>I want to be able to do some towing with my 1997 TJ.  Also, I am
>planning on adding some chrome (for looks).
<SNIP>
>If I get the hitch, then I'll probably get a chrome rear bumper
>anyway -- possibly the Mopar one.
>I'd appreciate any suggestions -- particularly if anyone out there
>has any experience with these items.

Shawn, Shawn, Shawn;
Let me relate a very sad, sad experience - hopefully this will help you
make your decisions wisely.

Once upon a time, in a city not too far from you, a young man named
Burford bought a Jeep. Burford was very happy with his Jeep, but, being
from the city, he felt that something was missing. Something cool,
something to help him pick up chicks. He gazed at his Jeep, glorious
with its hard lines and earth tones. "Ahhh" he said, "if only it were a
little brighter, flashier. Then I could get all the babes I want."

Burford pondered and puzzled and thought until smoke curled from his
ears. But nothing came to him. Suddenly, there in the grocery store
parking lot, he saw a low rider. It had high gloss paint, a very noisy
stereo, chrome trim everywhere and beautiful bikini clad bimbos laying
all over the car (turns out it was a photo layout for Low Rider
Magazine, but of course, blinded by the high gloss chrome and bimbos,
Burford failed to see the cameras).

"That's it" he shouted, "Chrome!"

Burford hurried home and pulled out all his Jeep related catalogs. He
pored over them, but could find no Chrome accessories. "How odd" he
thought. "Well, no matter. I'll just send some stuff out to the local
plating shop." Burford took the parts to the nearest plating shop. When
the owner saw  that they were Jeep parts, he refused to chrome them.
"Look son. I'll powder coat them, I'll black anodize them, but I won't
chrome those parts. It's a sin, plain and simple".

Burford went to many plating shops, but the result was the same. Metal
platers everywhere refused to deal with him, the more superstitious even
warding him off with hex signs and prayers. Finally, in a run down,
scary part of town, he saw a sign for plating services on a dilapidated
old garage. The owner was a gnarled little man, with a rheumy eye and a
hunch back. "So, ya wants chrome, does ya? I'll do it, but it will cost
big." All Burford could think of were the bikini clad bimbos. He ignored
all the warnings and rumors and handed over his money to the odd little
man. While the parts were out being chromed, Burford buffed out his Jeep
until it shone like the sun itself. He also installed a wicked 250 amp
27 channel ear busting stereo system.

Well, the big day arrived. The parts were done! Burford hurried to the
plating shop and collected his parts. And what parts they were. Bumpers
and rims and hood hardware and tool box and tow hooks and hubs and lug
nuts and roll bar and wiper arms, all in glorious, gleaming chrome. He
rushed home and began working on re-installing all his wonderful chrome
parts.

The work was all done and nothing was left but to go for a ride. Burford
climbed into his gleaming, chrome covered Jeep and headed for the mall.
"This is it" he thought, "babe city, here I come." As Burford headed
towards the mall, he came upon a small tree, just a sapling really,
down, blocking the road. Cars ahead were detouring around it. He looked,
and decided, "hey, it's a Jeep. I'll just crawl right over." Burford
pulled forward and touched the sapling with his tire. As we all know,
when the front tire of any Jeep touches dirt, sand, rock, grass, wood or
any material other than asphalt or concrete, the Jeep Gods look down
upon the Jeep, ready to admire their creation and watch with pride as it
conquers the environment it was designed to conquer. So the Jeep Gods
looked down on Burford's Jeep, and they were confused. "Where is our
creation, and what is all that damned noise?" The Jeep Gods looked
closer and realized that it was indeed a Jeep.

They saw the well buffed paint and smiled, happy that Burford was caring
for their creation. They listened to the offensive loud music and were a
bit miffed, but, they let it pass, hey, who can judge taste in music,
one man's treasure is a Jeep God's trash, but, whatever. The Jeep Gods
then saw past the blinding reflection of the sun and realized that the
source was chrome.

"It looks like a low rider" said one God. "Look at all those greasy
fingerprints" said another. "Look" said a third, "he's even done the
differentials  in...(sob)...chrome." So the Jeep Gods conferred and
debated and raged and wept, all the while trying to decide a proper
punishment for Burford. At last, they found a suitable penance for the
ultimate sin. They assembled in all their glory and power and carried
out their decision. As Burford's front tire touched the sapling, he felt
a shiver run  through his body. His Jeep suddenly felt....different. He
stepped on the gas and......was stuck. Burford gassed it a bit more, and
then a bit more, until it was floored, and the motor was screaming, but
he moved not an inch. "How odd" Burford thought. He engaged the diff
locks and tried again. Nothing. The engine screamed in agony, the clutch
billowed noxious gasses, but the Jeep would not move.

Burford shut off the motor and climbed out to find out what tremendous
obstacle was holding him in place. He looked around, but all looked
normal. A tiny sapling lay in the road, but nothing more. Burford bent
down to look under the Jeep to see if he was missing something. As he
gazed to the front, he noticed that his springs were....tiny. In fact,
everything in the drive line was....small. Axles, pumpkins, transfer,
suspension all looked as if they had shrunk. He pulled his head back and
stood up. Burford looked closely at his Jeep. It still gleamed and
shined, but it was riding lower to the ground. He walked around it,
examining. "The grill
looks different" he thought. "And what are those stupid little flares
doing on the front fenders?" The sheet metal looked thin and the doors
were kind of odd. As he rounded the back, a horrible thought occurred to
him. Yes, the tire carrier was gone. Burford looked closer
and then let out a shriek "oh, what have I done, what have I done?" he
sobbed. There on the back were four terrible letters, burned into the
flimsy sheet metal. RAV4 And that, children, is how the Jeep Gods
created the RAV4.

Scott Phillips
1984 CJ-7
Utah 4 Wheel Drive Association