Another DIY Trailer Hitch Project

I'll start by saying that I'll never be towing anything that weighs even close to what this trailer hitch would be "good" for. I will have exact measurements and a complete parts list including prices I paid in CAD. Please be careful if you decide to use this design.

I have a Draw-Tite hitch on my Jetta and it is ok but I have a very steep driveway and it is always scrapping on it when I back a trailer in especially if there is any tongue weight. I was inspired by many designs on here on the club and on FB that are basically a DIY version of the Bosal or Westfalia hitch.

Parts List...
2 - 2" x 2" x 1/4" x 17" long angle steel - This left 5" stick out from the rear of the car and 12" inserted into the rear floor frame rail.
1 - 2" x 3" x 3/16" x 39.5" long rectangular tube steel - This is slightly longer than the actual measurements which left a small amount of grinding to fit tight.
1 - Curt Bumper Hitch #19030 - This is a Class III 500/5000 lb Receiver.
2 - 1/4" x 8" round steel - Bent around a larger piece of 2" round stock in a vice with a hammer.
2 - 1/8" stainless plate - Cut to exact dimensions of license plate then later modified one piece to the outside with access hole and lower folded over chain rest and inside piece to allow to sandwich the plastic between.
1 - Complete rear bumper assembly purchased from wrecker.
1 - Roll Pan spring flip license plate holder.

Cost...
$21 - Steel
$25 - Bumper from wrecker
$61 - Receiver
$36 - Taillight wiring converter
$100 - Welding (This is obviously the friend price!)
$60 - Estimated cost of Ball and Hitch.

I will edit this post when I have a bit of time with descriptions if people are interested.



After removing the stock Bumper I was left with the 2 brackets and cushions. My plan was to harvest the brackets.



I used an 1/8" drill bit and drilled through a piece of cardboard into the cushion about in the centre of the label warning not to puncture.



When drilling through there is only a small burst out of white oily fluid and gas.



This is the result of drilling through the cushion.



I then used a band saw to remove the scrap cushion remains. To my surprise, as I started cutting through, there was still some residual gas that escaped.



After removing the tail lights and rear bumper cover to expose the rear floor rail horns.



I had a friend mill out an L shaped slot with the intention of pouring weld to angle iron support. After many attempts to get the measurements "just right", I decided that I may change the plan and go with square tubing as the frame rail ends and had the entire L shape opened up to a square hole.



This was first attempt at milling out the L shape.



I traced out my license plate with a grease pencil and carefully cut the opening in the rear bumper cover and mocked it up on the car.

Mocking up with wood and scrap pieces of angle before ordering the metal.




Mocking up the replacement bumper with scrap 2" x 2" x 3/16" angle and a piece of scrap 2 x 4.



Passenger side



Stand back shot of mockup.



Picture taken through the hole in license plate area looking at the drivers side bumper support to view stick out of support angle.



This is the trailer hitch that I purchased on Amazon for $60. It is a Curt #19030 2" x 2" Bumper Receiver. I guess technically it is a class III as it is rated for 500lbs tongue and 5000lbs tow. I bought it because it was cheap and I figured it was the most manageable to dissect into what I wanted to do. Used a grease pencil to make my cut lines. Originally I was going to cut and save the curved pieces and weld them beside the main receiver but that didn't leave enough room for my hands to insert the ball hitch pin.



I wanted something to mount the license plate roll pan to that had more substance than the plastic of the bumper cover. So here is the piece that I used. It is made from 2 pieces of 1/8" stainless and cut to the exact dimensions of the license plate itself. I then cut out the inside hole using a plasma cutter leaving the bottom edge 1" from where I wanted it to be so that I could roll it over on the bottom edge of the hole. The second piece of stainless was cut in an upside down U shape. I then drilled holes through the 2 pieces together so that I could "sandwich" the plastic bumper cover with them.



I mocked it all up to see how it would look.



Mocked up the receiver to see how it would look. The picture was hard to take but if you look at the bottom edge of the stainless plate you can see that it folds over the plastic bumper. This will give a hard surface for the safety chains to lay on.

