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Hitch with Pavement Ends Rear Bumper

2K views 17 replies 6 participants last post by  sjudson61 
#1 ·
Starting working on modifying my Pavement ends rear bumper to use with my factory hitch since I tow regularly. I cut the bottom, cut off of the factory wiring holder thing but ran out of time today and won't get to work on it until next weekend. Not asking if Pavement ends is a good choice or about other bumpers that work with a hitch - it was $230 to the door and I invested an additional $14 in 2 cans of rattle can bed liner.

I wanna check in with the WF community to see if anyone knows what I'll need to do with the 2 center hitch bolt/nuts? Not sure but thinking I'll need to grind the two center factory nuts off. I think the outside 2 bolts/nuts will clear the bumper. Then I can run the bolts supplied with the bumper through the hitch and screw them into the bumper so the hitch will be just as strong. A sanity check would be great from anyone who has done this. If not, I'll post up next weekend for the good of the community. thanks
 

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#5 ·
Ok - for the good of the order this is what I found out.
Yes you do need to cut off the nuts on the factory hitch.
Need to cut a fair amount off for proper clearance - see pics.
Overall not too bad. With $14 in spray can bedliner, a $29 grinder (broke my $12 HF piece of junk) and $2 worth of grinding wheels, and $5 worth of sawsall blades I have a total of $280 in this and I have a new grinder.
 

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#6 ·
Nice turned out pretty good, and the hitch tucks up in there nicely!
 
#7 ·
thanks. I'll try to get some daytime pics. My grinder work and a little sanding on the part you see is a bit better than the underside. I'm hoping anyone in the market for a bumper and considering the Pavement Ends can find this and get the facts.
 
#9 ·
Nice looks good,I was really disappointed with the amount of bumpers out there that allow use of the factory hitch. Plus a lot of them were way out of my budget. I ended with the body armor and love it! But this would be another nice option for people!
 
#11 · (Edited)
I also bought the pavement ends rear bumper. Had to do the same cut out for my hitch. I did end up being able to use all 4 bolts. The middle 2 bolts took some major swearing but got them done without removing the nuts.
cool. It was hard to find good clear info on how this was done so I'm glad we have a place for this kind of info and pics for the next Jeeper. How many bolts are holding on your bumper? I have the 4 through the tabs on each side (2 on each side) into the frame where the factory bumper attaches and 2 through the hitch and into the bumper, inline with the instruction but they just happen to run through the hitch holes. Essentially the pre-drilled and threaded Pavement Ends bumper holes replace the 2 nuts from the factory hitch so I shouldn't loose any hitch strength or bumper strength. Has anyone yanked or been yanked with this bumper? I am considering welding 2 additional grade 8 bolts to the back near the recovery points and drilling though the rear frame crossmember with some backing plates and nuts to make it stronger - it might be overkill but it will make me feel better.
 
#15 ·
I don't disagree with you but there is a reason I got this for $230. I knew what I was getting into when I bought it and I couldn't see sinking $500 or way more into my rear bumper. I was originally going to build my own bumper and had quotes for $150 worth of 3/16 steel. For an extra $80 I got one already built. My design was very similar except for a couple of additional gussets and attachment points to the frame ( which I'll end up putting in soon).

Stay tuned I'll be building a swing away tire carrier for this bumper next. Not sure I've seen anyone do this, with this bumper. If anyone has, please post.
 
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