Front Bumper Hitch

I'm looking at getting a front hitch for my TACO. Who has done this and which model did you get?
I'll be using mine mainly for a Winch, I'll be able to use winch either up front or back. Who knows where my roads will take me.
Thanks Folks

 

Do a bumper with winch mount. Don’t compromise your approach angle. Cheers!

 

Or an easier setup by just notching/removing the lower and/or center section and just installing a mount that bolts in between the frame horns and attached to the frame itself.

Strong yet low-profile

 

Some of my friends bought bumpers and welded a receiver to the built in winch platforms vice perma-installing a winch.

 

I’ll take this over that front hitch basket that I see a lot of people sell when they realized the hit they have taken on their approach angle

 

! I Like all responses here, Maybe I should have said I do not do any major off road stuff, I'm a weekend
warrior that stays on most paths and chicken out when TACO bogs down a little in the mud. My winch thought would be more of
an emergency usage, would not be mounted permanently. Don't need to mention other useful things I can do with it,

 

Wait for the 4L bug to bite and you’ll see what happens

 

I will be doing the same to my taco this spring (mounting a front receiver mount for a winch and other uses). MANY (most?) times, you get stuck front-first in some deep mud, and you sure as hell can't even GET to the front bumper winch! If you manage to, then you have to stretch that friggen cable all the way under the truck through the mud! FK that! Isn't ANY mud out west? No? Just ROCKS?

That's why I am installing (and have installed removable winch mounts using the receiver mounts front and back; works GREAT! AND, you don't have your winch out there in the weather 365 days/yr. Works VERY well too.

 

Pretty much what I was envisioning! On days where I know I'll venture off road I either mount the winch or just place it in the bed.

 

DrawTite bolted up nicely.

 

I'm in the process of removing mine and putting a hidden winch mount under the front bumper.

The hitch mounted winch seems to hit the ground a lot and was just enough of a pain I stopped bringing it. Then of course I didn't have the winch when I needed it.

 

Question: If the (removeable) winch was mounted on the front with a Receiver hitch, why not just remove it when not using and store it in the bed? Or am I missing something cause that's what I want to do. In fact, I want to mount my receiver mount on an ARB bumper right where the winch usually sits so that it doesn't affect approach angle.

 

I just read an article about front bumper hitch Pro's / Con's . Low clearance was one issue. It may lower my front clearance but I am always cautious when out, I keep in mind that my differential and tranny are lower than my bumper. Then there's the oil I need to be wary of. Like I mentioned in previous post, I'd only take hitch setup with me if I knew I'd be taking a questionable road and it would be in the bed until I need it.
Hitch would never be used for other things while driving. I've seen those motorhomes and it's mind boggling sometimes.

 

Interesting. I'm trying to picture what you're describing and how that differs than say the AMP'd up hidden winch mount. Your design idea... how could it better the approach angle of this? (FYI I don't rock crawl so approach angle isn't crucial for me)

https://www.ampdupllc.com/product-page/01-04-toyota-tacoma-hidden-winch-mount

 

That's exactly what I described; the notching was in reference to the bumper and/or grill itself depending on how big the winch itself is.

 

Ah my bad. For some reason I thought your post was in response to something else.

My bad.

 

It all comes down to how your vehicle is used. I run front a rear receiver hitch on all my 4x4 vehicles.

I have never gone anyplace where the best option was to winch Forward through the problem area. My off road adventure days are long in the past.

The front hitch is great for moving things around home dragging logs out of the woods moving vehicles just easier to watch out the front then the rear for me.

Good luck!

 

I have a front mount hitch. It's the Drawtite 65041. I mounted it to carry bicycles so that I could still get to the tailgate when camping. I did carry my XR650r once up front on a hitch hauler (And my brother's on the rear hitch). That was dumb; I couldn't see over the seat. The big problem with the hitch is that it makes getting to the front skid plate bolts below the radiator difficult. I drilled a 2-1/2" hole in the skid plate so I could drain the radiator. I don't rock crawl so the departure angle thing has never been a problem. I'd assumed that a removable hitch mounted winch would be better carried in the bed and installed when needed. edit: I keep it mainly because it is a good recovery point.

 

Defibrillating this one for selfish reason: has anyone seen a custom from bumper that allows for a set / hidden winch and a front hitch? I swear I saw one but can no longer find it.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/hiden-winch-well-sort-of.645807/

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/mounting-a-winch-not-wench.100670/