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gypsychris · 03-17-2008, 07:35 PM

Lots of you have helped us by sending pictures of your hitch mods, so that our 345 could be setup to tow more than the 2000 LBS limit we have.... We have been to over 10 shops in the last week (including welding places, mechanics, u-haul, rv stores, trailer specialty places etc...and NO one has been willing to help us with re-inforcing our hitch....) Does anyone know of a place that is not too expensive in the Connecticut area (near shelton)? Thanks!! Chris

Robfike · 03-17-2008, 07:54 PM

Chris,
The guys that did ours are in Elkhart, Indiana. Sorry that is not too close.
Rob

bkahler · 03-17-2008, 08:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gypsychris

Lots of you have helped us by sending pictures of your hitch mods, so that our 345 could be setup to tow more than the 2000 LBS limit we have.... We have been to over 10 shops in the last week (including welding places, mechanics, u-haul, rv stores, trailer specialty places etc...and NO one has been willing to help us with re-inforcing our hitch....) Does anyone know of a place that is not too expensive in the Connecticut area (near shelton)? Thanks!! Chris

Chris,

I did all of the fabrication and some of the welding myself and then had a friend of mine who is a certified welder do the critical welding.

If you haven't already you might check with the race car builders (i.e. circle track, you know the type "turn left turn left turn left) in the area. They generally do a lot of their own welding or might be able to direct you to someone who will.

I have a friend that races who lives near Granby CT and I'll check with him to see if he has any suggestions.

I have more pictures to send your way unfortunately they are at home and I won't be back there until early April.

Brad

bkahler · 03-18-2008, 06:59 AM

Chris,

I got this back from my friend.

"Dick at Standard Welding in East Hartford, CT (860) 528-9628 took care of me when I wanted my RV outfitted with a hitch that would tow my trailer. I have no doubt you could pick up my RV by the hitch he installed. Wasn't cheap, but I don't mind paying for high quality."

Try giving them a call and see if they will help you out.

Good luck!

Brad

Minnie's Mate · 03-18-2008, 09:01 AM

Have you tried a horse trailer shop or other livestock trailer dealer? Often they can come up with the best solutions. If you have a trailer (utility box type or auto carrier type) builder in your area that would also be a good place to try. I have a utility trailer/auto carrier trailer dealer in my community and they know way more than the RV dealer down the road...in fact, the SOB RV dealer told me he doesn't handle hitches at all, he just sends his customers down to the utility trailer dealer for all his hitch related issues. I have used them and they certainly were able to take care of me when it came to fine tuning my hitch set up.

gypsychris · 03-18-2008, 05:57 PM

yes...we have tried a horse trailer shop...they said they did not want the liability..... we are stuck here and cant hit the road till we have this issue resolved....

swinginping · 03-18-2008, 08:30 PM

Mine has been reinforced with what looks stronger i-beams running off the frame, then a standard class IV car hitch bolted on to that, however the steel used appears to be rusting and not solid in places... so i may be in your shoes soon. Also moho was sitting for awhile in FL before i purchased and the insert for towing a car has frozen itself in my reciever.... I've tried pulling on it with a 4wd 4-wheeler, beating with a sledge hammer, tons of rust eater... so i guess either way im gonna need a new hitch at least.

George · 03-19-2008, 03:23 PM

I had one stuck pretty bad one time

,
I was finally able to get it out by using a big air chisel.
something about the repeated blows that loosened it.
I did wack it a few times driving it back in with a #10 sledge hammer.
once it moves ever so little, the air chisel will remove it.
also if you have a cutting torch and heat it that will also get it started.
Luck!!

bkahler · 03-19-2008, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by swinginping

Also moho was sitting for awhile in FL before i purchased and the insert for towing a car has frozen itself in my reciever.... I've tried pulling on it with a 4wd 4-wheeler, beating with a sledge hammer, tons of rust eater... so i guess either way im gonna need a new hitch at least.

I guess I'm glad to hear that the problem with our Argosy 20' motorhome drawbar being stuck in the receiver is not uncommon

.

I've tried beating it out with no success. I've also tried soaking it in PB Blaster for weeks and weeks with no success. Fortunately since the Arogsy doesn't even have a motor right now I guess I don't need to worry to much at this point!

I'm happy to report our 310 receiver and drawbar work just fine

I'll probably tried the heat trick next time I try and remove.

