well..

I'm running a factory hitch.. the ugly thing hangs off the back..

because of this I opted out putting a set of d-rings in the bumper.

If i need them I'll do it eventually. Until then the hitch is like 1/2" and very tough..

I've trusted less to my life.

I know what you mean about factory hitches. Mine was a drawbar affair that dates back to when jeep was an "agricultural vehicle" *grin*. It was a piece of 2"X2" angle iron 1/4" thick with several holes bored across the bottom angle about 30" wide. It hung about 4" below the rear crossmember and about 4" back. It was bolted to the frame with a couple of very nice brackets. The ball itself was mounted to a weirdly triangular piece that was 1/2" thick and protruded back another 6". Really shot my departure angle. I took the ball and traingular piece off almost immediately, but left the drawbar on for a while--bad mistake. Drug on everything! My new reciever is actually higher than bottom of my gastank and doesn't impact my departure angle. I'll post pics someday!

Here's a couple pics of my bumper and tire carrier. Don't know if they'll help, but here they are.

The first one is just a shot of the bumper and carrier closed.

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746035-bumper1.jpg (62.9 KB, 1 views)

This shot has the carrier swung out. There are 1" thick pins on each side, so you can swing it either way, or take it off. I also used a 4-flat trailer plug to hook the wiring harness to the new sealed beam taillights. That way if I ever take the bumper off, I don't have to cut wires, just unhook it.

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Here is the actual tire carrier. I have it offset to the right, similar to WWII jeeps. I can carry a 5 gallon can alongside of it. Haven't built the carrier yet. This tire is the original 1974 spare. The upright post on the carrier is going to be changed for a taller one. My father welded that up for me when I wasn't around, and he used the 29" tall original spare and mounted THAT lower than I planned. Since my new tires and spare are 33", I'm going to put on a taller upright.

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Here the carrier is swung out the other direction. You can see the 2" reciever hitch and the sealbeam tail lights. Also my LEGAL vertical mount license plate bracket. I checked with the troopers before I mounted it that way. The pic is dark, so you can't see the saftey chain hooks, but they are on each side of the reciever.

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Last pic. A close up of the ears that carry the load of the carrier. Like I said, working on Cats rub off on you after a while!

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746055-bumper5.jpg (15.9 KB, 1 views)