I have access to a spare OEM Blazer receiver hitch and would like to know if anyone has ever modified their Blazer to put a factory hitch up front? Is the frame up front the same width as the rear? What's in the way? Holes to be drilled?

packrat

 

It depends on the year of the doner vehicle, your vehicle etc. You'd have to see how it mounts. I know my rear receiver mounts with the bumper brackets. I doubt a rear mount receiver will bolt right up to the front frame rails without heavy modification/welding.

 

you have the need to tow a trailer from the front often?

 

A front receiver hitch is most useful in floating boats! It is also great for tucking trailered equipment snugly against other equipment to save room! We use a tractor at work for this all the time and although I have never seen a Blazer/Jimmy with this set-up,there are a great many full-size trucks modified as such in my area! One might have to engineer this them selves I feel,as air dam will be a restriction to mounting such a unit.
Hello Bass Boaters? any Ideas?

 

Excellent idea for launching & retrieving a boat, been doing it like that for years. People always laugh..... until they see how easy it is to launch & retrieve. Reverse gear ratio is lower than first gear, so there's more torque for backing up the ramp, and if it's 2WD, it keeps the rear wheels farther from the water. On 2nd gen S & T body, the frame is wider in front, (not sure about 1st gen but probably the same thing). If you have tow hooks in front, they are bolted to the frame and the receiver can bolt on in the same place. Takes a little fabrication, but not difficult at all.

 

Here you go!
Here

 

Bingo Hook!

 

Sounds like a great idea for moving trailers around, parking them close as you said. I use the forklift at work to park my boats out of the way around things stored in the yard with a large bolt through a hole in a fork.
But for launching/retrieving a boat & especially retrieving it I think the 'nose' weight will take a lot of weight off the drive tires which would then be at the back. I've retrieved my boats on some pretty steep grades & had to use 4wd on a couple because of gravel & tire spin. The nose weight would only increase that.
A front mount receiver is also another place to mount a receiver style recovery hook in the center.

 

Cool.

Someone makes one. What I really wanted it for was for mounting either a cargo carrier or a bike rack. I pull a boat, and wanted more options for carrying cargo outside the vehicle. I've used one of those dual receiver hitch adapters, and while it works, it seems like it adds a lot of play in the truck-trailer link. We have a lot of concrete-slab highways and at certain speeds, things oscillate and move around a lot.

So, the next best idea was to put things up front. I don't think it will affect my visibility that much, though large items on the cargo rack might affect cooling. We'll see....

Anyone want to buy a slightly used receiver hitch from a '99 4-door? Located in NE Wisconsin....

 

Got pics of it I might be interested if its the correct one.