Apparently, the Ram I have is considered a Sport. This is causing me some difficulty.

1 - I don't have any tow hooks front or rear! (Is this normal?)
2 - I can't seem to find any Bull Bars or Push Bars that will fit the Sport model! Does anyone know how the Sport front bumper differs from the other NON Sport models?
3 - Due to problem #2, I'm reluctant to get a trailer hitch as I don't want to run into similar problems at the rear!

Any help or guidance in appreciated!

 

i have a 1999 sport and i dont have tow hooks either... i thought it was normal... could be wrong thought.

 

Yup its normal. I have a 01 sport no tow hooks either. You can find grill guards and bull bars they are just harder to find and are usually more $$$. For the tow hooks you can get the factory ones but you will have to notch you bumper. The sport bumper is a solid fiberglass piece and the non-sport bumper is a two piece. It is the bumper and a airdam. As far as the rear bumper I believe it is the same as the non just painted. I dont think you should have any problems getting a hitch. Mine already had one when I bought the truck. Hopes this helps.....Sean

 

Thanks for the info.

 

i think tow hooks (and brackets) only came standard on the off road edition. you can buy them from dodge for about $120+ (see ebay or local dealer) or you can do a search here for them and pm GODRAMIT. he makes an exact duplicate of the bracket for less money. i don't know about the fit on the sport, but he will.
on the non sport, you can remove the lower air dam/valence, or cut out the pre-stamped holes for them. my lower air dam thing was already off and i think it looks better without it.

again, i don't know about the fit for your sport, but i bought a reese receiver hitch for my 01 at walmart for about $110 and it fit beautiful, with everything tucked up behind the bumper and just the receiver hole hanging down. it looks better than the factory one. an easy way to tell on your fit is go to some manufacturers website and get the part number for a non-sport and sport and see if they match.

 

I have the factory tow package on mine and I have no problems with that. No tow hooks up front though.

 

The reason why most sport models dont come with tow hooks is because the bumper is actually lower than the non-sport ones. Factory tow hooks on a Sport are rare. If you want them, you will have to cut out your bumper (like my bumper pictured below) If you dont want to notch your bumper, you will have to do a 3" body lift to clear them. As for the rear, there is no difference (except for the color) from a Sport to a non. A standard trailer hitch for a Dodge Ram will fit no problem. Bull Bars for a Sport: good luck finding them. My Sport came with a factory one, but it was plastic, so I removed it and sold it. The mounting brackets are different from a Sport to a non-Sport, thats why most companies only offer bars for non-sport trucks.




/\ Here is my truck in mostly stock form with the factory brush guard

 

My truck is a sport too and did not come with tow hooks. I just bought some hooks from a junkyard for $5. I actually pulled them off a Chevy. Then I had a friend machine a couple adapter plates for me that drop down below the bumper. They've worked just fine and I didn't have to cut the bumper.

You shouldn't have any problems with a hitch on the rear. Only difference from non-sport models is that the sport bumper is painted to match the body color. It has the same size/shape.

"You haven't gotten stuck, you haven't really been off road" ~ If your using your truck for off-road, you'll need those hooks.

 

I've gotten under my truck and looked at stuff.
I will be making my own adaptor plates to mount to existing bolts. I will post updates as I get things accomplished.

 

http://www.ultimateautoaccessories.c.../PROD/EA/52030

for a grill guard