After ripping off the tow bar last year, i haven't been set up to tow anything. I finally came up with a decent plan and put it into action, just in time to go out and have some camping fun with friends.
I had this HF bumper plate receiver hitch welded to the bottom of my existing bumper.
20170723_185919 by
Tim, on Flickr
A friend took care of the burning duties since his welder is considerably bigger than mine. Size matters in some things.
20170723_183853 by
Tim, on Flickr
I sleeved the rear cross member with this beefy piece of scrap.
2017-07-31_11-02-50 by
Tim, on Flickr
Then built 1/4" plates that go around the front of the tubing and bolt to the outside of the bumper. The bottom is bolted to the frame with 4 1/2" grade 8 bolts.
The rear bumper and tie in are now stronger than the axles.
So I loaded up and headed out for a car show and camping after... Had to test things out on the RTI ramp at the show.
20170729_181245 by
Tim, on Flickr
The Suzuki scored 3rd place on the ramp with a 962.9. It was beaten only by the white blazer behind the booth, and a rock buggy that could have easily kept going up the ramp if it had been longer.
More pix of the RTI ramp action.
https://flic.kr/s/aHsm1vyZ8U