hitch2.jpg)
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q179/txblu/th_Hitch1.jpg (http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q179/txblu/Hitch1.jpg)

That has to be one of the cleanest hitch installs I have seen on a GCSRT8! Well done. I couldn't see in the pics, where are you planning to hook the chains up? I am also assuming it is a 2" receiver?

That has to be one of the cleanest hitch installs I have seen on a GCSRT8! Well done. I couldn't see in the pics, where are you planning to hook the chains up? I am also assuming it is a 2" receiver?

Nicely done....looks like plenty of support braces, and when receiver plug is in it has an extremely clean look. Enjoy it.

Very nice!

This is what DCX should have given us. Well done.

Wow. Thanks for the kind words!

The receiver is 2". The rings for the chains are welded onto the drawbars. I have two drawbars, one with a 2" ball, the other with a 1 7/8" ball, for my two trailers. The wiring bracket is mounted under the left side of the hitch.

I was concerned about heat and abrasion from the wiring, so I made an extension for the 7-pin harness and mounted it to one of the drawbars (with the 2" ball) so that the wiring from the Jeep to the drawbar stays away from the exhaust and the bumper cap. I'll be doing the same with the other drawbar, too.

The drawbars have an 8" drop and were extended to about two feet in length with several pin holes. There are about four holes in the receiver, too, so I have a great deal of adjustability. I'm not sure what I need that for, but I'm kind of a mad scientist when it come to making stuff like that!!!

At any rate, I wanted something strong, solid, and unobtrusive when not in use. You know what they say, if you want something done right, you have to (engineer) it yourself!!!!

I'll get pics of the drawbars posted later...

This is what DCX should have given us. Well done.


Agreed !!! ... perhaps TXBLU could score a consulting assignment with DCX

By the way, I had Minette Enterprises in Dallas, Texas do all the fabrication work. The were very cool and fabbed everything to my specs. Thanks to Mike (Minette), David, and Dave. Those guys are good. I would be glad to give anyone interested their phone number.

By the way, I had Minette Enterprises in Dallas, Texas do all the fabrication work. The were very cool and fabbed everything to my specs. Thanks to Mike (Minette), David, and Dave. Those guys are good. I would be glad to give anyone interested their phone number.


They don't happen to have some long lost cousin's living in Canada do they ? ... preferably in the Toronto area

Agreed !!! ... perhaps TXBLU could score a consulting assignment with DCX

Hey, man! 26+ years in aviation maintenance and inspection on everything from Cessnas to Sikorskys, with a lot of Boeings, Lockheeds, Learjets, and Bombardiers as well,will give you some perspective on how things should be built!!! :D

They don't happen to have some long lost cousin's living in Canada do they ? ... preferably in the Toronto area

I could ask him, but I doubt it!!!:p

I fly a Cessna 182 and should have known! Leave it up to a seasoned aviation mechanic to come up with a fantastic solution. Again, awesome.

I fly a Cessna 182 and should have known! Leave it up to a seasoned aviation mechanic to come up with a fantastic solution. Again, awesome.

"Seasoned". I like the sound of that. My wife just says I'm "old". Then she turns around and wonders if I'll ever grow up and quit playing with toys!!!

I say "NEVER!!!!".

I too live in Toronto and need a hitch solution so if anyone in addition to Lucky 8 also lives in Toronto and is looking for a hitch, we should try to come up with something together and find someone to custom build it. (I don't weld)
________
Bmw 3200 cs (http://www.bmw-tech.org/wiki/BMW_3200_CS)

well done hitch! this is probably one of the cleanest i've seen yet

what did they use to cut the bumper? and did they smooth the edges of the hole and touch up the paint or is that covered when the plug is in?

well done hitch! this is probably one of the cleanest i've seen yet

what did they use to cut the bumper? and did they smooth the edges of the hole and touch up the paint or is that covered when the plug is in?

They??? Oh, no! I wouldn't trust anyone to cut the bumper cap but myself.

I just measured where the aproximate center of the receiver was, and from there, used a unibit to rough-out the hole, then a frisket knife (think of a disposable Exacto knife) to trim the hole so that the plug (before I welded the plate onto it) would just clear the bumper cap. It was at this point that I was able to trim the end of the plug tube to perfectly match the angle of the bumper cap before the plate was welded onto it. The paint used on bumper caps and other plastic panels should have a flex agent in it so that it won't crack out easily. Patience is key. That and small cuts!!!

No touch-up is required as the bumper cap plastic is black, and the finished plug overlaps the hole by 1/4" on all sides. The back side of the plate is covered with bicycle tire tube rubber held on with black RTV so it won't scratch the cap. The hole for the hitch pin was drilled in the plug after the plug was finished. I marked the holes with the rubber just touching the bumper cap.

Peice of cake.

Just a ditto here. That is one nice installation.

Here are the lights. The drawbars will get posted when I finish them...

Tail lights before...

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q179/txblu/Jeep%20Lights/th_TailLightsBefore.jpg (http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q179/txblu/Jeep%20Lights/TailLightsBefore.jpg)

Tail lights after...

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q179/txblu/Jeep%20Lights/th_TailLightsAfter.jpg (http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q179/txblu/Jeep%20Lights/TailLightsAfter.jpg)

Brake lights before...

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q179/txblu/Jeep%20Lights/th_BrakeLightsBefore.jpg (http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q179/txblu/Jeep%20Lights/BrakeLightsBefore.jpg)

Brake lights after...

