I am getting my 96 4Runner ready for a very long trip in Baja next month. I will be running the entire length of Baja to help set up and run a pit with LocosMocos.com for the Baja 1000. While doing so I was looking the vehicle over and basically looking for any last minute ideas to improve the clearance, durability, etc...

After sliding under the back of the runner several times and nearly hitting my head on the lowest point of the factory receiver hitch (rashed by contact on the trail) I went online to see about a Hide-a-hitch for this application since I had one on my Rock crawler 85 and it was awesome. After having no success I returned to the Runner to give it another look. It hit me... I had an idea!

...The hitch cross beam is bolted to the side frame mounts with 6 bolts/nuts. The cross beam hangs 4" below the factory bumper and the actual receiver mount is welded to the cross beam and hangs another 3" thus robbing 7+" of total clearance below the OE bumper.

The fix:

1) Use the receiver hitch center hole for reference and mark the center of your OE bumper with a marker. Measure to the left of that mark and draw a line (top to bottom) 3 1/4" from center. Do the same 3 1/4" to the right of center mark.

2) Remove the six bolts/nuts holding the cross beam to the frame mounts. Remove the center beam. Best to get help or at the very least be careful not to drop it on you melon of jewel's! LOL!

3) Use SawZAll or hacksaw to cut bumper straight from the bottom edge up (toward step plastic) about 3 1/2" or so. Make sure both cuts are straight and of equal length.

4) Use 2x4 block of wood to protect the chrome and hammer this 6 1/2" wide peice of your bumper up and toward the front of the Runner. File edges or cover with small vacuum hose split on one side to create an edge molding.

5) Reinstall the cross beam of your factory hitch upside down. The holes should line up exactly and now the lowest part of the hitch (the reciever hole tube) is on top of the beam instead of below it. Tighten the bolts/nuts to spec. (goodentight!!!)

6) Drink a cold one (or six) and admire your handy work!

You have just gained over 3" of ground clearance (and departure angle is substanually increased) at the most rearward part of your Runner while retaining an OE look and the strenth of the OE receiver hitch.

Enjoy!!!!

~Protech03 AKA "Newbie" @ LocosMocos.com
AKA...

Brian at ProtechEZLift.com

 

Not a great picture but it's all I could do on short notice.

 

I don't see a pic

 

 

Interesting!!

 

I towed a trailer the other day and normally the hitch scrapes pulling in my drive way. Not any more! Works great...took about an hour from start to finish. Lovin it!

 

???

 

Okay, that's pretty cool.

I can definitely see myself doing that in the near future.

Well done!

 

not a bad idea. for now at least, My bumper is already dented up so i dont feel so bad cutting it up, Get a little more clearance and still retain that stock look.

 

Done!

It only took me about an hour.. The worst part was getting the hitch crosspiece back in - I was working alone.

Pics and words up here:

http://www.midiwall.com/4Runner/hitch.html


THANK YOU!

 

Sp how do you get to the loops to hook your trailers safety chains. It looks like they are now behind the bumper.
Actually it might not be bad to weld a few new loops, i would be painting the hitch anyways.

 

Yeup, the loops are actually up above the lip of the bumper - they're generally inaccessible. I started to cut them off, went through two blades on the jigsaw, and then figured that with a bit of whacking, I could "slide" the hitch in and the loops would clear the bumper lip.

Bottom line, you'll want to weld on new loops. I don't weld (this is another example why I HAVE to get into a class!), but have a local shop that'll do it for me fer nutin'.

 

Awesome!
I have thought about doing that but I was just going to wait til I did a body lift, but thats a much better idea! Nice work! The only thing is, I believe they did that because they wanted it to protect the spare? I'm not too worried as I will be putting mine up top once I get my cross bars replaced. I will definately be doing the mod, but there has to be a reason that they made the tongue so low. I have seen ones that have the tongue in the main cross bar, why would they make this one too?

Also, what all do you have done to your truck and have fun on your trip if you haven't already gone!

 

I thought about that as well, but...

All the times that I've dragged my a$$, it's been while going forward. That means that if something were to be tall enough to _hang_ on the hitch, then it probably would have hit the spare anyway. If you're going uphill, and start dragging, then that's when the hitch is just in the way.

Protection wise, check the "wings" on the sides of the hitch where they mount to the frame. There's some decent protection there for the spare.

Be careful with this idea. This is also something I thought about doing, but realized that:

• I'm lazy (and weak), and didn't want to have to hoist the spare up there.
• I didn't want to have to fight the spare off of the roof if I needed it.
• I started thinking that the weight of the spare will tend to make things even more top-heavy and thus tippy.

Dunno, unless they figured that hanging the tongue down low kept the strength of the crossbar intact. And/or, they didn't want to have to kill the lines of the rear bumper.

 

Finally got mine done! Brushed off all the rust and repainted her too! Now the hitch is the newest looking piece on my entire truck! I ended up just grinding the hoops off and since I don't really do much towing... I'm not in a huge hurry to weld some new ones on, though, when I get around to it. Or if I start to use my rig to tow something regularly, I'll do it. Either way, I'm a happy camper.

 

I am glad you finally did this. Yours looks even better than mine!

Ever since I did this and posted the idea on this site I have been looking at many runners. It turns out the style of hitch that you and I have is not really all that common as OEM from Toyota. It looks like they were buying hitches for factory and/or dealer install from many different venders...thus there are may different designs of hitches out there. For the lucky ones that do have this style...it is an awesome way to gain 3" of ground clearance at the often too low rear overhang.

Take Care,
Brian at ProtechEZLift.com