SoCal Offroad Trip

[smo0othride]

found this site hope it helps

http://www.woodfam.com/ryan/expedition/tow-hooks.html

Awesome find.. thanks. Thats a lot of work to install some tow hooks though. I found some toggle bolts that would fit and they are rated at 5,000lbs each so that'd be 10,000lbs holding strength for 2 bolts in the hook... I wonder how that would work? (saves me from taking apart the bumper)

Also, I got this hook for the back, do you think the strap could be attached to the shackle part and then ran under the truck to the front to be towed forward or would that bend the hitch?
Panda how much trouble was it to tie to the frame last time?

 

[panda24619]

ive seen those before and i dont think you would want to pull forward on that if its in the back. maybe that if its like hooked to my rear end i can yank you out. i want one of those. but pay check is all gone. and i didnt buy the coil spacers. ill get around to doing that one of these weeks. but it wasnt that much of a pain to do it. just needed a D ring shackle. i wouldnt yank on it like we had it to much cause if i remember right it was resting on the bumper a little bit. but it did fine.

 

[nvycrmn]

running a strap from the rear under the truck to the front to be towed is a horrible idea. if for any reason you pull too hard or something, you could whip the rear end right around...not a good idea. did you check to see if the backing plate is already in the frame rails? some of them are welded in place so they dont rattle around. if there is one in there, no bolts required. the backing plate has the threads in it....at least on 1st gen.

 

[tallsville]

you could put this up front if all you need is way to be pulled out

http://www.etrailer.com/Front-Hitch/Ford/F-150/2004/65043.html?vehicleid=2004633303

 

[panda24619]

that could work. but it still seems like you would need to take off the bumper to fit it. we could just make due like we did last time. wasnt that much of a pain.

 

[panda24619]

so heres some good news with the little bit of rain weve had. anderson will be a little muddy! sweet!!!! but that means more rutts. o well. and when we going? and talls you gonna try and make it down?

 

[nvycrmn]

its not the ruts that will be the problem for smoothe if it rains, it will be the mud slicks when he is trying to control his slide INTO the ruts! hahaha. if its wet, i definitely see you pulling him out a lot during that trip. some of those ruts he wont get out of by himself if its muddy.

 

[etrailer]

that could work. but it still seems like you would need to take off the bumper to fit it. we could just make due like we did last time. wasnt that much of a pain.

You actually do not need to remove the front bumper to fit a front mount hitch on a 1998 Expedition, you would need a different part than what was mentioned earlier to fit your vehicle. The hitch pretty much bolts to the holes that were used to mount the optional tow hooks. There is probably a piece of fascia or trim underneath the bumper that will need to be removed or at least trimmed.

I can post a link to the proper hitch and the instructions, but before I do I want to make sure the Administrators are OK with us being on the forum. Mods/Admins, I have sent a PM to JUST4FUN about etrailer being on the forum. If I need to send a message to someone else, please let me know.

 

[tallsville]

@etrailer panda has a 1st gen. smooths has a 2nd gen as do i. we were talking about smooths truck. but since you are here will the hitch for the 04 f150 work on a 03 expedition(2nd gen)

 

[etrailer]

As best I can tell, the Draw-Tite you had referenced will not fit the Expeditions. Draw-Tite only offers front mounts for the 1997-2002 First Gen Expeditions.

Though the F-150 and Expedition have a lot in common, there are enough differences that even frame-mounted accessories don't always cross over. We have run into a few instances where customers purchased parts for the Expedition that were only meant to go on the F-150 and they thought it would be OK since they share the same platform.

Now, it appears that Curt does offer a solution for the Second Gen guys, so long as it is a 4WD with factory tow hooks. If it didn't come from the factory with the tow hooks, there is not a place to attach the front mount. It also allows you to retain the factory tow hooks.

We have it on our site for the F-150 and Lincoln Mark LT, but we do not have it listed as a fit for the Expedition. However, Curt does have it listed as a fit for the Expedition on their site. I will email my Curt guy to verify the fit, we always double check when we find a discrepancy.