Homefryy
Active Member
- Location
- Salt Lake City
I have a trip coming up on presidents day weekend where I am trying to figure out a way to get 4 people, an 80 pound dog and gear for 3 days of camping all in my XJ. I have a roof basket so that helps but am thinking I may also want to add a hitch mount cargo carrier. The issue with that is I don't want to destroy my departure angle.
I came up with an idea that I threw some models together for. Its pretty basic and lacks some detail but should get the point across. It is basically some tube welded together that would go into the existing receiver on the Jeep which is colored red in the below image). The welded together tube is green.
I think a design like this could get my receiver about 6" higher which seems like it would make a pretty good difference in departure angle. I haven't measured everything out yet but I may also be able to move the receiver forwarded slightly so the carrier doesn't stick out as far.
I would either have to pull my stock bumper off for this to work or cut a chunk of it out to make room for this. Hopefully I could leave enough there so the bumper still had some structural integrity. It might be best to just pull the bumper off when I want to mount this up for trips.
What do you guys think of this design? Do you think it could support potentially up to 500 pounds? I doubt I would put nearly that much weight on their but I know that is what most of the cargo carriers are rated for. I could add some gussets on the inside corners to add some strength if people think it is necessary but would like to keep things simple if I can.
Any other ideas or approaches that anybody thinks would be better? I know you can buy off the shelf hitch risers/adapters but every one that I have found in my research adds a lot of length to the receiver which pretty much defeats the purpose of what I am trying to do.
Is there anybody on here that would be interested in welding this up for me?
Any estimate on what the cost would be for the materials and labor?
I can put together a complete drawing package for it and/or provide the 3D models.
This is a last minute idea and I would be looking to get something by Wednesday February 14th.
On related note, anybody have or know where to get a 3D model of an XJ that is scaled correctly and has the important details like mounting points and frame rails? I found one model online but it wasn't scaled properly and didn't have any real detail.
I came up with an idea that I threw some models together for. Its pretty basic and lacks some detail but should get the point across. It is basically some tube welded together that would go into the existing receiver on the Jeep which is colored red in the below image). The welded together tube is green.
I think a design like this could get my receiver about 6" higher which seems like it would make a pretty good difference in departure angle. I haven't measured everything out yet but I may also be able to move the receiver forwarded slightly so the carrier doesn't stick out as far.
I would either have to pull my stock bumper off for this to work or cut a chunk of it out to make room for this. Hopefully I could leave enough there so the bumper still had some structural integrity. It might be best to just pull the bumper off when I want to mount this up for trips.
What do you guys think of this design? Do you think it could support potentially up to 500 pounds? I doubt I would put nearly that much weight on their but I know that is what most of the cargo carriers are rated for. I could add some gussets on the inside corners to add some strength if people think it is necessary but would like to keep things simple if I can.
Any other ideas or approaches that anybody thinks would be better? I know you can buy off the shelf hitch risers/adapters but every one that I have found in my research adds a lot of length to the receiver which pretty much defeats the purpose of what I am trying to do.
Is there anybody on here that would be interested in welding this up for me?
Any estimate on what the cost would be for the materials and labor?
I can put together a complete drawing package for it and/or provide the 3D models.
This is a last minute idea and I would be looking to get something by Wednesday February 14th.
On related note, anybody have or know where to get a 3D model of an XJ that is scaled correctly and has the important details like mounting points and frame rails? I found one model online but it wasn't scaled properly and didn't have any real detail.
