Opinion needed- rear tow point or gas tank skid

69stingray

Joined the Band
Banned
Joined
Feb 5, 2008
Location
The Mud
Which is more important, a gas tank skid or rear tow point(aka reciever hitch) on a cherokee? I have spend all day working with a friend to get his gas tank skid on his 97 cherokee to work and alas, it seems like with the time remaining before we leave it's either going to be gas tank skid or reciever hitch, not both.

Skid is too wide and there's just not enough time left to modify it to work with the hitch. So my question is this, for this weekend ( tomorrow through sunday) which would be better to have up at ure, a gas tank skid or a rear recovery point? I'm sure he could throw in a kinda big drop hitch so that it takes the hit when dropping off a ledge, but a rock or something....not so much.

I know this is a pretty shitty situation, but he's wheeled for a good bit of time without the skid, but only been to ure once and took the easy bypass up everything
 
I'm assuming this thing must have some kind of lift?
If it's lifted much, for URE, you really don't need a skid on the tank. Just not that many spots where you'd have that kind of angle.

Of ocurse, leaving on a hitch just increases the chances of dragging it on something.
If you have teh skills/material to fab up a skid, you should easily be able to mount some tow hooks/D-rings to the frame.
 
yeh it's got a 4" lift on 31's.
No material here to fab up a tow hook to the bumper, nor do I have the right welder. My welder was bought to restore a car and weld sheetmetal, not strong enough for anything like that.
And we're trying to leave tomorrow afternoon, and we've still got a new ac compressor to put on.
 
NO need for a rear tank skid. i wheeled my cherokee many times and many places. Only dent in the tank was a small one and that was doing something i shouldnt have. ive used my hitch more times than i can count to recover or help recover....id stay with the hitch for the weekend.
 
69stingray said:
that;s what I was thinking, but the fact that it's a plastic tank, seems pretty weak
Click to expand...

Nah, plastic tank is fine. It will dent in, then bounce rigt back!

You don't need a welder. Go to Northern Tools, Tractor supply, any local place and buy a D-ring or two.
*make sure it's rated for at least 8k lbs, or people will make fun of you. Ask me how I know*
Now find or make some holes in teh frame, and bolt those bad boys on.
You don't want to have people tugging you by the factory bumper anyway, it will just bend.

On my '88, we bolted them right into the factory holes/nuts where the factory hitch receiver mounted on the frame..
 
You definitely need a rear tow point before you start thinking about skids. There are few things that piss me off more than to go to hook up to someone to extract them, and they have nothing to hook to! There is just no excuse for it. I'm not a real fan of towing receivers as a rule, but if that is what you're planning on using, slap it on there.
 
Please update your location in your profile..(This was on that list you read during the process to sign up to the site..) It really helps when people try to offer help, someone right around the corner could lend a hand...
 
Didnt read the above posts but I wheeled my XJ a lot... hard... w/ no tank skid.. The HDPE tanks can take a beating but they do still dent (mine did)... If you're a mild wheeler get a Hitch it'll save you just as much as a tank skid on the majority of obsticles you're wheeling on.
 
Lol..Ratlab, that wasnt D rings you hade, it was door knockers!


not only does a hitch provide a place to attach a hook, it also makes a great slider for the rear! I slide down daniel and kodak on mine! course i may have more overhang that a cherokee
 
Back
Top