Hidden Front Receiver Hitch
& Raised Rear Hitch

This just started out as a way to use the winch that was wasting away mounted to my car trailer. There has been some interest ,so here's the materials list: 19.75 inch long piece of 2" ID x .250 wall square tubing 4 inch long piece of 2" ID x .250 wall square tubing .75 inch long piece of 2.5" x .250 wall square tubing 6 inch long piece of 1.5" x .125 thick strap steel Two mounting plates cut from 3/8" steel plate.
	The  .75" piece of 2.5" tubing is slipped over the 2" receiver, and welded in place, to reinforce the input end, and add support for the strap that sits behind the valance to allow mounting the license plates spring loaded mount.
The holes in the 2" receiver (2) are 5/8" for the hitch pin and eight 1/2" holes (4 each plate) for the mounting bolts. With the front shield removed access is really good for installation. It mounts under the tow hook (I am using '86 S-10 hooks, which "hook" downward) and shield bolts. Trimming of the front valance and removal of part of the rubber flap are required. The spring loaded license plate mount is off of the rear of a '71 Vega. Many of the early model Chevys had them. I do have a 2" bodylift installed and don't know if this hitch would work without one.
I used "jumper cable" quick connects for the power with an 8 gauge wire to the front, and 4 gauge cable to the rear. They are connected to the battery directly using three 30 amp breakers, to give me a 90 amp load capacity.	After the 2" bodylift, I raised my factory GM (Valley) hitch by drilling new holes (3 ea.) in the brackets, approx. 1.5" higher  that is all the brackets would allow. This did leave a nice place to mount two recovery hooks by drilling only one additional hole for each.
November 2004 Update: After purchasing a new 9000lb winch it became obvious some additional reinforcement was needed for the front hitch. I added two 3.5" long 1.5" x 1.5" x .25" thick angle iron pieces that bolt to the frame horns with two 1/2" bolts. This has strengthened the hitch quite a bit, and I feel confident that it will handle the new winch now.
	Here is the Milemarker 9000lb. electric winch installed-
	I am using booster cable quick connectors (NAPA/Belden #740235), so the winch can be mounted to the front, rear or any 2" receiver with the use of my 20' booster cables to reach a battery. 2 ga. cables supply power to the front and rear connectors via a 100 amp resetable breaker connected to the top post of the Optima Red Top battery.