RAD951

I have been trying to sell my 951 to get an suv to tow a waverunner. But I haven't had any luck yet with the market and interested buyers. So I decided what da hell to install a towing hitch on my 951. It was relatively simple. I bought the universal hitch from walmart $39.99. I install a bracket to the spare tire well in the outside by taking off the bumper, also I put another braket on the bumper itself. It looks very sturdy, not enough to tow a boat but good enough for a single waverunner. I will take some pics soon. Doesn't look that bad <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" /> In all, it took me 3 hours, some drilling, and bolting.

Danno

Is this a class-I hitch? If you put a 1/4" reinforcement plate on the inside of the spare-tire well, you should be able to pull quite a bit. We don't have a Walmart anywhere near me. Can I send you $39.99 +S&H and a case of beer??? <img border="0" alt="[bigbye]" title="" src="graemlins/xyxwave.gif" />

David Floyd

Got the boost problem and coolant leak fixed yet ?

mark944turbo

That reminds me of my dads old 72 911 towing around a 19' Lightning sailboat. One of his friends made him a fully polished stainless trailor hitch that stood out more than the car itself. Right now I have a universal that says it will fit up to 84 944s that I am going to try to adapt to my turbo when the time comes. Could you explain with more detail how you attatched the bracket? Thanks

Bri Bro

Towing a wave runner is a light load. The only problem I see is getting the trailer into the water (to load up), then slipping the clutch to keep the rear wheels from spinning on the boat ramp. If the clutch is in good shape, and you have a good "feel" for doing this, this will work. Like to see what this looks like.

PS: Keep the rear hubs and CV joints out of the water. They may be hot and will pull water into the seals.

RAD951

David,
Thanks for all of your help, I finally fixed the boost problem and the coolant. I fixed the boost problem by taking off the whole intake system off and cleaning it out, I took out the intercooler and pressure washed it out, cleaned and unclogged the crankcase vent hose, put a new air filter, and put everthing back together nice and tight. Seems like it did the trick. The intercooler was a mess, it had alot sludge gunk from where it was sucking up oil through the crankcase vent. Maybe a cause of a dirty air filter. Car runs great now.

The coolant problem was solve by replacing a suspicious hose, and installing a new radiator cap. Problem solved.

However, now the Power steering pump reservior is leaking all of the fluid.

I drilled two holes in the spare tire well from the outside wich was where a L bracket was place. From the L bracket I bolte on the tow hitch "tongue". To finally secure the tow hitch tongue, I drilled 4 holes on the bumper in the are between the two black rubber bumper stops, and installed a bracket that supports the tongue from lateral and horizontal movement. The only way for you to better understand how to install the hitch is for you to go purchase one at wallmart and for me to tell you wich pieces goes where. I wish I had my digital camera. The install looks great. Go buy the "Reese" hitch at wallmart in order for me to explain better.

Danno

So I take it the tongue sticks out between the bumper and the lower wing? Fitting terminology.... heh, heh

Jim 944S

I'll check into this as well! I fabricated a hitch a while back and have towed up to 90 mph so far.
Porsche used to make a 944 hitch that attached to the bumper shock mount bolts and to two points on either side underneath the car. They claimed a tongue weight of 100 lbs, a max tow weight of 2,500 lbs (though they suggested elec. trailer brakes for anything over 1,500 lbs).
I made my hitch with a 2 in receiver so a bike rack will fit and have a bit of stability. <img border="0" alt="[cheers]" title="" src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" />

awilson40

I did kind of the same thing for my bike...I made some large 'T' nuts that slip up in the bumper over the access holes for the bumper shocks. Then took (2) 1 inch square aluminum tube stock, covered the side next to the bumper with rubber and bolted these to the bumper via the 'T'nuts.
This gave me 2 pieces sticking straight out the back of the bumper. I then bolted a 'roof rack rail', the type that your front forks mount to, to these square tubes. This gives me a roof rack rail running parallel to the rear bumper. It goes off and on with 2 bolts and will hold 1 bike. Works great.

Paul Foster

Bump,

I need to tow a waverunner and my tires & stuff with my 951S so I'll be looking into the walmart special. Anybody have any further words of advice? Is the light harness plug easy to do?

Mike S

I had a class I on my 944 NA for a while. Bad part was that I paid almost $200 for it. Worked really well though, had a reinforcement plate for the trunk. It wouldn't work on turbo's though because of that rear under spoiler thingy(that's the technical name for it). For $40, that sounds like a steal. I was able to two a 3 bike trailer with one 400lb bike on it.

James86-951

I towed my waverunner with a setup similar to Jim944S' on my '75 280z 2+2. It mounter to the bumper shock bolts and then to the bumper itself. The muffler did come to the edge of the water, but never in it. I don't think the axles got in the water either. I did spin sometimes coming out because of the moss,etc on the boat ramp.

Jeff Lamb

I also installed one of the generic $30 Reese hitches from WalMart on my 944. I tow a small 4' x 6' trailer with my 125 shifter kart on it. It looks pretty cool when I show up at the track because many other guys are forced to drive trucks to and from the track.

I think I installed my hitch a bit different than the installation described at the beginning of this thread. However, that is the beauty of the generic Reese hitch. It includes a number of parts that you can configure any way you want.

I can't remember the model number of the hitch, however, you will know if you have found the right one if it meets the following criteria:

1. The price is around $30 to $40
2. The hitch does not have a removable tongue (it is permanently mounted to the car). On a turbo car, this tongue (that the ball mounts to) can be configured to stick out from the car under the bumper and above the "wing" that sits under the bumper.

Jeff