http://jeepdex.com/Commander/DOCS1/HitchIns.pdf
Mostly correct, but not totally. I didn't document this as well as I should have, but here it goes.
There are 4 "pop top" fasteners. I used a flat head screw driver to pry up the pop part, and then pulled the whole fastener out.
There are 2 torques (?) screws one on each side
At each fender flare there are 2 pinch type fasteners, I was able to pinch them laying underneath the jeep to release the bumper from the fender flares.
These two fasteners are what took me a little off guard, this is what Jeepdex doesn't show.
These two fasteners (2 on each side of Jeep) the center section pops out, I don't think they have to be removed completely but I did. This releases the the whole metal piece.
I don't think I have pictures, but there is 1 plastic rivet on each side where the bumper connects to the fender flare, I used a screw driver to push the rivet through and then pulled the remaining part out. Once all of that is complete, you should be able to remove the bumper cover. Once the cover is removed there is a plastic bumper underneath, from under the Jeep there are 2 more pop top fasteners. Then the plastic bumper can be removed.
This exposed the rear hitch. Make sure the spare tire is dropped and remove the 4 bolts.
I had already cut down the bolts and hitch so I don't have before and after pics. But basically you can go all the way to the welds, there is a lot of extra material there just because they didn't bother to remove it. So here is an after pic with paint.
And another
So the whole point of this mod is to allow for a larger tire to fit in the stock location, I stole the idea from Nathan (Omelet) but he didn't have a good write up.. So I (we) used carriage bolts in place of the stock Nut/Bolt setup. The OEM hitch had the nuts spot welded on to the hitch. I used a 3 lbs sludge hammer to remove the nuts, it didn't take much, but I wasn't thinking and did break my 7 pin cover. So I'd suggest removing that before hammering.
Once you have removed the nuts, replace the nuts and bolts with 1/2" x 4" carriage bolts and matching nuts. I used nylon locking nuts which I think was a mistake. I had to spot weld the carriage bolts so they wouldn't spin. Nathan said he was able to tighten his down without welding... These bolts are smaller than factory bolts, so I don't know if that degrades the towing capacity, I hope not, and it seems that really the bolts are just holding the hitch in place and really taking any of the force since the frame is there. I'm interested to see what someone else with some engineering background (cough MATT cough) has to say on this..
But the final product makes for a pretty much flush mounted hitch so that an oversized spare can fit. I don't have a final spare in location pic, because I'm still waiting for my replacement spare tire hoist winch which should be here later this week and maybe I can update then.
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