Grand Cherokee (ZJ) hitch Install

[jeepneagle]

I have wanted to add a hitch to my 1984 wagon since I got the car to tow a small utility trailer or teardrop camper. I had no luck finding a factory class 2 hitch, so I went to the local jeep yard and looked over their stack of hitches. I settled on a hitch marked for a ZJ. I looked through some jeep FSM's and found that it looks like the factory hitch for 1993-1995ish Grand Cherokees. The rails where the hitch attaches to the frame had an inside width measurement of about 34-3/4" and an outside width of about 39-1/8". The rails are about 17-3/4" long. The key issue was the drop of the hitch to clear the gas tank. This hitch has a drop of about 4in from it mounts to the frame to the top of the cross tube. I included pictures of the measurements and a pic of what the hitch looks like generally.

[jeepneagle]

Now the ZJ frame rails must be pretty close the the Eagle width, but I needed to drill now holes that would match the center of the frame. These ended up being just a hair over 1-3/8" from the inside edge of the frame rail. I drilled for four 1/2" bolts. and made sure to catch the preexisting hole on the bottom of the frame

I would recommend getting a 9/16 drill bit to make the alignment easier later, but first you want to drill the hitch for the 1/2" bolts along its length.

[jeepneagle]

Then locate the hitch under the Eagle. These pictures were probably from the 10th time I had the hitch mocked in place. In order to clear the gas tank, I had to notch the rear bumper support slightly. You could make the cutout in the hitch plate, but I felt more comfortable leaving the hitch intact.  Once you get the fore-aft location settled, you need to figure out where the factory frame hole is if you are planning to use it for one of your bolts. That's what I did, and it allowed me to bolt the hitch in place to drill the other six holes in the frame. You can see where that bolt hole is in the frame in the last two pictures. (It's the biggest round hole)

 Otherwise, drill your four holes in your hitch and use them as guides to drill the frame with the hitch in place. This whole process is way easier with a second set of hands.

[jeepneagle]

Now if you want this hitch to be functional, you need a way to really tie it into the length of the uniframe. I made stud strips out of 1-1/4"x1/4" plate. I used the hitch as a guide to drill four 7/16" holes. At this point I should have drilled the hitch and frame holes out to 9/16" to make aligning everything easier, but I only had a 1/2" bit handy. I then tapped the holes for 1/2"-13 bolts, painted the strip and installed the bolts with red loctite. If I had my welder, I would have tacked the bolt heads in instead of the loctite. Fish the strip into the frame rail and pull the bolts through the hole sin the frame.

[jeepneagle]

At this point I just had to shimmy the hitch up and install the nuts. I did cut some washers to use with the grade 8 bolts. It's probably overkill since the holes were not massively oversized. I torqued the bolts down to 40lb-ft and called it good. I was unable to get the plastic gas tank cover back in place, but I prefer having the hitch tucked closer under the vehicle. As it sits, it's just short of being flush with the bumper.

[jeepneagle]

A few things to note on the process. I did have to sawzall out the 5/8" bolts that go through the frame and hold in the tubular part  of the bumper mounts. They are captured by the gas tank. In order keep that tubular extension in the frame I had to notch the lower part of the tube to make room for the bolt heads. (My phone died and lost the pictures of this) The 1/4" thick bar was no issue in getting the bumper mounts back into place. I also installed new bolts on all the bumper hardware.

[Taylor]

Looks good, I did something similar a few years ago. I bought a 2” receiver hitch for a XJ and installed it. Had to do similar modifications.

[Eagleearl]

Great job. Thanks for the pics.

[jeepneagle]

Wanted to report the experience so far. Towed a 4x8 trailer 1300miles last week from CO to NM and back. On the 600mi back, I had it loaded with about 500-600lbs of parts and tools. With 200lbs on the tongue, the eagle towed beautifully at 65mph. No sway or tracking issues. Climbing Raton pass was slow in 1st gear, but everything handled really well.

[vangremlin]

Glad to hear it worked so well for you.  Where are you at in Colorado?  I'm in the metro Denver area.