Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 15:27:09 -0500
Reply-To: 80 Westy Pokey <pokey@VANAGON.ORG>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: 80 Westy Pokey <pokey@VANAGON.ORG>
Subject: Re: Type 2 hitch and Fastforward rant
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
For class three (square 2" hitches I think you only have two
choices)
1) Dennis Haynes' under bumper hitch designed to allow the
mounting of many accessories such as bicycle racks and
luggage carriers to the rear of your Vanagon. This hitch was
not designed nor intended to be used for towing anything in
excess of the Vehicle Manufacturers recommendations. (For
most Vanagons, this is 2000 pounds with a maximum tongue
weight of 150 pounds.). He can be reached at: 970 Smithtown
Ave., Bohemia NY, 11716, (631)563-8248 dhaynes@optonline.net
2) www.Fastforward.ca 's Bush Bumper made out of 'Schedule
40' 1.5" OD drill casing and features a 2.0" trailer hitch
receiver. Incorporates extremely heavy bumper arms that bolt
to the frame - replacing the weak factory units. A thick
stepping plate finishes off the top of this bumper.
Unfinished or Gloss Black. Fastforward can be reached at:
Fast Forward Automotive Inc., 4356 Quesnel Hixon Road,
Quesnel, BC, Canada, V2J 6Z3 Phone: (250) 992 7775, Fax:
(250) 992 1160, email: sales@fastforward.ca
I have the fastforward bumper on my van and I like it a lot
but i had a LOT of problems getting it from Fastforward
1) Terrible communication e-mail after e-mail call after
call. Takes a multiple attempts from me to get an answer.
David if you would like to dispute this I can publish my
phone bill and e-mails for the period in question.
2) Shipping delays - Took weeks to get despite initial e-
mails saying that they were a day or two away from being
ready to ship. I almost missed being able to use a trailer to
move because of it... it came the day before. and only
because I insisted it being sent by courier. No offer to pay
the increased shipping even though the delay was on their end.
3) Imperial vs. metric bolts. The hitch is supposed to have
metric bolts, several were missing and the ones that were
there were imperial and threaded as such... unlike the rest
of the van which is metric. Lame "that's the they made this
one" apology no offer to replace the product.
3) Not drilled for reverse / fog lamps which I ordered and
were never sent... admittedly I was never charged for them
either but the point was I ordered the lamps and never got
them.
4) Lack of tow hooks despite the fact that the site
advertised at the time the bumper had tow hooks.
All I got from David was a half hearted apology, despite all
the problems. No tow hooks... not even ones I could weld on
myself, no reverse lights despite MULTIPLE calls and e-mails.
Despite all this it is a great product, but if you want a
reliable vendor look elsewhere.
Thanks,
Chris
---- Original message ----
>Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 14:34:34 -0500
>From: Jon Sykes <jon.sykes@PS.GE.COM>
>Subject: Type 2 hitch
>To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>
>Boy, I seem to be asking a lot of questions today!
>
>I was wondering about getting a hitch installed on my 82
vanagon so that I
>could pull a trailer or use one of those moto-tote type
motorcycle carriers
>(bike weighs about 350 lbs). I would like one of those
square type hitches
>(type 2??) and was wondering if anyone had any experience
mounting one of
>these to their vanagon. I was just going to go down to the
local tow hitch
>place, but thought I'd run it by the list first to see what
the group wisdom
>says.
>
>One thing I do know, extra weight doesn't seem to slow the
diesel vanagon
>much, if any. I had a dozen 2x4s and half a dozen sheets of
3/8 plywood in
>mine on saturday and was just as fast (slow!) as normal. It
actually seemed
>to handle better with the extra weight.
>
>This is such an awesome vehicle. I just wish it was 1982
again and I could
>enjoy it for the 20 years I've missed.
>
>Thanks.
>
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