Show what you tow!

[Geomorph]

After reading all 65 pages there are a couple of things I have yet to figure out.

Do Wesfalia or Bosal hitches have a receiver attachment of some sort so accessories like trays or bike racks can be used?

Not in the way that US hitches and racks work. The swan neck of the Westfalia attaches vertically with the ball being all on one part. I bought a European Thule bike rack that works with it at the same time I bought the Westfalia hitch. The Euro bike rack works by clamping over the ball of the swan neck. It actually works quite well. I got both the hitch and bike rack from PF Jones in England shipped to the US: http://www.pfjones.co.uk/. Here is the bike rack I got, but there are others: http://www.pfjones.co.uk/thule-hangon-972-3-cycle-carrier.html
Cheers!

 

[Quanger]

Do you end up paying a premium especially having to ship a euro hitch\euro bike rack?

 

[Geomorph]

They didn't charge extra for the shipping on the bike rack when I bought it. But the shipping of the hitch was expensive. If you look at a few of the places in North America that sell these kinds of hitches (IDparts, Eurohitches), you'll see that the premium has already been built in (since they had to get it shipped from Europe already) so all in all it was comparable. Cheaper to buy the hitch from Europe, but more shipping expense to get it.

 

[chriskorwan]

i got my new/used 6X10 utility trailer a couple months ago. since then, i've been busy

my first load with the trailer i know now i can put a lot more weight on and still drive comfortably

delivering 3 yards of mulch to a customer

 

[mr.mindless]

Nice 210.

 

[chriskorwan]

thanks, Craigslist find was used for 45 minutes before i bought it for well under half price of retail

 

[scubagli]

Smoker

Sent from crazy town.

 

[Stealth TDI]

Smoker

The car or the trailer?

 

[chriskorwan]

if i were to guess those smokers are going to "40's in a bag" on Saturday. i can't wait to see that beautiful mkii in person.

 

[scubagli]

The car or the trailer?

Both



Sent from crazy town.

 

[vw_leadfoot]

Home Depot run...for my future firewood storage shed...

Too bad you can't see the 8-footers as the bed had about 75 of them, the 10's and 12's are on top and I was careful not to turn too sharply...

The TDI pulls so nicely...

 

[tomc585]

Doesn't your tailgate fold into the trailer bed? Mine does so If I have something longer or need to load a pallet with a forklift it lays flat inside.

 

[Stealth TDI]

Perhaps. But there's still the issue of balancing the load and tongue weight. I think the way he did it was likely the safest.

 

[vw_leadfoot]

Doesn't your tailgate fold into the trailer bed? Mine does so If I have something longer or need to load a pallet with a forklift it lays flat inside.

Nope it is a ramp (and a heavy one at that) and can come entirely off if need be but it is much safer on and up as the wood would not have potentially slid out onto the road. Now if I was getting some 16-footers I would likely leave the ramp at home and have 4 feet overhanging or potentially just pay for delivery. Didn't have to worry about that on this project...

The trailer is a completely welded solid unit from here:
http://www.miskatrailers.com/trailer_details.asp?cid=3&id=14

 

[NarfBLAST]

or potentially just pay for delivery. http://www.miskatrailers.com/trailer_details.asp?cid=3&id=14

NEVER! The 16 footers would go on my roof rack strapped tightly between the bike carriers centered on the cross bars with 6 feet of glorious overhang front and back.

 

[Quanger]

The Miska trailer was something I was consider but I decided against it because of the weight. Since it weighs 780lb, the load capacity would be 1220lb (class I limit 2000lb). It's definitely more sturdier than the ones advertised at home depot, rona, etc.

 

[SilverGhost]

@ leadfoot - I would guess that is WAAAAY too much tongue weight for that hitch. I have seen a few Jetta wagons with the hitches pulled off or broken (Mk 4 though).

And the ramp is like a parachute the drag cars use at the end of a race. My preference on that type of trailer is a bi-folding ramp or to change to a gate and carry planks to load with.

For something long I would take off the ramp gate, put a support across the back (2x4?) and balance the load with a smaller amount of weight on the tongue. It won't slide off if you tie securely. And I don't know if I would put that MUCH on the roof like Narfblast suggests, but I have carried lumber that long on the roof before. It drove fine and got some looks.

Jason

 

[TDIJetta99]

Wow, what kind of hitches have you seen that were pulled off? willing to bet the bolts were wither not tight enough or just inadequate..