Welding Day


After a 2 week break and problems with my Jetta, I was able to hook up with my friend that is a fantastic welding guru! My original plan was to take all the pieces to a custom trailer hitch fabricator here in town but my friend said he would do it. This was a good decision as it requires test fitting everything multiple times to make sure everything lines up. First he used a tig welder to tack the support arms to the brackets while on the car.



We then tig welded the Grade 8 Nuts onto the support angle.



Clamped the 2" x 3" receiver support bar and tacked it using the tig welder.



Removed the whole tacked assembly and welded it completely filling any edge gaps with mig welder. This was time consuming as he didn't want anything to start pulling due to heat so he welded a bit at a time and let it cool.



Mocked up the receiver and clamped to support tube.



Then took a 5' piece of 2" tube and inserted it to the receiver. We then measured from corner to end of the tube on each side to ensure it was dead centre. It was tacked in place.



Receiver was completely welded onto the support tube.



I bent up some 1/4" round stock to make hoops for the safety chain. They were welded at just the right angle to expose them in the opening and still leave room for me to get my hand in to insert/remove ball hitch pin.



Completely welded. Mocked onto car one last time to be sure of fitment. Was then removed and bumper cover was reinstalled so that I could head home to clean, prime and paint the entire hitch.

Paint and Final Install


Primed



Painted with Premium Rocker Guard Rubberized spray



Installed using new Grade 10.9 M8 bolts for end brackets



Passenger side secured with 3 Grade 8 1/2" bolts with Grade 8 locks and flats and scrap pieces of 1/4" flat bar.



Driver side secured with 3 Grade 8 1/2" bolts with Grade 8 locks and flats and scrap pieces of 1/4" flat bar. The heat shield was almost rotted away so I picked up a used one from the wrecker for $10. It is also not in superb shape but better than the one that was falling off.



Installed!



Close-up of Installed receiver



License Plate flipped up exposing Hitch.



Normal running mode.


The wiring harness is stowed in the small first aid compartment in the rear hatch. I briefly thought about popping out the rubber grommet right beside the receiver and sealing it through the rear but opted to leave it in the hatch so that it won't be exposed all the time and just run it out the hatch when in use. I'll add a couple of pics when I get the ball and ball mount. I'm breaking in a new clutch right now but as soon as I have some kms on it, I plan to rent an enclosed trailer for a couple of days and see how it tows.

Hey neat, someone with a milling machine.

[486] said:

Hey neat, someone with a milling machine.

Click to expand...

I wish!!! I do have daily access to one though!

I actually had the rest of the centre milled out to a square as I briefly tossed around the idea of square tubing for the 2 support rails but then just decided to go with 1/4" angle instead.

im trying to find a source for a new right bracket.. mine got messed up in an accident im buying a used bumper for back there.. instead of fixing up the car/sedan. im converting to smythe truck conversion

Im really digging the strait forward use of parts already available. Your design seems really doable with minimal messing around. If you put the plate bracket the other way, you could save on the 407 by leaving the drawbar in. All needed to make it solid for more weight would be to bolt the angle thru the body tunnel with maybe some plates to make this design heavier. Consider this design replicated, thanks. Props for pics

I'll have lots more pics and measurements coming. Sunday it gets all welded up. I did think about the plate going down but there is the issue of the safety chains so I opted to make it go up instead. I'm not digging the spring loaded plate holder and may opt to just fab a simple stainless hinge and hold the plate down when not in use with magnets. Stay tuned.

Was a fordie said:

im trying to find a source for a new right bracket.. mine got messed up in an accident im buying a used bumper for back there.. instead of fixing up the car/sedan. im converting to smythe truck conversion

Click to expand...

You can have my old bracket but the shipping will be killer from Canada. I bought an entire bumper from a local wrecker for $25CAD. My original was just going to go to the scrap yard.

I didnt really consider the chains. I suppose chain holes on the drawbar isn't "legal" for safety reasons. I was thinking of the convenience to the bar holding the plate down and out of the way for easier hookup tho.

pmed you

Ookpic said:

You can have my old bracket but the shipping will be killer from Canada. I bought an entire bumper from a local wrecker for $25CAD. My original was just going to go to the scrap yard.

