custom hitch
 

Like a number of other people, I'm after a hitch for my RX-8.

I emailed the guys at hitch-web.com and spoke to Tony. They do not have a hitch made for the RX-8 yet, but if someone is in LA (Van Nuys, CA to be exact) or Eau Claire, WI, they can prototype a hitch and then sell based on the prototype.

Is anyone that live near these guys willing to let them crawl under your car and put together a prototype hitch?

Many people would be greatful for your effort.

Tony's contact info is:

7242 Woodley Ave.
Van Nuys, CA 91406

email : info@hitch-web.com
call : 800-300-4067 ask for Tony

BTW, if you are able to take your 8 out there, PLEASE post here so we know the current status. Hell, if it wasn't across the country, I'd drive out myself. If I don't get a response here, I'll post to the board local to California.

Thanks,
Brian

are you kidding me? The RX-8 has absolutely no torque, plus it is a damns sports car!


Troy j.

Have you looked into the euro version 8? They have an option for a hitch.

i've seen hitches on Saturns. besides, it all depends on what you are pulling. he might have a wagon full of puppy dogs to sell, not a boat.

Actually, I want to tow a tire trailer to and from solo2 events. Being able to take a small load to the dump would be nice as well, but mostly... just a tire trailer.

Brian

Anyone? Anyone at all? Please? :)

It would prolly be more in you interest to go buy a 88' f-150 for around 1000 bux than to put more wear and tear on your 8. for gods sake you just spent 30 grand or better on a top of the line sports car. Im sure you could dig in your pigging bank and find the money to buy a truck. dont wear out your 8 on a damn tire trailer or hauling trash. wear it out on the track :)

Here here! It's ludicrous to put a hitch on a sports car, especially the RX8.

I don't want a truck. I have no place to park a truck. I want a hitch for my RX-8. I already have a small trailer (purchased it from a lotus super 7 owner that can't use it. his car would bend by towing a trailer.)

I want to tow a small trailer with my RX-8. I'm not the only one. A search for "hitch" shows at least 20 other people that would buy a hitch. We just need one of them to live in LA.

Brian

It has no torque, so pulling anything would be bad.


TRoyJ.

I've pulled trailers with many cars with less torque.

I don't care that you think those of us that want a hitch are nuts.

I do care if someone from LA could go out and have a prototype made from their RX-8.

Torque, smorque. I pull a small trailer carrying a shifter kart with a Miata. You won't have any problem pulling a tire trailer.

jfeingold says he had a custom hitch fabricated.

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...ighlight=hitch

But he seems to have disappeared.

I'm still looking for a bike rack solution that doesn't touch the painted surfaces.

bump. anyone? please?

I have talked to several people about doing a customized hitch, and what they tell me is the construction of the exhaust system, height of car from ground, and the bumper area it would be extremely difficult to have a minimum class 1 hitch.

So, unless you are willing to go to a welder who wants to attempt a hitch you are out of luck. Guess we'll have to wait for someone to figure it out, or have the guts to do it.

Just another thing to add to the con list for the RX-8.

Yes, yes its a sports car and like bmc hooking up a trailer to pull things would be extremely helpful.

who did you talk to? Two tow-truck builders out here said they could do it with ease but they want $500+ for a hitch.

These people said ~ $300. U-Hall's hitch supplier said $350.

I am having a friend of mine fabricate a hitch for my 8. He is also going to make a template for anyone who wants one made for them. I will let you know. The hitch is a receiver type and will come through the rotor on the bumper.

As for towing, I have had all three gen 7 and towed with all of them. The gearing on the 8 will be more adiquite for compensating for the low torque. I used to tow my ITS RX-7 with my 89 Convertible RX-7. I sold my 89 last year with 174000 miles on the origeonal brake rotors and the first clutch replacement at 171000. The 8 will tow due to a wheel base longer than a lot of SUVs.

John,

Keep us posted. As I'm sure that there are several of us, myself included, that would jump at the chance to buy a decent Class I hitch.

