docwyte

Looking for a tow hitch for my '89 951. Need to pull my small tire trailer to the track...

M758

Norm Hamden, or 944 spec track record holder at Miller uses a bolt on type hitch to his rear bumper. He bolts it to the underside of the stock bumper and then attaches the trailer to this. He pulled a small trailer from Sedona, Az to Miller.

He removes the hitch when on the track.

docwyte

Yep, it's a standard hitch made by Da Lan/Curt, that's what I'm looking for...

GARG

there is one on ebay


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/77-91...item2c52d9aca5

mhr

interesting ebay posting. Have been looking for a way to carry my racing bike on my s2 cab. Anyone tried a hitch mount rack bike rack on the back of their 944?

docwyte

That's a really good price on the hitch. My local hitch place wants to charge me $260 for the same exact part, plus tax.

Looks like I'll be getting one from that eBay auction...

GARG

wow I thought $199 was a little out of line. I was a little hesitant to post it

docwyte

I don't remember what I paid for one of these 5 years ago, but I'm pretty sure it was less than $190. Guess things have increased price wise, I think I spent around $120 back then...

M758

The one my friend has is much simpler. It is a flat plate that attaches to the under side of the bumper with 4 bolts. Then the plate extends out and a tow ball is bolted to it. No reciever or anything.

docwyte

So he's just attaching to the bumper? That's not nearly strong enough, it'll rip free eventually...

M758

yes just to the bumper. I think it is strong enough. The front bumper is strong enough to lift an entire car. I was twice towed back like that. the wrecker lift the front of the car in the air on the hook and pulled it back to the pits.

The rear is strong enoigh for that. Not only alot of guys flat tow on the front bumper. It may not tow 2000lbs, but a 400-500lbs tire trailer? Not a problem.

This is the guy and he has towed 700 miles each way from Sedona, Az to Salt lake city twice like this.

techartisan

I was looking at this hitch awhile back..saw

Rated up to 2,000 lbs. (GTW) Weight Carrying (WC)

in the ad....then read more closely

Gross Trailer Weights (GTW) & Tongue Weights (TW) vary by application.

This application, the 944, apparently only rates half that.......

Weight Carrying: 1000/100 lbs. (GTW/TW)

the 1000#gtw highly discouraged me....thats 100-150# max load in a uhaul enclosed trailer (according to their site).....the 100# tongue weight scared me off though....while i understand a well balanced load shouldnt place much weight on the ball...100# is less then half of me...that just doesnt sound secure.

someone please tell me im 100% wrong...Id rather not be right on this one....because Id love to be able to tow a loaded 4X8 enclosed trailer...My 91 escort pulled one back and forth between denver and phoenix 2-3 times a year on a class I hitch....so im not sure why its 1/2 rating the hitch for this application.

but anyway..
curt 11712 $96 delivered....so at least you can pay half the price since you seem to only get to utilize half its capability LOL

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=300373259281

pics different from the other auction in this thread but the manufacturer numbers the same so Im guessing one of these two used the wrong stock photo...

mhr

looking at both ebay links here and the manufacturers sites the 2 hitches look very different.

The less costly option seems to only bolt to the bumper where the more costly on bolts to the trunk and the body behind the trunk.

I would think the first would be more solid although drilling into the body seems a bit scary. Leaks rust etc.

techartisan

YEP...thats why the last line of my post says....."pics different from the other auction in this thread but the manufacturer numbers the same so Im guessing one of these two used the wrong stock photo..."

both hitches are manufactured by curt...so im not sure which "sites" you checked. Any site other then http://www.curtmfg.com/ is a distributor or reseller.

Both ebay ads claim this is a CURT #11712 which according to curt looks like the ebay item originally posted in this thread....as seen in its installation instructions here....
http://sitepro12.sitepro.com/masterl..._11712_INS.pdf

a quick see sellers other items on the auction I linked will show the seller uses a stock hitch image for all of his hitches. lots of ebayers do this to save time on batch listings.

http://stores.ebay.com/carparts_Hitc...+%22class+i%22

and he does say:
"STOCK PHOTO: CLICK TO ENLARGE
Please see title and description for actual color, size and application information"

And since....
Curt MFG only has one hitch 11712 model.
and it looks like the one originally posted in this thread.
reason would dictate that you are in fact receiving one that would look like the Curt 11712 shown in the original ebay posted here....for a nice discount.

if someone proves 1000# gtw in a 944 is BS ill be happy..but the more I look into it the more I think its this need to "body mount" the hitch causing the reduced rating. Id hate to have to invest in some sort of a reinforced tube subframe just to get a decent box on her....so I guess when the 944 is complete....I need a big ol toy vehicle....oops I really meant TOW vehicle....but please if someone can show more then a 1/2ton gtw is much rather a $100 hitch then the zeros ill add to that trying to finish a truck id be willing to own LMAO

M758

I think expecting a 944 to tow a 4x8 box trailer is asking too much. Towing an open tire trailer is a no brainer.

The photo I posted is shows sucessfully towing tire trailer with 8 tires, a bike, spare race seat and few other odd & ends. In the car was packed full of crap as well. The car had to be overloaded, but a large amount.
However 4 things reduce the risks. 1) spring rates are all 3x stock springs so that would increase the load carrying capabillity of the car. 2) The car is stripped 2620 lbs with driver as raceed. So taking 300lbs out of the car in form of interior bits allow you to stuff 300lbs of junk in there just to get back to stock. so a street car packed like that would weight more 3) brakes. The brakes are stock, but use racing pads so overworking the brakes at street speeds is not a big issue 4) Driver. The driver is a very good driver and far better than average at handling a dicey situation.

So all 4 in my mind take much of risk assocaited with a car loaded like that with trailer. Even so I am not crazy enough to drive that 700 miles.

Still a 4x8 is too much for any 944. I would have no issues towing small tire trailer carrying 4 tires, a 100lbs tool box and 30lbs jack. I figure you can do that and keep the weight to under 500-600lbs including trailer and have no issues especialy if you have a stiffer suspension for track use. I think you are fine bolting to the bumper as well. You do need to make sure your rear bumper shocks are good working order however.