Click to expand...

can you see how much it would cost to ship to 54401.. wausau, wi

thanks..

Ookpic said:

You can have my old bracket but the shipping will be killer from Canada. I bought an entire bumper from a local wrecker for $25CAD. My original was just going to go to the scrap yard.

Click to expand...

Awesome job, I've seen the other write up of this a few years back and yours is the most detailed allowing others to follow what you did!

How many lbs of tongue weight do you think this can support? Typical curt hitch is only 200 lbs. I'd like closer to double that.

sackman said:

Awesome job, I've seen the other write up of this a few years back and yours is the most detailed allowing others to follow what you did!
How many lbs of tongue weight do you think this can support? Typical curt hitch is only 200 lbs. I'd like closer to double that.

Click to expand...

Thanks!

Since the hitch is bolted directly into the rear rail horns 12" into the rail with 3 - 1/2" grade 8 bolts on each side torqued to spec as well as the 2 m8 bolts on each side at the end brackets, I would have no problem putting 400lb on the tongue. The Hitch is rated for 500lbs tongue and 5000lbs towing but obviously I would never pull more than the car weighs.

I wanted this because we are towing a either a 4x8 or 5x8 trailer from Halifax to Ontario in a few weeks. Also for my utility trailer.

Hackfabbed together something... "somewhat similar" when I needed a trailer towed a few hundred miles a few weeks ago (and my truck has about 3 tons of granite surface plates on the back of it). Dragged a half ton 20" drill press in a ranger pickup box trailer pretty good, didn't even get squirrelly once. Saw 75 mph a couple times.

I just welded up the bumper shocks solid, then welded on some 3/16" plate steel to the underside of the shocks with 1/2-13 nuts welded to that to catch the holes in the subframe rails, one was 12" or so in, the other was 4-8" in. Boxed the bumper iron and scabbed on a 2" receiver onto the bottom low enough that it sticks out underneath the license plate.

Only thing I wish I did different was that I accidentally flipped over the bumper iron before welding on the hitch reciever, now my bumper cover doesn't fit well enough for me to put in the two bolts on the bottom.

Awesome, I will soon be doing the same as I will be towing a 6x12 single axle. What is the torque spec you used on the bolts?

sackman said:

Awesome, I will soon be doing the same as I will be towing a 6x12 single axle. What is the torque spec you used on the bolts?

Click to expand...

Thanks! Here are some useful charts for you.

Silly question, was there existing holes to bolt the square tube to the frame or did you have to make them?
Thanks
Nice design may need to make one.

csstevej said:

Silly question, was there existing holes to bolt the square tube to the gram or did you have to make them?
Thanks
Nice design may need to make one.

Click to expand...

Not sure what you mean when you say "gram". I used existing tooling holes in the rear floor. On my car there was tape over these holes. I marked the the Angle steel where these holes were and drilled the angle steel. then used the grade 8 bolts to torque to bolt it together.

Hope that answers your question.

Thanks for the torque info on the bolts! I will probably start this project next month.
How many inches approx did you cut the angle iron to sticking out? And where did you get that flip up plate holder from?

sackman said:

Thanks for the torque info on the bolts! I will probably start this project next month.
How many inches approx did you cut the angle iron to sticking out? And where did you get that flip up plate holder from?

Click to expand...

All the measurements for the cut steel are in the first post. I also added a link to the flip up plate holder on Amazon to the first post and to this post...

Flip up plate holder

I would buy this if you build me one.

Sadly, this would be hella expensive to have me build one for you.

I'm an electrician by trade not a welder but have a good friend do the welding for me. I did this more the the challenge than an opportunity to sell.

If you are looking for the next best thing to this custom hitch, check out bosal hitch. It was not available when I built my hitch which is also part of the reason for building it. However it is available again!

http://www.idparts.com/bosal-swan-neck-trailer-hitch-for-a4-golfjetta-p-550.html

Ookpic said:

Sadly, this would be hella expensive to have me build one for you.

I'm an electrician by trade not a welder but have a good friend do the welding for me. I did this more the the challenge than an opportunity to sell.

