No, it mounts to the frame with plate steel arms that extend in much farther then the stock bumper brackets do, and uses three bolts per side. It is far superior to anything that I have seen shy of a complete bumper w/hitch assembly. Installation is easy, just remove your bumper, slide the hitch into place and install six bolts. Leave the bolts loose until all of them are properly started. A second pair of hands would help here but I did mine solo with no trouble. On vans with chrome bumpers it does require notching the lower edge of the bumper on both sides, not sure about the fiberglass bumpers. I might still have his installation instructions saved in a file, I will look for them and forward if I find them. If I had not purchased a hitch from Dennis I probably would have built my own and it would have been very similar in design, as it is the most logical mounting system and definitely strong enough. Mark in AK ----- Original Message ----- From: Clint Kolda <clint_kolda@YAHOO.COM> Date: Saturday, March 4, 2006 6:04 pm Subject: Re: Racks To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM > Does it mount to the tow hooks like the Gowesty one? I just can't > see hanging 4 bikes cantilevered off the tow hooks. > > Mark Tuovinen <mst@ak.net> wrote: Clint, > > If you just want a hitch to use with your existing bumper I suggest > you check with list member Dennis Haynes. Dennis > builds a sturdy hitch that should do the job nicely and is > competitively priced. I installed one last summer and am very > pleased with it. > > Mark in AK > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Clint Kolda > Date: Saturday, March 4, 2006 1:42 pm > Subject: Re: Racks > To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM > > > Where can a person buy a class 3 receiver hitch for a vanagon? > > I've only seen class 1, which does not have the load capacity to > > carry 4 bikes. > > > > > > Date: Sat, 4 Mar 2006 08:40:55 -0500 > > From: Christopher Gronski > > Subject: Re: Racks > > > > I bought a trailer so I am going to sell my Yakima Full Swing 4. It > > mounts on a rear 2" reciver hitch locks and carries four bikes. Best > > of all it swings out of the way even fully loaded so you have access > > to the rear hatch. > > > > http://www.yakima.com/Product.aspx?id=3D30 > > > > Chris > > > |
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