Bumper mounted trailer hitch

Anybody here ever try one of these?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5000lbs-Ste...Hitch-Receiver-RV-Trailer-Truck-/321243038961

I saw it at one of the shops here today and was wondering if they are any good.

 

I personally wouldn't tow a heavy trailer with that... Maybe 1,500 pounds max, or whatever the truck bumper is actually rated to tow.

But if you don't need to haul a large heavy trailer, it would work fin I would think.

 

Just a class 1 hitch, about 2,000 lbs trailer weight max and 200 lbs tongue weight max.
Be very careful with this, very easy to damage your bumper.
I see many people that will overload these.

 

used one on a f150 to tow 3200 lb boat and it worked fine. Bumper was rated for 5000 lbs. Not sure how it will do on a Taco. I upgraded bolts to a little bigger grade 5

 

Personally, I wouldn't use those for anything more than a bike carrier.

 

+2, I would use that only for bike rack, step thing, extension thing to carry kayaks/canoes, tailgating bbq pit but not for recovery point or towing anything more than a small trailer for watertoys or ATVs or maybe one of those small bug out camping trailer things.

 

No way I would tow a trailer with that. If you have to panic brake for any reason it might not hold. But I guess it could be all in the way you install it?

 

That plate might be able to take 5000 pounds, but the factory bumper wont.

Now that I think of it. There is a thick metal plate under the bumper. It might work

 

Those have their uses. I bolted one inside my bed and use it to store my receiver mounted winch.

But for towing an actual trailer - other folks have said it - forget it.

It's worse than nothing. You'll put it on there. One day, perhaps years later, you or someone else will use your truck to try and tow something assuming it's got a 'real' receiver mount and pretzel the bumper.

Real frame mounted receiver mounts aren't that expensive. And if you're really on a budget, sometimes folks on TW sell one for cheap - I ended up giving one away for free a while back.

 

Within its design limits and the bumper limits it will work just fine. Why do you think there is a hole in the bumper for a trailer ball. I have towed many many things with a bumper hitch Boats trailers etc. No it is not a recover point, no it will not tow a 5000 pound trailer it is not designed to.

 

Thanks for all the input and info guys!

 

I wouldn't even trust that thing to tow what the bumper is rated for. The hole in the bumper is dead center of the step, that thing mounts below and the ball would be 6 - 8" behind the bumper. That just adds a lot of torque on the bumper that it was not meant to take. 300 lbs on the step is not the same as 300 lbs on something mounted behind the step (think of it like holding a 10 lbs weight close to your body vs. at arm's length).

 

I didn't want to rehash this same topic somewhere else. But I had a question.

When I did my first dump run with my truck using a tarp and rope, I was looking for a tie off spot for the trucker's hitch knot, yada yada yada, I popped out that black cap, and found the "hitch ball' hole that I didn't realize I had.

Anyways, I was literally a month away from buying a receiver to bolt onto my truck, so I can insert a hitch, to pull a flat bed trailer the size of 2 four wheelers long and 1 four wheeler wide.

I guess my question is, do people bother using a full receiver hitch that bolts onto bottom of truck, or do they just use the screw on ball? Because my manual doesn't say whether the payloads and capacities are based off using just the ball.

 

Looking at this logicaly, if your truck does not have a classII hitch, than the odds are pretty good that you don't have the tow package. No tow package means no extra trans cooler or possibly 7 pin plug. If that is the case, you should only tow light loads anyways. With that said, that add on hitch would work just fine as long as you stay under the designed limit.

Another benifit of adding on that hitch plate would be that you could get a drop hitch to make the trailer ride level if you are at all lifted.

 

You get what you pay for. And more importantly, don't cheap-out on SAFETY.

Get a real hitch (Class II) that mounts to the frame and peace of mind.

That thing might tow a few loads for you, but at some point....the bumper is going to weaken and could possible break causing an accident. Don't put your family or other people in danger.

That is all.

 

Most folks mount a receiver. Partly because the bumper is rated for lighter loads. It says somewhere what that is - either on the bumper or in the manual.

But the other thing is - unless you're a 5 lug - the bumper hitch is really too high for most trailers you want to tow - you'll end up having to tilt them "nose high" instead of trailing them level.

 

My conclusion is, if your seriously about towing get one of those bolt-on receivers, but my truck isn't built to tow, so I would have to make up for the no tow package. I wanted it to tow 4 wheelers out to the west desert and if possible up into the Uintas', but then I realized I want the Tacoma to be the "off-road toy" not have it tow the toy.

The way I figured it, a used 4-Wheeler on local classified site, are 2-5k for something I would want. Well the canyons I want to go to, are all mostly authorized dirt roads for both off-road vehicles and ATVs.

So the 2k I would put in for the 4 wheeler, on top the money for a flat bed trailer, receiver, hitch, a wiring harness and not to mention the added gas price to tow one, I could just invest in the Taco, and make it "my all terrain vehicle". Putting 5k in, is enough to consider major work. My truck isn't TRD, but then it doesn't got towing package, so it is like a multi-use vehicle that is good at everything but not great at any 1 thing. I will probably just get a ball, and use it for towing cars when needed. Then even if I want to haul stuff around the city, I rather get my bed done with spray, than get a trailer.