Miata Mailing List: April 1995, Message #188
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   From: holmberg@frame.com
Subject: Re: Trailers
   Date: Tue, 4 Apr 1995 18:20:39 -0400


Lester asks about the DeLan hitch recommended in the Miata Mag.

I also read this article and bought the 3.5x4 trailer from
Home Depot (about $170) and the DeLan receiver hitch.  I use
this for pulling my racing wheels and other equipment to
autocrosses and an occasional track school.  By the way,
the article says you can get the perfect-fitting box for
the trailer from K-Mart.  I couldn't find it there.  I did
find it at Target, but only after searching several stores.
Recently, I have found them in abundance at Home Depot.

So I called Delan and was directed to a local dealer in
Oakland, CA.  They had it in stock.  I think it was about $150.
The dealer says DeLan is the only company in the US that
sells hitches for foreign cars.

I installed it myself.  It bolts to the tow towers.  It's
not too difficult, except for positioning the bolts inside the
towers.  The bolts come with rods welded to them so you
can hold and position them deep into the tower tubes.
A little tricky in the dark, but not so bad.

If you get the receiver model, you can barely see the hitch
when the ball is removed.  Looks good.  Max load is 1000 lbs,
plenty for the trailer.  I measured about 40 lbs of tongue
weight with tires and a whole lot of heavy tools in the
box (jack, air bottle, etc).

One thing you do have to be careful about is scraping
the ground when entering and exiting drive-ways, even when
not towing anything.  I'm now in the habit of doing this at
an angle so both wheels don't hit the gutter at the same time,
and then I have no problem.

I also use the hitch with a bike rack.  The reciever is
1 1/4 inches, a standard size, so I bought a rack that
slides right in for $80 made by Graber.  Available at
many bike shops.  Holds the bikes sturdily and doesn't
touch the paint.  I've also seen another rack for $50
in that big mail-order car catalog, Mc-something-or-other.
Don't know how well it's made.

I recommend the DeLan hitch.  It's solid, unobtrusive and does
the job.


Greg
93C Black and tan, C Stock, San Francisco Region, SCCA