Brad

swinginping · 03-19-2008, 08:51 PM

sorry to kinda take over the post here, but ill try the torch idea... my friend has one.

gypsychris · 03-20-2008, 02:46 AM

update... Ok we got a local shop (childhood friends of my girlfriends father) to strenghen our hitch: Added three bars: One going straigt down the middle welded at the receiver and bolted to the frame. Then welded one on each sides going at an angle from the back of receiver to sides of the chassis...will put pictures up soon. Thanks everyone for your help and advice!!! Guess sometimes you dont have to look far

bkahler · 03-20-2008, 07:42 AM

Glad you found someone to do tha work. Can't wait to see the pictures!

Brad

gypsychris · 03-20-2008, 07:07 PM

While we are still working on cleaning and fixing up the interior of our 345...we did manage to get the hitch strenghtened and our beetle got its new tow plate.... we did not go the so called expensive way...instead we let the guys at our shop do their best,....amd they sure did...!!! here are the pics

bkahler · 03-20-2008, 07:16 PM

Looks good. I think you'll be happy that you had the hitch upgraded. Nothing like having a little piece of mind while towning

.

Have you bought your towbar yet? If so which one did you get?

Brad

gypsychris · 03-20-2008, 07:25 PM

we got one from U-Haul..only cost $149 (its the Valley Towbar rated at 5000lbs) it came with little attachements that --if you had a jeep-- you could simply bolt on to the bumber....but for our VW the mechanics had to pretty much remove the whole front bumper, and they custom made a braket/plate holder...(they did not charge us :-) --- instead of using the $300+ Ox etc...plates...(then another 600 for the tow bars..._) our setup cost us less than $400... TOTAL...so we are pretty pshyched...and yes, a little peace of mind never hurts!!! how is your rig going? Also, quick question...seems like our MH burns oil a bit...how do I know how much to add? Any idea? THANKS

bkahler · 03-20-2008, 07:49 PM

Not a bad price at all. How do you store the towbar when not in use, in the VW on the motorhome or....?

There are a bunch of threads on the forums about the amound of oil these things hold as well as issues with the dipsticks. On our 310 the dipstick is real easy to slide in and out. On our previous SOB it was a real bear. If you haven't found the dipstick yet its on the left side front of the engine compartment. Should be somewhere near the same area as the radiator cap.

Susan is prepping our 310 right now for our upcoming trip to the Branson rally. I'm stuck out here in Pasadena so she has to take care of everything herself

.

Brad

gypsychris · 03-21-2008, 04:13 AM

Hey Brad, we think we will store the towbar either in the trunk of the car, or in one of the undercariage compartments...Am really not sure...LOL . As for the dipstick, I found it, as well as the fill inlet for the oil, my question is : how do i not put TOO much oil in .... that dipstick does not seem super accurate...and I cant really tell how much is needed.....Makes sense?

bkahler · 03-21-2008, 10:50 AM

The slide out drawers on the 345 must be larger than on our 310. There is no way we could stow our towbar in one of our drawers. Fortunately ours is the time that can stay mounted in the hitch receiver and then fold sideways. Very handy.

As far as figuring out how much oil to put in its pretty much a guessing game. There should be a few marks on the dipstick indicating full and low.

On ours I did a full oil change to find out where the "full" mark really was on the dipstick and after that I would check and if needed I just poured a little oil in and let it settle and then checked how much it changed on the dipstick. It was trial and error to get it right.

Fortunately ours uses very little to no oil so its usually not much of an issue. I believe I usually end up changing it before I need to add any. Our 454 only has about 15,000 miles on it. It is a factory crate replacement engine.

Brad

Minnie's Mate · 03-21-2008, 01:04 PM

You might also look into brake controllers for your Beetle. I'm in no way familiar with them but one I have seen is basically an electronic box that sits in the floor board with a mechanical "foot" that presses the brake pedal when the motor home's brakes are applied. This is wired to the 7 pin connector so there is no additional wiring to the motor home. I have no idea how well they work but I would think some kind of additional brakes are needed in addition to the motor home's brakes. I have always had one question on toads with power brakes: what provides the extra hydraulic pressure to the toad's brake system while the car engine is not running and it is being towed in neutral or with the drive shaft disconnected...something else to check into: will towing your Beetle require disconnecting the drive shaft or will there be no damage to the transmission while under tow.

gypsychris · 03-23-2008, 04:06 AM

From what I know and have read, (we have a manual transmission) we can simply leave the bug in neutral while towing it. All we have to do is keep the keys in the ignition to let the wheels freely turn as it is being toad... U-Haul told us we did not need any brakes on our vehicule ... so we will be trying it out without...if brakes are needed then we will have to see what we get then....