U-Haul said they could do it for roughly $350. The problem is I am nervous about U-Haul and if they'll do a good enough job to protect the undercarage of the car.

I did find someone that may be able to do a custom job. I am heading over there now. I'll update you all as soon as I hear anything. Hopefully it doesn't cost a lot. I might have bought a $30K sports car, but the gas milage is killing my pocket book :(

Didn't the Prowler have some sort of tag-along? I thought it was kindy of cool for the Prowler. A reciever for an 8 for my bike rack. Hmmmm Good Idea.
I never liked the rack that clamped down on the trunk.
Goog luck John !

I got my Hitch today. It replaced the 5mph bumper that is under the bumper cover. The receiver comes through the rotor symbol in the bumper. Carlos said he will build them but anyone that wants one will have to sign a statement that they will be using it for a bike rack and will not be towing anything with it. I am trying to figure out how to post pics.

http://C:\Documents and Settings\Joh...\Desktop\Hitch [IMG]C:\Documents and Settings\John Corbitt\Desktop\Hitch[/IMG] Here it goes.

I think I figured it out.

Hey John,

That looks great!

Would you mind asking Carlos if he thinks that this would work with a track trailer (i.e. very small utility trailer carrying 4 wheels and tools)?

It will work fine, but he is not going to endorse that for liability reasons.
He said he make more for $200.00 each.

John

Agreed. I'm going to buy one, but I also want to know where to get a trailer like that one............

I've seen Porsches, Miatas, M3s, RX7s and many more sports cars with trailer hitches - at SCCA events. I'm interested in this for my RX-8 also.

If I can put four people totaling 700 pounds IN the car why can't I put a trailer with 4 wheels/tires weighing 400 pounds BEHIND the car?

I haven't gotten under there yet. But from what I'm hearing, it would be a total custom fab job. I'd like to see it removable - via grenade-style pins. I'll get the guy who does all the custom fabrication on my Jeep to take a look. What ever it is - it's gotta be clean, light and invisible.

from overseas brochure...

John,
Count me in for a hitch if he can get this done in a reasonable amount of time (i.e. less than 1 month).

Tpryor,
SouthSport in Florida is the only company that I know of that sells a track trailer. If I remember right, it was about $900 plus shipping. I thought that was a bit steep and plan on building my own with a small utility trailer and a tool chest. I just need to find a tool chest that is the right size and is a little bit cheaper.

The trailer in your link is the one I use now, but the picture you had was VERY cool. If I could get that trailer with the ability to carry two sets of wheels at a time, that would be awesome.

Tim,

If the trailer was 2' longer you could probably squeeze in another set of tires. You may want to give South Sport a call (407) 330-2322 and see what they would charge for a custom trailer.

Anybody interested in doing a group buy on their track trailer?

Right now I see two of you. Carlos is headed to Dallas for a drag race. when he gets back we will start fabricating them. I made a template using my car, so they will not take long to build. It takes a good two hours to install the first time you do it due to getting familiar with taking the bumper cover off.
When you go to sell your car you can remove it as well.

Here are some mor pics.

John

This is *exactly* what I had imagined (receiver through the rotor logo). My g/f has a nice 3-bike Grabar carrier that she used to use on her Integra (totaled, and replaced with an RX-8). She'll likely want one of these so plan for another customer on your list.

My concern is with the removal of the bumper plate, and the resulting loss of structural integrity + potential insurance hassles if it's ever involved in a rear-end wreck. Can the bumper plate be cut out to fit around the receiver and reinstalled, or does the hitch frame preclude the bumper plate from fitting at all?

Next trick... fabricate a receiver-mounted rack to carry a couple of hard-sided ski tubes (www.sportube.com) or golf bags.

The hitch bolts to the same points as the bumper plate so there is no loss in structural integrity. The hitch is stronger than the bumper plate. However, the 5mph protection is lost if someone rearends you. My plan is to place a long plastic bag in the bumper and fill it with expanding foam. That should help in a rear end impact. Other than that, if I get rearended, I plan on whoever hits me paying for the damage. I have a friend that leaves his hitch receiver in so if someone rearends him, it will do more damage to whoever hits him.

