Z-man

As promised, here are some close ups:





And the wiring harness:


In the off-season, I plan on moving the lic. plate down to cover the hitch. I've even thought of doing a James Bond type device that lowers the lic. plate electronically.

Hope this helps!
-Z-man.

GusLight-Rennsport

I have a trailer hitch that i bought from someone on the list about a year ago for my 89 944 turbo, but i never installed it. It is similar to the one pictured, but without the loops. I paid $100 for it, & will let you have it for that plus shipping. I can take a picture of it on monday to show you what it looks like. Let me know...

testarossa_td

Thanks for the update. Either way it looks custom.
-->968 version

Der Rennwagen

http://www.reese-hitches.com/hitch_selector_combo.htm

See attached image. This is the best set-up as it bolts directly behind and to the bumper.

I bought a Dalan hitch for my 1993 Audi S4 quattro and pulled a Coleman Taos pop-up (900lbs) from VT > Lake Tahoe and back to Vermont in 2003, this was bolted to the chassis and not the bumper and still worked perfectly. I haven't decided to bolt one to my Porsche (I've upgraded to a '95 S6 now and have a Tacoma 4WD V6 for towing the camper) however, no experience with this exact one, but I'd still recommend the Dalan.

testarossa_td

In case you powder coated it or painted it....
I am sure you would get some rubbing on the loops.



Also in case you go Bond, you might as well remove the Porsche sticker...it already says Porsche on your reflector...

Z-man

testarossa_td: Nice! I like it!

Jim 944S

I don't like those hitches that require one to drill through the spare wheel well. The factory hitch as well as some others, attach to the bumper shock mounts (bolt into the frame rail structure) and the factory hitch as well attaches to two points forward on the frame rails. Stress (pulling stress) is on the frame itself that way. the Dalan and some others (especially the one pictured here) puts the pulling weight on the fully on the bumper.

Also the dalan is rated at 1000 pounds and the factory hitch is (since the car ir rated as well) can pull more than twice that amount.

Jim 1987 944S

Z-man

Jim,
Do you have pictures/diagrams of the factory setup? According to the guy that installed my hitch, it was modeled after the factory unit. (Perhaps without the additional mounting points to the frame railes).

The setup you describe can probably pull more, but I wouldn't want to pull anything more than what I'm already pulling. I will keep a close eye on the bumper and the bumper mounting points to make sure I'm not over-stressing that part of my car. I believe I'm towing around 500~600 lbs with the trailer fully loaded (6 wheels, 10 gallons of fuel, tools, fold up chairs)

-Z.

pearldrum944

I had no idea the bumper was that strong.

testarossa_td

I have not checked pet yet, is there a picture of the factory trailer mount in there?

Jim 944S

IIRC I was down at Ian's a few years ago, and he had a page that included the factory hitch. He made a copy of the paper (page) and I have it somewhere... haven't really looked for in the PET. The towing abilities (I think) I picked up from the owners manual.

I don't tow anything near it's capacity, just historical artifacts, canvas, and Rev War equipment, but it's nice to know it could pull a small cannon!!! Still, I wouldn't want to put a pulling stress on the bumper, much safer to use the shock mount bolts and the forward mounting bolts as was engineered. Most hitches mount to the aluminum bumper as well, but that is just to assist in holding tongue weight - 90 - 100 lbs.

Jim 1987 944S