Front hitch

[Bill at BOATS 4 SAIL]

I have a front hitch on my XM501E3, which I can move up, down, left, or right, hydraulically.
I pull up to the front of the trailer, drop the hitch ball below the coupler, pick it up, move the boat where I want to put it, drop the hitch ball, and move on, without having to get off.
I also have front hitches on my '06 Durango, two of my M37's, and have had them on several of my other vehicles in the past.

[The Mutt]

I have had a front mounted tow bars on our vehicles for over 20 years, it is great if you need someone else who can't normally back a trailer, as they are driving forwards they can see instantly what is happening.

There are a few boat ramps we have used the worst being a 70ft long pot holed dirt track with 12 inches room each side of the trailer, there was a lot of evidence that boats and trailers have hit both sides. By using a front towbar on the vehicle it is a lot easier.

Glenn

[Boblee]

I made one up which mounts under the chassis where the tie down hook was mounted, haven't used it for the Mac because it's fairly easy to see and back but the dinghy trailer which is much narrower than the vehicle is a pig on long steep ramps especially when it's busy and you have to flick from side to side to get a veiw of it.
Pretty simple to make and the bits needed are from the scrap bin, after all if it's only used for ramp work it doesn't need to be certified and it would be illegal anyway.

[The Mutt]

My latest front hitch is square section the same as the rear coupling which welded into the steel bullbar, not much shows on the front I need to reach under the bull bar to insert the pin securing the removable section and ball.

My first front hitch in 1986 involved drilling holes and welding captive nuts on the inside of the bull bar to hold a flat towbar tongue and ball that I got from a rusty wreck.

It is the type of mod that can be done on the cheap with minimum fuss.

Glenn

[DOO-DAH1+]

I had installed a front hitch from draw tight rated up to 9,000 lbs on my madza pick up and pulled out my lancer 25 ft sail boat for annual maintance works great
Dave

[Jacaranda]

Can a front hitch be fitted to a Land Rover Discovery ?

[Captain Steve]

I bought my bolt on front hitch for my 03 Expedition from JC Whitney...check there. It lined right up with existing frame holes. About 100 dollars as I recall. It made it real easy to back it in and around obstacles .

[The Mutt]

To Jacaranda

If you have a bull bar on the front, no problems, if you still have the original bumper bar you may have to either cut a slot in the bumper or bring the tow coupling through one of the air slots, the simplist way to connect a tow bar is to bolt a flat plate directly to a the driver's side chassis rail, the off-center view gives you good vision down the side of the boat.

Glenn

[Jacaranda]

To The Mut
Thanks for the advice will see what I can do.

[The Mutt]

To Jacaranda

Sorry but I have to correct myself, I have been dosed up with cold & flu tablets.

The correction is that you have to set-up the towbar on the passengers chassis rail to look down the side of the boat.

Glenn

[Jacaranda]

To The Mutt
I gathered that as the Disco. is RH drive,( English you know).

[The Mutt]

I know very well having owned Disco's and Rangies myself, we are nearing completion of converting one of them to 3.9 litre turbo diesel. These motors were originally from Isuzu trucks.

Glenn

[cuisto]

I had a 2" reciever welded to the frame on the front of my 2002 explorer sport trac...Paid $60 to have this done while having the rear hitch installed by a local welder that builds and installs hitches for all aplications.

I find it very useful in a few situations
1) the ramp at my old marina was maybe ythe steepest launch ramp in the known universe and the boat would dissapear untill the tow vehicle backed onto the same slope.
2) at our cabbin up north we park boats, trailers and the like in tight spots between trees etc..having the hitch so close to the turning wheels means thet you can change the trailer angle signifigantly with little movement of the vehicle That is to say turn your wheel hard left and move 3 inches you get alot of directional change right at the trailer tounge whereas with a rear hitch it takes serious movement of the vehicle to move the hitch ball just a few inches left or right

Hope the descripton makes sense to all

[PollyAnna]

Wow, this is a great idea!

I had to have a friend of mine pull my 26x from Lake Whitney to Lake Lewisville, tx because I do not have a tow package on my 2005 Aztek. I truly love my Aztek but it is Front-WD and I am sure there is no way I could ever haul it up a wet ramp. But this gives me a great solution to go ahead and install the class 3 package on the Aztek and either find or have a reciever welded to the front so I can haul out the boat using the front of the Aztek.

Has anyone try hauling out a 26X with Front-WD using a front hitch?

Thanks,

Gregg

[Floyd]

I have to laugh. I drove truck and trailer for several years. That's a 3-axle truck with a full trailer with front and rear axles and the front axle pivots. Backing that up is a whole different ballgame from a semi. To unload I had to back the trailer up a ramp set the brakes and disconnect.

There was a ball hitch on the bumper so one time I tried it. Well you have to steer the same anyway so nothing gained there. Had to lean way out the window to see - well its possible - cetainly no advantage vs mirrors for sure. Anyway the problem was when I got it pushed all the way up I realized the air was disconnected ie none to the trailer and there was no way to set the trailer brakes. Well!

I had a board in the cab and figured to block the trailer wheels so I dynamited the truck brakes but they wouldn't hold the entire combination - it kept rolling back down the ramp. Had to stay in the cab with one foot on the brakes the other on the throttle to keep up air pressure. I don't recall exactly how I got out of that horror story, it was 35+ years ago. I do remember leaning out the window waving the board and hollering for help.

For sure I was forever cured of even thinking to use a front hitch in preference to a rear hitch.