Date:         Thu, 31 Aug 2000 19:25:02 -0400
Reply-To:     "Fitz-Randolph, Douglas" <Doug@BEACONMARKETING.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         "Fitz-Randolph, Douglas" <Doug@BEACONMARKETING.NET>
Subject:      My experience with the SA Trailer Hitch
Content-Type: text/plain

I purchased one of the Bus Depot's SA trailer hitches last fall - it
is extremely heavy duty and looks pretty neat too - completely invisible
except for the shovel-shaped hitch mounting plate sticking down a few inches
from the bumper. For those concerned, it won't really affect your
"exit angle" and might even save you from smushing your muffler or rear
apron if you are doing something really silly. If I need to reach the top
of the van in the back, I'll balance on the hitch rather than stand on
the bumper - it really is that solid.

That said, let me tell you it was a b*tch to install! The hitch attaches
via three existing holes in the rear frame rails - two formerly used
by the old bumper brackets, and one a bit farther forward. You first
secure some large nuts in the spaces provided on the hitch frame, then
insert the hitch frame into the frame rails, then thread bolts through
holes in the frame rails into the captive nuts. Good luck! It took me
about an hour of fiddling, repositioning and undoing before I got the
rear 4 bolts to engage. No matter how I positioned the hitch frame,
though, I could not get the other two forward nuts to line up with the
holes in the frame rail. I could have enlarged the holes in the frame
rail, but it looked solid enough as it was so I let it be.

Then I tried to install the bumper. (Mind you, this might not apply to
you - I have a '90 syncro (non-GL) which just has a black metal
bumper with the full-length rub strip.) One set of brackets was
definitely not for my bumper. The other set left my bumper about 2" too
far back and about an inch too high - no way to attach the plastic end
caps without drilling holes, and it looked a little silly too. I ended
taking one of the bracket sets, cutting a few inches off one end and
drilling new holes... and then drilling new holes in the bumper under
the rub strip... and then drilling out some of the metal band on the
inside of the rub strip to clear the bolt heads in the new position
on the bumper. Between cutting, measuring, fitting, drilling,
re-fitting, etc. that took about 6 hours.

The notch is easy, by the way - 5 minutes with a hacksaw and a
pair of pliers.

So all told, what should have been the simple job of removing... let's
see... 8 bolts, cutting a little notch, and reinstalling 12 bolts ended
up taking an entire day. I'm not publishing this info. to discourage
anyone from getting one of these hitches - only to warn you that the
manufacturing tolerances don't seem to be terribly precise and the job
might not end up being as easy as you think.

> Doug Fitz-Randolph
> Freeport, ME
> '90 Syncro