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D-ring mounts

7K views 7 replies 3 participants last post by  Jack Stilts 
#1 ·
Hey guys & gals. Need some advice.

After doing some extensive research, I ordered some D-ring mounts for my rear frame (through the bumper). After I painted them black, I realized that they were too short! I should have done more research and measured before I placed that order. :comphead:




Anyway, here's what I have to work with now. I have two options while I wait for the longer mounts to come in the mail:

1. I could use these for the front frame and weld them on.






2. I could sell them as-is to someone who can actually use them.

My question is this: If I got them welded to the front frame, does anyone see any negative consequences that I might be missing? The only thing I can think of is that in the future, I'm going to be getting skid plates. I could just remove them when I cross that bridge, but I want to make sure I'm not missing anything here.

Suggestions?
 
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#2 ·
Sell em. No sense in having a D ring mount that far down-especially when you already have the stock hook!
 
#4 ·
Done and done.

Thanks for the input guys.
 
#5 · (Edited)
FYI...from my build thread:



Rear recovery points!!!!!



Now to find some mud to get stuck in......


For the plates, look on ebay for:

CLEVIS SHACKLE MOUNT FOR BUMPERS WELD THRU OFF-ROAD 4X4 FABRICATOR PART DIY NEW

by seller: competition4x4

He has generic clevis mount plates without the mounting holes. I sent him an ebay message requesting a custom length of 9 inches which ended up being ~40 bucks shipped.

The fun part was then drilling the mounting holes in them myself :D

It is 3/4" plate steel. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be to drill it.

NOW...if you want to take a bunch of REALLY accurate measurements and make a dimensioned drawing and send it to the ebay guy...they do custom fab stuff so they would drill it for you if you wanted...but I thought it would be more accurate to hold it up to the frame where I wanted it, scribe it, center punch it and drill it myself.

Here is how I drilled it:

Materials:

Drill press vise ~$16
Corded hand drill: ~$40 (black and decker 7 amp...beefy drill)
Generic center punch: ~$3
PB Blaster or other cutting oil: ~$3
1/4" cobalt drill bit: ~$6
1/2" cobalt drill bit: ~$14

Remove all your bumper corners and center bumper piece. Put the plate on the inside of the frame rail where you want it, making sure it is level. First, take a center punch or scriber or marker, and make a vertical line at the end of the frame rail, marking where the frame ends and the plate starts to stick out. Then mark the three holes in the frame rail using center punch, marker, spray paint, etc. Lay the two plates next to each other, and mark a line on the other plate which will let you know where the end of the other frame should end up. Take that plate to the other frame rail, set it inside, and mark it with paint, marker, etc.

Put one plate in drill press vise. Use a center punch and hammer to make a center indention for the front hole (most important one). Use the 1/4" bit to drill a pilot hole, making sure to use a SLOW cutting speed, LOTS of oil, HEAVY down force, and give the bit a break every once in a while to cool off. With as much oil as I used, the bit never was too hot to touch by hand. Make sure the material is coming out of the hole as flaky bits of metal. If it is smoking or looking like powder, you are just grinding the bit.

Patience is key.

Now me, I drilled one hole completely to 1/2", lined the plate up to the frame, checked to make sure the first markings still lined, up, remarked if needed, etc. Each hole I drilled I checked to make sure the markings were still good.

Sprayed em in bed liner, got Midget 28 to cut my bumper...used a paint pen to mark where the plate would come through, and an angle grinder with a cut off wheel to cut it out.

You need longer bolts, so you do not use the L bracket anymore. I reused the same nuts from the bolt mounts. I think the bolts I got were M12 1.75 60. I took one nut off of the bumper mount, took it to a hardware store and found the bolt that matched.

Additionally, user Jack5885 is working on creating a sets of these to sell, which would no doubt have a cleaner look than hand drilling the mounting holes. I needed some recovery points before Oct 27 for a wheeling weekend so I had to pioneer the DIY at home version with no machine shop. All in all, very doable, would do it again if I needed to, but would gladly pay to not have to drill them out and go through the tedious measuring and marking and drilling myself.

D rings came from here: http://www.clubxterra.org/forums/showthread.php?t=39054
 
#6 ·
FYI...from my build thread:
Where do you think I got the inspiration from! :biggrin:

I just failed to read your full description until AFTER I ordered those mounts too short...

:comphead:

Thanks for all the info! I'll make sure to do it right this time.
 
#7 ·
I sent him an ebay message requesting a custom length of 9 inches

:D Here ya go! :D

And use a 1/2" cobalt drill bit...cost me 13 bucks...but well worth it...one bit got all the drilling done through both plates!
 
#8 ·
Thanks Rob! I won't make the same mistake twice :D
 
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