Cupcar#12

Any ideas? i need to add a hitch to my car for the one lap next year - i need about 150 lbs on the tounge and at least 1000 lbs gross trailer weight.
any leads would be great - i would like to see any pictures if anyone has any & details (mounting points, etc)

thx

Drew_K

I've looked for a commercially available hitch and couldn't find one. Here's a link to one guy's home made solution:

<a href="http://www.pca.org/hcp/de_trailer.htm" target="_blank">http://www.pca.org/hcp/de_trailer.htm</a>

horst

Ask richardmoist@mchsi.com. We built one for him a couple of years ago. It is removable to the point that he has won concours. He wiould be happy to give you the details, I am sure. Been too long for me to remember.

dave-C2

Cupcar

I use a home made arrangement to tow a Trailex Tire-toter, which weighs about 150 pounds bare. The basic hitch attachment is to the aluminum bumper bar. While the trailex has room for at least 8 tires and is plenty strong, I limit the load to 4 tires plus a light jack and some tools.
I am concerned that the bumper bar could be overloaded by the high impact loads on the hitch caused by a heavy trailer jouncing over frost heaves and potholes when towing at speed. Since these loads are proportional to the weight of the loaded trailer, a lighter and well balanced trailer will reduce the loads on the car.
My two years experience with the trailer indicates that you can probably tow 400 pounds with a tongue weight of 40 - 50 pounds, but I would be reluctant to push the envelope. When I inspected the hitch this spring the bumper was fine, but the attachment plate (bent mild steel) had started to fail and needed to be upgraded.
Hopefully you can devise a way to carry what you need and live within the weight limits I'm suggesting.
Good luck

dave-C2

Sorry, I checked and the Trailex weighs about 300 pounds, not 150. So the total weight I've been dragging around is closer to 600 pounds than 400.
I still would not recommend towing any more weight than what I have, although I have seen a Trailex which routinely carries eight wheels and tools and is towed by an 86 Carrera.

Cupcar#12

Thanks all,
i seems that i will need to custom fab a trailer hitch since my loads will be closer to 1000 lbs
i am planning on getting a trailer made by
<a href="http://www.tentrax.com/index.html" target="_blank">Tent trax</a> in Or. unloaded (no wheels) it weighs about 400 lbs, fully loaded i expect about 1000 lbs (2 tires, tools, luggage, jacks)- it should be less but overbuilt is better.

what i was thinking of was replacing the rear bumper with a Cf look alike and attach the trailer mount directly to the body of the car at the bumper mounting points (there are 2 17mm bolts per side - been a while since i took it off so that is from memory). I should be able to run a 1.75" mandrel bent tube inside the now vacant bumper skin and attach the hitch behind the liscense plate.
The Tentrax trailer allows me to use the same wheels on the trailer as i do on the car ( 2 - 235-17 on 8" wheels, overkill for a trailer but if i need them for the car then they will be there. stopping to repair a wheel can cost you an event (and the points).
i need to have as little in the car as possible during transits - unpacking the car for events twice a day gets really old.

BrokeAss

I've been following this thread with interest - especially after hauling 4 tires around this weekend in the trunk and back seat of my wifes car.

Here's a small photo of the Trailex Tire Toter - I wish <a href="http://www.trailex.com/viewprod.cfm?id=74&mcat=88&cat_id=88" target="_blank">their website site</a> would list a price for this:
<img src="http://boards.rennlist.com/upload/mustangtires.gif" alt=" - " />

BrokeAss

Here's a photo of the South Sport trailer...
It looks a bit small for the weight you want to tow, but might be perfect for other following this thread.
<img src="http://robrobinette.com/images/porsche_trailer1.jpg" alt=" - " />

MonkeyBoy

When I bought mine it had a hitch. It was a licenseplate holder/hitch combo. I chucked it the day I bought it.