If you are looking for the next best thing to this custom hitch, check out bosal hitch. It was not available when I built my hitch which is also part of the reason for building it. However it is available again!

http://www.idparts.com/bosal-swan-neck-trailer-hitch-for-a4-golfjetta-p-550.html

Click to expand...

Not anymore, it's not. I just ordered the last one tonight!

Great write up, though. I'm curious what kind of tongue weight your setup can handle. IDparts claims 165lb, but I wonder if I can get away with more, since I put in towing springs (and put in new Bilstein TC Sport shocks and struts), thanks to both Cascade German and IDparts.

pkhoury said:

Not anymore, it's not. I just ordered the last one tonight!
Great write up, though. I'm curious what kind of tongue weight your setup can handle. IDparts claims 165lb, but I wonder if I can get away with more, since I put in towing springs (and put in new Bilstein TC Sport shocks and struts), thanks to both Cascade German and IDparts.

Click to expand...

Nice! I also would have purchased one of those if they were available at the time.

I don't think the tongue weight has anything to do with how heavy duty your springs are. The car is designed to hold 3 adults. I think I read somewhere 800lbs? Although heavy duty springs will keep your car more level.
I think it's more to do with structural integrity of the end of the frame rail and hanging something off it. Unibody cars don't have really thick strong frame rails. Too much tongue weight and not enough distribution to other parts of the vehicle could case deformation of the metal leading to tearing. What do I know though, I'm an electrician not a structural engineer so that's just my opinion.

That being said, I suspect my towing weight would be considerably higher because of the design. I used 3 grade 8 mounting bolts through the side AND bottom of the rear frame rail instead of 2 bolts through the side. I also welded the modified original bumper bracket to the Angle steel protruding out which has 2 m8 Class 10.9 bolts that are bolted into the original bumper bracket mounting holes. These holes are in the flange of the frame rail that is also spot welded to the rear body panel of the car which helps slightly distribute tongue weight to the car body as well.

The 2"x3" bumper replacement tube is sitting on top of the Angle steel and welded. I would have no problem putting 200-250lbs on the tongue so long as the rest of the load in the trailer was balanced.

Ookpic said:

Sadly, this would be hella expensive to have me build one for you.

I'm an electrician by trade not a welder but have a good friend do the welding for me. I did this more the the challenge than an opportunity to sell.

If you are looking for the next best thing to this custom hitch, check out bosal hitch. It was not available when I built my hitch which is also part of the reason for building it. However it is available again!

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply.

I'll probably copy this design. I want to be able to put a dirt bike hauler on the rear hitch. The bike would not weight more than 250lb/s. Also want to pull a trailer with a couple dirt bikes and when I go camping I'll use a hitch platform for extra storage.

I've got to go over the thread a few more times.

Golf2K said:

Thanks for the reply.
I'll probably copy this design. I want to be able to put a dirt bike hauler on the rear hitch. The bike would not weight more than 250lb/s. Also want to pull a trailer with a couple dirt bikes and when I go camping I'll use a hitch platform for extra storage.
I've got to go over the thread a few more times.

Click to expand...

I would have no problem with doing any of what you are describing. Although I wouldn't probably go much over the 250lbs tongue weight. Pulling a hauler with 2 dirt bikes would be absolutely fine with my hitch setup. Post pics! Good luck. If you have any questions, feel free to PM or post here.

Ookpic said:

I would have no problem with doing any of what you are describing. Although I wouldn't probably go much over the 250lbs tongue weight. Pulling a hauler with 2 dirt bikes would be absolutely fine with my hitch setup. Post pics! Good luck. If you have any questions, feel free to PM or post here.

Click to expand...

Looking to get this started this weekend. Do you have measurements on the bracket for which you had milled out for the angle iron. For example how far in does the milling start

Golf2K said:

Looking to get this started this weekend. Do you have measurements on the bracket for which you had milled out for the angle iron. For example how far in does the milling start

Click to expand...

No sorry. The picture shows just an L shape milled out but I actually had binding issues as my measurements weren't quite bang on so I milled more off and just opened it up to a square hole instead.

I didn't take those measurements. I actually wound up milling the opening square. So the square opening on the end of the frame rail I just matched to the brackets. Then had it welded on the "outside edges" of the angle. Hope that makes sense?