John

I'm interested too.

All you need to make it perfect would be a billet rotary hitch-plug for when I'm not using the hitch.

Thanks for the information.

dude remember puff puff pass, i think your smoking too much of the good sh/t

I have another guy that can do that. I will find out how much that would cost.

John

I found a shop in CA that wants to develope a hitch but needs an RX-8 to use as a model. I'm about 1000 miles from them so it won't work for me. They would need a car for 2 days to come up with something. Here is the info:

www.hitch-web.com
7242 Woodley Avenue
Van Nuys, CA 91406
Call and ask for Tony 800-300-4067

Uh, didn't you read the first post to this thread? This is the EXACT same info I posted when I created the thread.

The expanding-foam-in-a-bag is an interesting concept, but wouldn't it be possible to weld a new plate on the hitch crossbar (with the same profile as the original) with the bolt holes accessible so that it all bolts up as a single unit? That will maintain (or improve, depending on the metal gauge) the crashworthiness, and not complicate the installation.

My concern is twofold - one, if the car gets rearended, I'd prefer that the minimal amount of stuff gets bent because regardless of who pays, 'fixed' is never the same as 'not-f'd-up-to-begin-with'. Two, it's not too much of a stretch for a zealous insurance adjuster (or their bodyshop) to see the receiver, investigate the bumper, see that the plate was removed, and conclude that they're *not* going to pay because removing the plate resulted in there being greater damage.

Also, is there some standard for distance between the bumper edge and the receiver edge? I'm concerned that the receiver protrudes far enough for the bike rack to clear the edge of the bumper.

Thanks for the work you've put into this!

I talked with a welder who does custom hitches for all kinds of vehicles, including sports cars. He looked at my RX8 and said a class 1 hitch that could support 1500 lbs is possible. He has done similiar work on Porche, Miata, and other unique/interesting cars.

His solution is a tad different from the one posted on here. He suggest welding to the bottom frame of the car in order to support the extra weight, and have the receiver coming out of the torque symbol on the bumper as mentioned in this thread.

The method used in the previous posting is excellent as stated for small purposes like a bike rack, but I need something that can pull more than a bike.

Once I get the work done, hopefully by the end of the month I'll post the pics. A class 1 hitch on the RX8 is probably going to be a pseudo-fabricated job, i.e. still need a welder involved.

Cost is around $300-$350. Potential higher due to the muffler being removed in order to put the hardware in place ;)

Any further activity on this? Barring any other solution, I'd probably order one soon.

We have been dealing with a hericane down here. Ocala came out good. Carlos and I will be working on making the hitch stronger, and posibly not interfering with the bumper.

John

Glad you wern't hit hard. I was at ERAU in DAB when Andrew hit. Seeing the airframe carnage at Kendall-Tamiami a couple of days after was very sad.

I think I recognise the tail number on that Citation in your hangar :D

I'll keep watching this thread for the 'rev. 2' hitch when you have pics and info available.

Thanks,

Just checking in after a month... I know you've had to deal with 2 more hurricanes since the last posting. Any progress in between wind and rain?

Ivan Has passed us by. I now can unboard my house and then start fabricating the hitches. We are looking at making a hitch that would require drilling holes in the frame but would leave the factory bumper in place.

John

Caveat for SCCA autocrossers: John Corbitt's hitch doesn't appear to be Stock legal since it replaces part of the bumper structure.

Steve

It looks like we are going to leave the bumper in place and attach to the frame. this will require drilling a couple of holes in the frame rail but will not require removal of the bumper or the bumpercover for instalation. right now we have another huricane getting ready to nail us again, so Carlos and have not had the time to work on the hitches.. I can tell you I have had 1200lb of generators on a 700lb trailer behind my car. The car tows great. I tows better than any of the RX-7s.

John

Checking in again... I'll take two as soon as you have them ready.

I still have not had time to get over there to build them. Our plane goes down for maintenance for 3 weeks starting in November. I should be able to do them then.

John