wrangler hitch

i just bought a 05 wrangler unlimited, without a hitch. is it a good idea to purchase a rear bumper with a hitch, or a seperate hitch under the bumper. any ideas or products that wont break the bank are appreciated. thanks!  

Depends on what you tow...if ya only ever plan on pullin a lawnmower or a jetski, a bumper hitch is usually enough. if you wanna pull a load of hay on a 19' tandem axle flatbed get a frame mounted receiver hitch. U-haul will usually install/wire a class III for a few hundred bucks.  

There is little need for a serious hitch on this thing because you do not want to pull more than 2000 lbs with it anyway. The short wheelbase will not be stable pulling a heavy load (the tail will wag the dog)nor is their a abundance of power with engine and gearing to pull weight effectively either.  

thats true, i didnt think about it being a jeep i suppose. so, yea just get a bumper hitch.  

yea but its a wrangler UNLIMITED meaning the longer wheelbase and most probabley the big optional motor, i say frame mounted even if you cant tow anything heavy, you can use the hicht as a recovery point if you get stuck but putting one of those shackles in the reciver.  
solid axle chevys cant be beat
78 K5: 350 V8,700r4,np208, 8 lug D44 4:88, 14 bolt 10.5 4:88 with detroit locker and 35 inc parenelli jones dirt grip tires

seems like everywhere i look the bumper hitches do have a much lower capacity. i guess its frame hitch for me. maybe ill add a cool bumper later, thanks for the insight.  

lukesdp:
seems like everywhere i look the bumper hitches do have a much lower capacity. i guess its frame hitch for me. maybe ill add a cool bumper later, thanks for the insight.

Would not waste the money on a HD hitch for that thing. It is more a 4wd car than truck. It does not have the wheelbase, brakes and power to properly control much over 2000 lbs. A bigger hitch will likely get you into trouble trying to pull more than you really should. Trust me, I have towed a lot with a lot of things over last 35 years and it is not a good tow vehicle for any serious weight. Jeep has even softened the ride and suspension to appeal to more to use it as a daily commuter which has further reduced is towing ability. For a pull type trailer you need to be able to carry at least 10% percent of trailer weight on ball (15% is better) which means up to 300 lbs on rear hitch with a 2000 lbs trailer which will tend to make it unstable and more weight makes it worse and if you use less tongue weight to try to increase load on trailer you will have less positive control over it. Sure you can pull more under perfect conditions but it is the unplanned conditions and maneuvers that will get you in trouble with too much trailer on that Jeep. Safety first.  

I had a 86 cj7 and it had tube bumpers frt/rr and the rr had a reciever built in, not frame mounted and thats all I needed to pull a small military type trailer for camping...If your pulling something smaller than a cj5 or 7 the a bumper hitch is all you need, and one less thing hanging below the belly of the beast!!!  
IT WASNT ME, IT WAS THE ONE ARMED MAN!

If you are looking for a recovery point option,You can buy tow hooks that mount on the side of your frame pretty cheap.and they will handle the force if you need to be pulled from the muck.  

I don't even like pulling a trailer with the fullsize blazer.
anything more than a 8' pop up behind a jeep is just plain crazy. if we're talkin a trash trailer or something to drag around the lawn mower you don't need the frame mount to get hung up on.

I spend a ton of time on the hwy,
during the summer months and hunting season theres short wheelbase rigs with trailers jackknifed and scatered all over the hwy's... especially explorers, minivans, blazers, bmw's, lexus', even tahoes. ya almost never see a f250 or other fullsize pick up tangled up in a wreck... so just cause the durango, dakota, or grand cherokee has a Hemi, don't mean It can pull a bigger trailer..
I've never paid attention to the hitch rating for the jeeps, I kinda doubt the frame mounted hitch has enough of a higher rating over the bumpers to hoot about..

theres a reason the local rv dealer wants to know what yer tow rig is before they'll even show you any trailers..

I occasionally drag a trailer w/ 3 mx bikes, thats even enough to give ya an upset and I have a rubi w/ HD springs and 4 wheel disc brakes.  
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