My car was beat when I bought it but it pulled that trailer just fine. It's fun to pass someone on the interstate towing a trailer thats obviosly too large. I was also impressed with how quick it stopped with all that weight behind it.

I like the receivers much better.

But I was in a pinch and had no welder or shop tools,
so I went to a local U-Haul dealer and had a hitch installed for a reasonable price.

I do whack my leg on it quite a bit, but it worked well.
Maybe I will switch to receiver style, now that I have the time.

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80 300D 340K Owned 30 yrs
83 300SD 440K Owned 9 yrs - Daily Driver 150mi/day
02 Z71 Suburban 117,000
15 Toyota Prius 2600 miles
00 Harley Sportster 24k
09 Yamaha R6
03 Ninja 250

2000lb fixed tounge one I mentioned above for $95 after shipping. No time to be picky and cant beat the price.

thanks all for your help.

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What Would Rudolph Do?
1975 300D, 1975 240D, 1985 300SD, 1997 300D, 2005 E320 , 2006 Toyota Prius

I bought a 300D parts car a while back that had a trailer hitch, The guy had just drilled a hole in the rear bumper and bolted it on It was sorta in the middle

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

BioPete,
I replied to your PM before I saw your post. If your bumper is the 3 hole pattern then the hitch I have won't fit (it will only fit a 116)and Im not willing to sell the one currently on my car (126).

If you decide to build one. The metal you need for the 1 1/4 part is kind of hard to find. You would have to go to a steel store and just browse around. 2" size steel is real common though.

I have seen hand made jobs like TedNorfolk's and they looked liked they were working fine. I dont know how much weight they had pulled. If you design someting in this genre do not skip the step of welding to the trunk. The bumper is actually on "shocks" that you could end up ripping straight off.

time is a resource too so throwing money at it and having come to the door has a value. I just couldn't find one to buy that seemed as as good as what I thought I could weld (and Im NOT a good welder)

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84 300SD 274K
38K miles on flatplate heat exchanger and various diesel/veg blends. prior to that 4K miles on unheated veggie blends with kero and DinoD.

Got email from HithchFinder. Had to change my order to the DaLan. Still cheaper than anywhere else.

==================================================================
Ordered: 1 Shipped: 1
DA217336 Dalan Hitch

Ship Date:

==================================================================

Product Total: $143.46
Sales Tax: $0.00
Shipping: $12.80
Grand Total: $156.26

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What Would Rudolph Do?
1975 300D, 1975 240D, 1985 300SD, 1997 300D, 2005 E320 , 2006 Toyota Prius

Hey Angst,
Awesome design. I'm having trouble finding 2" square tube. Do you think a single piece of 3" angle would be strong enough for the cross bar? (1/4" thick)

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Paul
2004 E500 4matic; 72,000mi

What frame? The ones I've seen that are designed for heavier trailers bolt right through the pan in the bottom of the trunk or with wagons they bolt through the pan thats under that little storage compartment in the floor of the cargo area.

The lighter hitches bolt to the bumper. I would not buy that one seeing how the bumpers are attached by only the slots that are moulded into the bumper.

I've been looking for a long time for a suitable hitch for my TD. I have looked endlessly. Would like to see a Euro with a factory hitch to see how it bolts up. Pix anyone?

Please post when you get it installed and in use. Thanks.

Cheers,

Bill

You could beef it up from 3 to 5" angle like I did.
Checkout in the pics what I cobbled together.
The 5 " was plenty strong, especially with the reinforcements.
It's in this thread towing a trailer

..

Here's the one I have, its a DaLan receiver style and bolts up to the frame of the car via holes I drilled and two more holes into the bottom rail of the bumper...its VERY sturdy. Got it on eBay in May for about $153 including shipping, I won a bidding war, sorry if anyone else on here was bidding for it, but I wanted it most. Holds up a 40lb bike carrier + 2 bikes no problem. Haven't tried it with a trailer yet, don't have one.....the seller threw in a whole wiring kit and 4 to 2 light adapter too, so I have everything I need for trailer use....

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

Hey,
For the down plates, I wound up using 1/2" steel. The bolts through the frame are not long enough, so I got longer bolts. I can get the 4 outer bolts out easy enough, but the inner 2 wont budge, even with the sledge. Anyone ever tried to remove those?

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Paul
2004 E500 4matic; 72,000mi

[QUOTE=pawoSD;1280540]Here's the one I have, its a DaLan receiver style and bolts up to the frame of the car via holes I drilled and two more holes into the bottom rail of the bumper...its VERY sturdy.

Nice set of pics and a tidy hitch too

__________________


1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"