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Date:         Mon, 17 May 1999 11:32:21 -0400
Reply-To:     Michael Sullivan <sullivan@OPENMARKET.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Michael Sullivan <sullivan@OPENMARKET.COM>
Subject:      Re: Bus Depot Trailer Hitch
In-Reply-To:  <4.2.0.37.19990517104505.06ea5360@pop01.ny.us.ibm.net>
Content-Type: text/enriched; charset="us-ascii"

Dear David,

I'm afraid you still are mistaken, monsieur!!

The 6 hex nuts are for mounting the brackets to the main unit.

The 6 missing square nuts are for mounting the arms to the chassis/frame.

The reason you NEED square nuts is that there is no way to hold the hex nut (which will be hidden inside of the chassis frame) while you are tightening the bolts from inside the wheelwell. The square nuts slip inside the three metal "cages" (welded to the arm) which prevents them from spinning around during tightening. This is standard automotive methodology.

Got it now?

Cheers,

MJS

At 11:01 AM 5/17/99 -0400, David Beierl wrote:

>At 09:53 5/17/99 -0400, you wrote:

>> > This is NOT anything like a normal 2" hitch (just in case you

>> > were hoping it was)

>

>Well, Ron clearly said it was not, so if you are still hoping you're an

>optimist. <<g>

>

>> > The unit is shipped without packaging -- therefore it arrived totally

>> > scratched up (i.e. gouged down to bare metal) via UPS.

>> > I will need to paint it thoroughly before installing it.

>

>I have the opposite problem -- the hitch is fine, but I'm having trouble

>getting the shipping label off it <<g>. Guess I'll leave it on.

>

>

>> > The mounting brackets are less substantial than stock

>> > This means to me that the bumper is even less securely

>> > mounted than the stock setup

>

>Well, they use three small bolts instead of two big bolts. Kinda hard to

>judge by eye which is stronger, I think.

>

>

>> > No receiving nuts are supplied for the inserts -- you will need

>> > to track down six of these to complete the installation

>

>What I got was 6 M10 bolts with washers and selflocking nuts for the frame

>attachment, three on each side. Two shorter M10 bolts with washers and

>lockwashers to attach the brackets to the ends of the hitch. And two

>monster bolts with locking nuts to attach the ball to its mounting

>plate. So far so good. What is missing is anything to attach the bumper

>to the brackets. No big deal, M10s are easy to get hereabouts.

>

>

>>Interestingly, when Dan and Jeremy attached the hitch to my Vanagon for

>>testing purposes when it arrived, they did so in about 10 minutes with no

>>additional hardware whatsoever.

>

>Well, I reckon to need a couple sets of M10 bolts and nuts to mount the

>bumper to the hitch (steel/tinfoil bumper). I also need to drill the

>bumper b/c the mounting holes in the L-brackets are just barely too far

>apart to match the holes in the bumper. I think the choice of drilling

>the brackets vs the bumper comes down to which is easier. Come to think of

>it, I'll prolly drill the brackets, even though they're a lot

>thicker. Pretty sure there's enough length on the ends of them. Haven't

>yet figured for sure which way those brackets mount (they can mount so that

>the bumper-mounting face is either above or below the midline of the hitch

>tube). I hope to have the thing mounted today.

>

>david

>

>

>David Beierl - dbeierl@ibm.net

>

<bold>

Michael J. Sullivan

</bold><italic>Director of Catalog Design

Open Market, Inc.

</italic>

*********************************************

phone: 781.359.7624

work: http://www.openmarket.com

scan tips: http://www.hsdesign.com/scanning

vanagon: http://www.hsdesign.com/vanagon

*********************************************


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