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q179/txblu/Jeep%20Lights/th_BrakeLightsAfter.jpg (http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q179/txblu/Jeep%20Lights/BrakeLightsAfter.jpg)

TXBLU, any pics of the drawbars yet?

i'm actually curious about that... i always thought the point of mounting the safety chains was to support the trailer if there was some failure of the drawbar or hitch ball? is it still safe to mount the chains to the drawbar itself? what if there was some failure of the pin holding the drawbar into the hitch receiver? (knock on wood of course!)
.

Brake lights after...

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q179/txblu/Jeep%20Lights/th_BrakeLightsAfter.jpg (http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q179/txblu/Jeep%20Lights/BrakeLightsAfter.jpg)

That's exactly what mine look like. Works great in the rain/snow/fog.

I need to get mine working. :(


I'm clueless as to how to proceed.

TXBLU, any pics of the drawbars yet?

i'm actually curious about that... i always thought the point of mounting the safety chains was to support the trailer if there was some failure of the drawbar or hitch ball? is it still safe to mount the chains to the drawbar itself? what if there was some failure of the pin holding the drawbar into the hitch receiver? (knock on wood of course!)
.

The biggest issue with trailers becoming detached is a failure of the ball/trailer interface due to either a worn/defective locking mechanism, a worn ball, an incorrect size ball, or operator error (failure to properly engage the locking device). It is very rare for a ball to fail or the drawbar to separate from the reciever. That being said, it's not a big deal to have the chains attach to the drawbar, so long as they are secure and not just wrapped around the ball or something like that.

As far as drawbar pics, I've been messing with Christmas lights on the house for the past few days (sometimes it sucks to be such a cheap-skate!!!) and have not had time to get pics of them, much less remove and paint the sub-frame/reciever like I want. I will post them as soon as time permits.

OK, I finally got around to removing the rear subframe, painting and measuring it, and reinstalling it. I took some pictures and made some notes on them. I also took a few pics of one of my drawbars. I will be glad to answer any questions anyone might have...

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q179/txblu/Jeep%20Hitch/DSCF0940.jpg
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q179/txblu/Jeep%20Hitch/DSCF0944.jpg
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q179/txblu/Jeep%20Hitch/DSCF0939.jpg
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q179/txblu/Jeep%20Hitch/DSCF0992.jpg
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q179/txblu/Jeep%20Hitch/DSCF0990.jpg
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q179/txblu/Jeep%20Hitch/DSCF0989.jpg

ok i have a few quick questions (sorry for having so many over the course of this thread but getting the SRT8 for me is contingent on me being able to tow at least 3000lbs)...

1. have you had any problem from the exhaust heat since the ball/coupler ends up being right in the exhaust path?

2. how close is all that bracing to the exhaust (i notice one of the supports had to be sectioned to clear it) do you forsee any problems with an aftermarket exhaust like the B&B (piping & muffler locations similar to stock)

finally, i would like your opinion on something. i was thinking about mounting a 4pin socket on the drawbar exactly where you have yours and running the wire INSIDE the drawbar, and rigging up a 4pin socket at the back of the square receiver tube (so that just by inserting the drawbar, the harness on the drawbar would be hot)

As far as drawbar heat goes, it is no problem at all. All that stuff is heavy duty steel, and the wiring stays well away from the heat.

The exhaust clears the bracing just enough so that it won't make contact. I really don't have any concerns about aftermarket systems for two reasons;
1. If I change the exhaust, I won't run resonators in the back, and If I change it, it will more than likely be a one-off custom job.
2. If the clearance does become an issue due to changing the exhaust, I'll cut the braces out and re-engineer new ones to clear it. I can drop the subframe in less than an hour, no sweat. Getting the pipes back in straight is another matter...:eek:

As far as my opinion about your 4-pin wiring running inside the drawbar, I knew I should have waited to redo mine before I posted any pics of them. I am finishing up the other drawbar with the smaller ball and a 4-pin connector with that exact configuration, and will be modding the 7-pin drawbar the same way.:D

By the way, I had Minette Enterprises in Dallas, Texas do all the fabrication work. The were very cool and fabbed everything to my specs. Thanks to Mike (Minette), David, and Dave. Those guys are good. I would be glad to give anyone interested their phone number.

So I just found this thread from a search and I really like this idea for the receiver, sorry for being 5 years behind haha. TXBLU, is there any way you could help me to get this fabricated into my GC SRT8 as well? I'm currently in San Antonio for the moment and I would seriously love to have tow capabilities with my truck.

Also, about how much did it run you to get this job done?

Awesome work figures it would be an aviation guy to build something so nice and functional. I to work aviation for the past 12 years now on E-2C hawkeye's, then Cessna CJ's, and on to the B-2 Spirit, and F-35 Lightning II. ;)

WOW! Just like others said... I agree, your hitch is by far the cleanest hitch install ive seen.

I will be getting a hitch one day..
But when I get my hitch, I dont think its going to be this extensive. And I definitely dont want it to be permanent. So I will be looking into one of the hitches that mount under the exhaust tips.
I was wondering if you worry about the hot exhaust gasses not being directed out the side of the Jeep like most trucks. The center exhaust could blow hot gasses right at the wires and other things on the trailer. Right?

My wires don't get hot but the ball will burn you. It works just fine though. I towed my couches for 25 miles and they didn't even smell like exhaust.