frame mounted hitch??...Toyota/Lexus??

[lezavw90]

Yes I did have the plates welded. In all honesty there is nothing really wrong with the factory hitch attached to the crossmember. Mine was defective and bent under very minimal weight distribution spring bar tension (I have a 17ft Nash), the dealer refused to believe it was defective so I went the Lexus Hitch route. Other than welding the plates together this is a direct bolt on. It does drop the hitch down another 1" so if you are worried about clearance I wouldn't do it.

Seeing pictures and other 4runners towing in person I see some crazy spring bar tension and large trailers. If I had to do it over again I would have just bought another factory hitch that bolts to the crossmember.

On a side note the Lexus 7/4 pin relocate with the Lexus hitch is awesome.

 

[AlexJet]

Yes I did have the plates welded. In all honesty there is nothing really wrong with the factory hitch attached to the crossmember. Mine was defective and bent under very minimal weight distribution spring bar tension (I have a 17ft Nash), the dealer refused to believe it was defective so I went the Lexus Hitch route. Other than welding the plates together this is a direct bolt on. It does drop the hitch down another 1" so if you are worried about clearance I wouldn't do it.

Seeing pictures and other 4runners towing in person I see some crazy spring bar tension and large trailers. If I had to do it over again I would have just bought another factory hitch that bolts to the crossmember.

On a side note the Lexus 7/4 pin relocate with the Lexus hitch is awesome.

Can you post or send me close up pictures of how your hitch-plates-bracket went on and what did you weld?
I found GX hitch at the junk yard from engine burned Lexus.
I see the benefit of this hitch setup over the factory, as it transfer to load to the cross-member and frame rails substantially distributing it.

 

[lezavw90]

Can you post or send me close up pictures of how your hitch-plates-bracket went on and what did you weld?
I found GX hitch at the junk yard from engine burned Lexus.
I see the benefit of this hitch setup over the factory, as it transfer to load to the cross-member and frame rails substantially distributing it.

I don't have any pictures. There's three parts to this.
The bracket that takes the place of the factory hitch that attaches to the crossmember
The Lexus hitch itself that attaches to the frame.
3-4 plates (glorified washers. There's a 1" gap between the crossmember bracket and Lexus hitch. The plates take up the gap and on a Lexus installation bolts go through the hitch and clamp the whole thing together. Due to offset on the 4runner the bolts do not work. So we put all the plates in place and welded it together so now it's all one piece.

 

[AlexJet]

I did installed PT228-60100 hitch out of 2010 GX460. New from the dealer with cross-member bracket was over $1'000, so I got one from engine burned '10 GX, still cost me $400 shipped, but it had harness and all brackets and plates.
Installation notes: I have installed Lexus cross-member bracket. It was direct bolt in, upper 2 bolts were very hard to reach, so i had to unbolt the bumper cover and pull the cover up with one hand while operating the wrench with another. I didn't install bottom 2 bolts on the bracket as I planned to weld the sandwich plate, if you do so, you would never have access to those 2 bolts if you need to remove the hitch... GX hitch bolted to the frame like a glove, holes are perfectly aligned. But,...it sits about 1.5" deeper then the cross-member bracket and this is why you need to weld the sandwich plates as there is no way you can use Lexus hitch bolts. I have welded top sandwich plate to the bracket and then bolted both plates and hitch with FWD bolts. 4Runner trailer harness seems to be short for the GX bracket from the first sight, but it actually long enough as it's coiled inside the braided cover. I just took the tape off, uncool the wiring and used plastic slip tube to cover the "extended" harness. GX trailer plug fits nice under the bumper, very easy accessible. Overall hitch tube is about 2" lower then OEM, mine is lifted, so this is not a problem, and it doesn't stick out much more then OEM.
I'd post up some pictures, but Photobucket now ask for payments to be able to post up pictures on the forum. What free service do people use now to post up pictures?

Cross-member bracket with top "sandwitch" plate welded:

Hitch bolted to the Cross-member with "sandwitch" plates:

Frame mount:

Electrical 7-pin/4-pin connector:

Hitch positioned about 2" lower then OEM cross-member version:

And it doesn't stick out much, its very reasonable from my point of view:

 

[bloodMoney]

Most people are moving to flickr or imgur for posting pics to forums.

I'm looking forward to see what your setup looks like (strictly curiosity, I'm not really planning on serious towing with my LE, but it's nice to have this info).

 

[jerad]

Most people are moving to flickr or imgur for posting pics to forums.

I'm looking forward to see what your setup looks like (strictly curiosity, I'm not really planning on serious towing with my LE, but it's nice to have this info).

I'm interested in this too. We've been looking at trailers and unfortunately the one we like the most is a Jayco Feather X213 which is 4315 dry weight and 405 tongue. I'm sure by the time we load it up we'll be pushing the weight limits of the 4R, I would think a WDH would be a must.

 

[jerad]

I did installed PT228-60100 hitch out of 2010 GX460. New from the dealer with cross-member bracket was over $1'000, so I got one from engine burned '10 GX, still cost me $400 shipped, but it had harness and all brackets and plates.
Installation notes: I have installed Lexus cross-member bracket. It was direct bolt in, upper 2 bolts were very hard to reach, so i had to unbolt the bumper cover and pull the cover up with one hand while operating the wrench with another. I didn't install bottom 2 bolts on the bracket as I planned to weld the sandwich plate, if you do so, you would never have access to those 2 bolts if you need to remove the hitch... GX hitch bolted to the frame like a glove, holes are perfectly aligned. But,...it sits about 1.5" deeper then the cross-member bracket and this is why you need to weld the sandwich plates as there is no way you can use Lexus hitch bolts. I have welded top sandwich plate to the bracket and then bolted both plates and hitch with FWD bolts. 4Runner trailer harness seems to be short for the GX bracket from the first sight, but it actually long enough as it's coiled inside the braided cover. I just took the tape off, uncool the wiring and used plastic slip tube to cover the "extended" harness. GX trailer plug fits nice under the bumper, very easy accessible. Overall hitch tube is about 2" lower then OEM, mine is lifted, so this is not a problem, and it doesn't stick out much more then OEM.
I'd post up some pictures, but Photobucket now ask for payments to be able to post up pictures on the forum. What free service do people use now to post up pictures?

