More "fun" with the wife's Jeep......
 

So - we bought this house. And it had this old rusty chain-link fence out front that we really hated. So after I spent the morning cutting out all the chain link, we decided to see if the lady's trusty Mopar XJ was up to snuff.....

Starts with a 1000 lb load rated tow strap - wrapped around the rear axle:
http://hihoslva.cflprotege.com/Jeep/axle.JPG


Then, I drilled a 3/8" hole in the top of the fence pole, and used a threaded rod with nuts and washers through the eyelets of the tow hooks:
http://hihoslva.cflprotege.com/Jeep/bolted.JPG

A quick throw of the transfer case into 4 wheel low range, and...

Going.......
http://hihoslva.cflprotege.com/Jeep/going1.JPG

Going......
http://hihoslva.cflprotege.com/Jeep/going2.JPG

GONE!
http://hihoslva.cflprotege.com/Jeep/gone.JPG

We pulled about 15 poles this way - just like buttah! And BTW - the WIFE did the driving.

I only wish the Cherokee had a chainsaw on the front bumper to take care of all the crap I have to cut down tomorrow........;)

The joys of homeownership - We haven't stopped working since closing....

~HH

sweet man, congrats on your new home.

Safety, man. Anytime you're going to tow or pull something hefty, you want to use the strongest part of the car. Wrapping straps around a bumper or something - even a solid steel bumper - is not the strongest way to go. The bumper can always come loose, have rusted bolts, etc.

You wrap a strap around an axle, and it ain't going anywhere, that's for sure.

BTW - just know that the "axle" is not spinning on her Jeep. The strap is around a solid steel "tube" - the actual axles are inside this tube.

~HH

Re: More "fun" with the wife's Jeep......
 

You should talk to that guy who does "Monster Machines" and see if he'll build you a multi-purpose Jeep landscaping tool -- You know, sort of a 4-liter Swiss army knife. Chainsaw on the front bumper, back-hoe in the hatch, etc.

Yea of course its fine to pull from the axle... thats why companies don't install tow hooks! Oh wait.... they do? :rolleyes:

/edit: not to mention it looks like it was putting a force on the gas tank.

Well, if it had an actual trailer hitch connected directly to the frame, that would be the strongest choice, of course. but it doesn't look like he does. A lot of times tow-hooks are attached to the bumper or bumper brackets. Going around the axle housing is a good way to do it.

Hey HH, out of curiosity, are those Cherokees leaf-springs, or coil-springs in the back? I can't remember. The front is a live axle on coils and a 4-link setup, right? Or did they switch to independent?

they are Leafs.

100% leaf springs in rear. Live axles both front and rear.

Handles like absolute shit on the road, but it's beefy and reliable for 4-wheel duty, that's for sure.

And for superdave - you're probably right, it may have actually been putting force on the gas tank, and I didn't even think of that - good call, I'll be looking for safer alternatives next time, for sure. Not that I'm worried - the poles bent down with relatively little force, and once they were bent, any pressure on the tank or undercarriage of the truck was gone. Good call, nonetheless.

As far as tow hooks and the like - surprisingly, there are no tow hooks. The bumpers are solid steel, and very beefy, but I just felt safer with the strap on a real component of the truck. I mean, there were 1 or 2 poles that were a bit stubborn (embedded in HUGE tree roots and such) and we really tried to jolt them out. I would have been afraid of bending, warping, breaking, or even pulling off the bumper. The other issue is that I needed the strap hooks on the POLES, not on the truck - in order to yank them the way we did. So I had to just loop the strap around something on the truck, rather than use the hooks themselves.

~HH