New Rear Bumper?

[Xtrapol8]

Hi everyone,

I need your advice about a product. Please don't hold back, thinking that "of course, he would know that..."
... 'cause I might not.

I need to be able to tow once in a while, but I might as well get a new rear bumper instead of a hitch, right
I would just bedline it. I've been told that a tire carrier can be added later if I change my mind.
(I'd have to re-bedline the whole thing after, but that's okay.)

What do you think about what you see in the photos below?

3/16” Main body
¼” mounting brackets.
¾” thick recovery points.
2” receiver

$425 from Staang's Fab

Thanks in advance for your input.

[Ehlectric]

To me 425 seems a little pricey. Mostly because its not coming painted already. As for the bedliner, it really does work and its a great paint.

[FrontyFlyer]

looks just like the 4x4 parts bumper for $370 (but when you add shipping and BS probably over $500 to ship)

Building this the 1st time would take some time, but its very simple. A novice welder could put that together in an hour or 2.

I've delt with Eric before, why dont you show him this link and see if he will match the price https://www.4x4parts.com/nissan/xterra- ... -3938.html

[the x kid]

I love it. 3 things in 1.

[Jayman]

Looks pretty good!

When you incorporate the hitch into the bumper, you have to factor in the need for a drop hitch because of how high the bumper is. And if you lift the truck, the hitch will also go up.

It's not a problem per say, just something to be aware of.

[Xtrapol8]

What do you guys think about the fact that the brackets and the bumper bolt together? I've been looking at a lot of bumpers recently and this is the only one that is built like this. Every bumper and almost every hitch I've seen has the brackets welded onto the member that runs parallel to the axle. (There are a couple of hitches that are width adjustable, but not many.)

Would you tow a 5000lb trailer with this hitch? Would you pull on these recovery points with as much confidence as if it were a Shrock bumper?

[buttsy]

Don't forget, normal trailer hitches are bolt on, as are recovery hooks... Main difference being: they are bolted at sheer (so the force is across the bolt), not at tension (along the bolt). My iCrap wouldn't load the picture so I didn't see how it bolted to the bumper, but it would be bolted at sheer to the frame... Personally I wouldn't 't trust a 5000lb trailer to the threads on a coarse bolt (if it's bolted at tension)...

[Bow_Tied]

If you use quality hardware (no off-shore junk), grade 5 for SAE sizes or 8.8 for metric sizes, and properly torque the bolts you will be fine. Bolts function in tension all the time, consider your engine's head bolts for example. Either the grade 5 or 8.8 should have about a proof load of 85,000psi. This means the for 1in^2 of bolt cross section the bolt can handle 85,000lbs (not considering any safety factor a certain aplication may want). To figure out what that means:

Find the cross sectional area of one bolt.
Assume a 1/2" bolt, and the minor diameter (root of thread) is 0.4041"
cross section area = Diameter^2 x pi /4
.4104^2 * 3.1415926 / 4 = .132in^2

Proof load of a 1/2" bolt is .132in^2 * 85,00psi = 11,220 lbs
That is for one bolt. If that design has 8 bolts total for the brackets, the load capacity is 8x that; 89,760lbs. One could then divide by 5 for a safety factor; ~18,00lbs. Even considering the shock loading of a 5,000lb trailer I think you'd be more than covered.

Someone double check my math, I am not done my coffee yet.

[the x kid]

You don't drink coffee. Could be a Hacker.

[FrontyFlyer]

That bumper isnt going anywhere if you don't cheap out on the hardware. Don't go to Canadian tire or a hardware store for the bolts. Brafasco or princess auto, Grade 10.9 metric. or grade 8 imperial (5 dashes on the bolt)

I'd trust it with 5000lbs. Bet frame would bend before the bolts give out