Receiver Hitch Skid

[pbrevo64]

As most know, one of the inherent flaws in the JT is the departure angle. On mild trails, I have no issue with it, but as soon as you start adding in drop offs and sharp elevation changes, my Gladiator loved to smack the receiver. It had gotten to the point where the breakaway chain tabs had started to bend and since I use my JT for towing, I did not want to risk damaging or weakening the receiver itself.

I had poked around online and found a few skids that some of the Tacoma guys use (Curt, Body Armor, Total Chaos, Sheridan, etc), but all of those seemed to hang too low or stick out too far, essentially decreasing the departure angle. The ones that did stay pretty high and tight, would not be wide enough to cover the hitch, as well as both chain tabs. The other thing is, there are several other things for the JT I would rather spend $150 on than a plate and 2" tube. I took some dimensions and made a quick design that would work using some scrap we had at work, asked a favor and voila! A rear receiver hitch skid plate that only loses 1/2" ground clearance, and sticks out 5/8" further than the unprotected receiver.

Ended up using 2"x2"x1/4" tube with a 5"x3 3/4"x3/8" angle welded to it. Rattle canned it with some underbody paint and satin black spray paint I had, and it is ready to test out next weekend. Should be plenty beefy enough to hold up to some abuse on the trail.

Wanted to share what I came up with, and see if anyone else has done anything similar to protect their hitch while off road.

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[mellendic]

if it works i would order one from you totally raw... and have it powder coated.

 

[TexasTJ]

I'd love one that had the 2" square cut out, so I could slide a receiver into the hitch still. More so, so I could use my bike rack and have the skid.

 

[kevman65]

OP, if you bang it hard enough for the 2" square tube to start to fail, they make the same stuff in 1/2" wall, or you could even go to 2" square bar.

@TexasTJ, there is no way to do what you want. The closest would be 2" square tube for the receiver and then reduced inside to act as an 1-1/4" receiver.

 

[darkhorse13]

I really like what you did! While I could probably come up with the raw materials, I don't have a hot metal glue gun

As much as I love DIY, these guys are local to me in CO and they have a $75 version that I could live with... lots of other options too. I'd just have to pay about $7 in taxes and free local pickup which makes this "within budget".

 

[pbrevo64]

OP, if you bang it hard enough for the 2" square tube to start to fail, they make the same stuff in 1/2" wall, or you could even go to 2" square bar.

@TexasTJ, there is no way to do what you want. The closest would be 2" square tube for the receiver and then reduced inside to act as an 1-1/4" receiver.

That is my plan if that happened, but I am pretty confident I could darn near park the truck resting on this and not have an issue lol

I really like what you did! While I could probably come up with the raw materials, I don't have a hot metal glue gun

As much as I love DIY, these guys are local to me in CO and they have a $75 version that I could live with... lots of other options too. I'd just have to pay about $7 in taxes and free local pickup which makes this "within budget".

I looked at theirs quite a bit, I like the different designs they offer and how far under the hitch their skids go. If I did not have access to make mine at work, I think I would have gone with WarFab's

 

[kevman65]

I really like what you did! While I could probably come up with the raw materials, I don't have a hot metal glue gun

If you go to your local "trailer hitch shop" with the raw materials and show them what you want, they would probably do it for a $20.

 

[JeepRitz]

OP, if you bang it hard enough for the 2" square tube to start to fail, they make the same stuff in 1/2" wall, or you could even go to 2" square bar.

@TexasTJ, there is no way to do what you want. The closest would be 2" square tube for the receiver and then reduced inside to act as an 1-1/4" receiver.

Could create a version that does not sit inside the reciever but is mounted around the reciever.

 

[Jonny A]

I'd love one that had the 2" square cut out, so I could slide a receiver into the hitch still. More so, so I could use my bike rack and have the skid.

Never really gave it serious thought. But that seems brilliant. Why not make the receivers them selves a real skid plate.

 

[Speedy_12139]

Those warfab one's are tight! I like the idea of having that center recovery point on the Sheridan...

 

[pbrevo64]

Just remembered that I never posted an update! Got to test it out a few weeks ago, and it did it's job well. It did act as a bit of a shovel, and in reverse it plowed more than just the hitch did, but I can't complain. Probably didn't need it in the sloppy mess we were in, but next time I am on some hard packed dirt or rocks I sure will be happy to have it.

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