Any updates on those photos? Sure would love to see it. Thanks!

 

[AlexJet]

Any updates on those photos? Sure would love to see it. Thanks!

Sorry, it took longer then I thought. Needed to create a new account in Flicr and learn how to do it there...
See my post #84 for pictures.

 

[honda99ex]

Sorry, it took longer then I thought. Needed to create a new account in Flicr and learn how to do it there...
See my post #84 for pictures.

Do you have the part number for the Lexus Cross Member bracket or is that included with the hitch?

Excellent job on the install

 

[AlexJet]

Do you have the part number for the Lexus Cross Member bracket or is that included with the hitch?

Excellent job on the install

No, that part is a separate item and runs about $400 from Lexus Dealership.
P/N: 51908-WY010

 

[honda99ex]

No, that part is a separate item and runs about $400 from Lexus Dealership.
P/N: 51908-WY010

:wow:
So if I read you post correctly you need the Lexus Cross Member bracket and the Lexus Hitch Receiver?

I was all excited when I saw this thread revised but if you need both that's out of my $$$$ range. I swear I thought someone put the Draw Tite 75155 on their 5th Gen but I believe it also needed to be modded... Also that looks to be only 3 bolts per side or maybe there is a 4th one offset...

 

[AlexJet]

:wow:
So if I read you post correctly you need the Lexus Cross Member bracket and the Lexus Hitch Receiver?

I was all excited when I saw this thread revised but if you need both that's out of my $$$$ range. I swear I thought someone put the Draw Tite 75155 on their 5th Gen but I believe it also needed to be modded... Also that looks to be only 3 bolts per side or maybe there is a 4th one offset...

Any aftermarket hitches would only be mounted on the frame rails without cross-member mounting. Therefore they would not offer the same load capacity as Lexus one, unless you have knowledge or have some one who does of welding custom plates and bending custom brackets.

 

[honda99ex]

Any aftermarket hitches would only be mounted on the frame rails without cross-member mounting. Therefore they would not offer the same load capacity as Lexus one, unless you have knowledge or have some one who does of welding custom plates and bending custom brackets.

I'm not a towing expert but the Draw Tite is rated at 600/6000 and 730/7000 w/WDH which is pretty near the Lexus specs. I would think that a cross-member mount in addition to the frame mount might supplement and provide larger safety margin but not needed?? I haven't taken it apart but a custom plate welded would be similar to the Lexus adapter and spacer weld no?

I guess all this is in theory moot because the 4Runner is rated 4700-5000lbs and all the towing forums I visit say in case of accident (or scales) you would get in trouble anyway. I was just trying to increase the safety margin when I tow - the whole tow 80% of capacity thing but I need to do it at an economical rate...

The other thing I was looking at was the Shocker Hitch or AirSafe Hitch. The Shocker rep told me he thinks I could get it to fit even with spare but might have to ditch spare. Only thing is on my other vehicle I need a large rise and the Shocker can't do that. The AirSafe has too little info - i.e. bad quality videos etc which look like it bounced too much...

 

[AlexJet]

I'm not a towing expert but the Draw Tite is rated at 600/6000 and 730/7000 w/WDH which is pretty near the Lexus specs. I would think that a cross-member mount in addition to the frame mount might supplement and provide larger safety margin but not needed?? I haven't taken it apart but a custom plate welded would be similar to the Lexus adapter and spacer weld no?

I guess all this is in theory moot because the 4Runner is rated 4700-5000lbs and all the towing forums I visit say in case of accident (or scales) you would get in trouble anyway. I was just trying to increase the safety margin when I tow - the whole tow 80% of capacity thing but I need to do it at an economical rate...

The other thing I was looking at was the Shocker Hitch or AirSafe Hitch. The Shocker rep told me he thinks I could get it to fit even with spare but might have to ditch spare. Only thing is on my other vehicle I need a large rise and the Shocker can't do that. The AirSafe has too little info - i.e. bad quality videos etc which look like it bounced too much...

75155 is for 4th Gen. 4Runner with 6'000 lbs rating.

 

[DZNUTS]

75155 is for 4th Gen. 4Runner with 6'000 lbs rating.

The 4th Gen v8 is rated for 7000 lbs towing capacity. Not sure if this is relevant though


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[honda99ex]

75155 is for 4th Gen. 4Runner with 6'000 lbs rating.

Yes but I thought someone had done it and the frame is the same. Or the mount points were there is probably more accurate.

The 4th Gen v8 is rated for 7000 lbs towing capacity. Not sure if this is relevant though

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Right, wasn't it theorized that the current 5th Gen could tow more but was rated less due to the new standards, maybe because of the swap to cross member hitch etc....



I tow close to the rated max at times but I thought 'upgrading' the setup would increase my safety margin. I'm not actually trying to tow more than the max... Just that I feel better if my tow weight was at 80% of max vs at max, and I don't know why but I feel like the frame would distribute the force better than just the cross member mounted hitch...