I pull cars with mine and the hitch is still exactly where I mounted it after 5 years of pulling anything I can hook to the back of the car.. I am not nice to my car even while towing LOL... I've had over 300lbs of tongue weight on mine too.. That was a pallet of cinder blocks on a 5X10 trailer..

 

[mr.mindless]

I pulled empty car and equipment trailers with mine, no ill effects. Pulled just over a ton of scrap once on a ~700# trailer too, I'm sure that had some healthy tongue weight. The rear coils broke as the next owner found, but when he removed the hitch it unbolted and all was straight and true as intended. it's got the wagon rear coils in it now, that I'd intended to install but never did...

I think you were seeing results of overloading a terribly poor hitch design (perhaps the usual US-spec hitch that through bolts the spare tire well rather than somewhere with some actual meat to it?)

 

[TDIJetta99]

Mine is a US spec hitch and it doesn't bolt to the spare tire well.. it has a section that goes up over the frame above the muffler... Maybe that's why mine stays on? I towed a car (mk4 2.slow) from Brooklyn last night back up to Glen Spey.. Had to go right through Manhattan to come home..

 

[TomJD]

Mine is a US spec hitch and it doesn't bolt to the spare tire well.. it has a section that goes up over the frame above the muffler... Maybe that's why mine stays on? I towed a car (mk4 2.slow) from Brooklyn last night back up to Glen Spey.. Had to go right through Manhattan to come home..

That is impressive. Any pics of it in Manhattan?

What hitch do you use?

 

[SilverGhost]

The hitches I have seen problem with were US spec models that attach to tow hook and into spare tyre sheet metal. They were properly installed and tore the mounting bolts through the sheet metal. One of the owners tows an Aliner pop up regularly and has had it welded up a couple times.

Somewhat unrelated - I have seen the "frame" of the back of a Toyota Highlander with the factory style hitch (hoop over muffler) crack after years of towing. That owner tows 80% of the time.

I think a big problem on unibody cars is tongue weight. They may be able to pull and stop the weight but finding a good mounting to distribute those forces from the trailer to the car seems to be a problem. Fatigue cracking key be the biggest concern. I know I'll be pulling the bumper cover back off mine to inspect again.

Jason

 

[TDIJetta99]

That is impressive. Any pics of it in Manhattan?
What hitch do you use?

Didn't get any pics.. It was a long evening and I really didn't want to go down and get the car.. She lent it to a friend who got into an accident with it Saturday afternoon.. It was 3am by the time we were going back through Manhattan..


Here's the hitch.. Part number 24748.. It's only rated at 200/2000 but I haven't managed to pull it off the car, and I regularly tow cars with it..

 

[tomc585]

That hitch utilizes 2 of its 4 mounting points to the trunk pan, similar to the spare tire well on sportwagens.
If its mounted properly, inspected occasionally and used within reason even beyond its rated capacity there would be no reason for it to fail.

 

[coalminer16]

Again-it would likely be the tongue weight/bouncing that would do the most damage. My fathers sport wagon needed extra bracing as it would have ripped out. The 2 inch reciever hitch fixed that issue. Towing-not just tongue weight was an issue on that though as it had to have one heck of a riser ball mount (like 10 inches) as it was so low coming out of the car just to level the trailer. Also seen some of the hitches we had on Chevy cars almost rust through the bolts.

 

[tomc585]

I should have added "use common sense"

 

[TDIJetta99]

Ya I figured that was the most solid out of the few different hitches I was looking at for mine.. I knew I would be overloading the hitch on a regular basis..

 

[QuickWrite]

I believe mine is built like this as well. It is a Curt model I purchased from etrailers. But it's been a couple years since I installed it, so I'll verify and report back.

EDIT: So I checked and, well, I'm wrong. My Curt hitch bolts to the spare tire well on the driver's side, and to the towing eye structure on the passenger side. Still it seems pretty robust, as others have noted, if you stay within sensible limits.

Mine is a US spec hitch and it doesn't bolt to the spare tire well.. it has a section that goes up over the frame above the muffler... Maybe that's why mine stays on? I towed a car (mk4 2.slow) from Brooklyn last night back up to Glen Spey.. Had to go right through Manhattan to come home..

 

[chriskorwan]

5 yards of mulch 2850 lbs pull.

this was towed with a curt hitch. 5 yds of mulch 2200 lb + 650 lb trailer =2850 lbs total load. load smart and drive with common sense and you will not pull the hitch from the pan

 

[NarfBLAST]

1000 posts since August 2009! Great Thread!