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Date:         Sat, 15 May 1999 17:20:36 -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:  <000601be9e1d$605cfea0$22488dd1@the-bus-depot>
Content-Type: text/enriched; charset="us-ascii"

Dear Vana-nuts,

I received the trailer hitch from the Bus Depot yesterday and here are my observations:

At 11:21 AM 5/14/99 -0400, The Bus Depot wrote:

>Installing the main unit itself is obvious; you just remove the bumper

>brackets and slide it into the holes the brackets slid into, then put

>the screws back in.

Not quite true! NO "square" receiving nuts are provided. Consequently, there is nothing to bolt into. I will have to track down such nuts somewhere first before I attempt to install this beast.

>What's less obvious is the way the mounts for your bumper attach to the

>hitch. There are two pairs of mounts included; one set is L-shaped and one

>is more oddly shaped.

Neither work for me as shipped. I will have to take the brackets to a welding shop to:

A.) cut the "odd-shaped" ones to fit as they are too long

B.) reweld the poorly aligned "tongue" on one of the "odd-shaped" brackets

(<underline>looks like the welder had a bit too much to drink the night before</underline>)

Other things to consider:

1.) The unit *is* well-made and quite "beefy" (other than the poorly welded

bracket I received as mentioned above)

2.) The "arms" that slip into the chassis frame are much longer than stock and

use THREE bolts each to mount instead of the stock two. If you look inside

your wheelwell you will see the two original bolts that hold the existing

arms. Then, notice about 12" toward the front of the vehicle another

"empty" hole in the chassis frame for the third bolt. This is good.

3.) 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.

4.) This is NOT anything like a normal 2" hitch (just in case you were hoping

it was)

5.) No receiving nuts are supplied for the inserts -- you will need to track

down six of these just to complete the installation as mentioned above

6.) The hitch mounting plate is shaped like a baseball "base plate" with the

"point" facing down. It sticks down quite a bit. The upshot of this is

it will affect your rear "approach angle" if you do any off-roading

7.) The mounting brackets are less substantial than stock and are mounted

using a SINGLE bolt! This means to me that the bumper is even less

securely mounted than the stock setup

In spite of the above, I will most likely keep this unit.

However, I will send it out to be modified as described below:

1.) add tow hooks

2.) convert it to a standard 2" receiver

3.) shorten its height so as not to affect the "approach angle"

4.) modify the mounting plates and have them welded to the unit instead of bolted

Needless to say, this will cost quite a bit of time and money! Perhaps it would be cheaper just to modify my existing brackets? Not sure. I've got some thinking to do.

Summary of my thoughts:

While this trailer hitch is a truly unique "find", I'm afraid the hitch gets a "A" for effort, but no cigar in my book. What is actually wrong here is that it is made for another market (i.e. South Africa/Europe) and the North American market has different requirements/expectations.

However, for some people, this will be a great find and they should feel quite happy with it. Just be sure to pester Ron about supplying the square receiving nuts in the future! (and hope you don't get any "drunken" welds!)

Cheers,

<bold>Michael J. Sullivan

</bold>Marshfield, MA

Tierra del Fuego 2000 or bust!

'87 VW Vanagon GL Syncro Westfalia "Sunny" (soon to be TDi-powered)

'89 Audi 200 Turbo Quattro Wagon "Wizard" (soon to be for sale)

'96 VW Passat TDi "Teddi" (46mpg)

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

work: http://www.openmarket.com

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

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

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


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