Wow, that's so much cheaper than the $700 I paid for my Lowe's 5x8' trailer. Mine does have a loading ramp and sides, but it might have been worth the savings to go with one like yours.



Thanks for the info, BTW, I just sold that terrible terrible Buick and bought an '09 xD to replace it, so I'll be installing a tow hitch to pull that trailer. I've sold the ATV though, so now I just use it to pull sheets of plywood and an occasional 300-600lb motorcycle. I think the xD will handle that just fine -- the Buick had a slipping first gear and it still managed it with no problem

Dan[/img]

 

Do you have the address of the harbor freight store with this sale? I just installed a hidden hitch from etrailer.com(fits perfect-easy to install) and I need a trailer.

 

Yeah, it's the one in Laurel at 338 Domer Ave. However, I just got their current flyer in the main and it has the sale price... so you should be able to get it at any store for that price. If they don't have it in stock, they will give you a rain check so you can get it at that price when they come in.

The item number for that trailer is 94564.

 

Yeah, it's a heck of a deal. You do have to assemble it, which will take a couple of hours. You also need to buy a piece of plywood or something else for the floor. I bought a piece of treated 3/4" ply at Home Depot for about $30 or $40. You'll also need some carriage bolts to attach the plywood. If you want it to be really nice, you can do what I did: Use a router to take about 1/16" off the edges where the sides of the trailer are higher than the cross members. Also, use a Forstner bit on the underside where the trailer has bolt heads sticking up. This will make the plywood sit nice and flat. I zoomed in on the above pic so you can see how the plywood is cut out:



Yeah, you won't have any trouble at all. The xD is rated to tow about 2,000 pounds (in Europe). I've towed up to about 1,600 pounds and it handled it without any trouble.

I highly recommend the Curt hitch... as you might have read earlier. It's a little beefier than the other brands.

 

I installed the same rack on my xA after seeing yours... I still plan to shorten the square metal tubing so it sits closer to the car (it will be 6" closer to the car than it currently is). Instead of installing it mcbrews way, I just bought a 1 1/4" to 2" adapter. It sits closer to the ground, but I think it will still clear everything I drive over.

 

Looks good... just be careful, because you're creating a long lever arm that is going to multiply the downforce on your hitch.

I just got back from York, PA. I towed my trailer up there (the one above with the scooter on it, but now I have stake sides on it) to pick up stuff from my wife's old house for our yard sale. We brought back:

- full size mattress
- box spring
- frame and headboard
- two end tables
- two small TVs (15" and 19")
- small workbench
- two-drawer filing cabinet
- boxes full of tools
- a couple of rubbermaid containers with misc stuff
- a large rubbermaid container with other misc stuff
- an ironing board
- a four person tent
- a lamp
- some gardening stuff
- a box full of VHS movies
- and more...

Let me tell you, it looked like the Beverly Hillbillies in an xD! I filled up the tank on the way up there with an empty trailer and have gone about 200 miles. The display is showing 35 MPG, which should be around 32-33 real-life. Not bad with hauling all that stuff around! I don't know of any truck that could have hauled that load and gotten anywhere close to that fuel economy. Even my Sprinter van would only have gotten 23-24 MPG... and that's with a high-tech Mercedes diesel under the hood.

 

I plan to cut the square tubing which will make the rack sit 6" closer to the car and look like this picture... much closer.

I did stand on the rack as is... the car did sink down in the back, but I didn't dare jump on it. I think it will be much stronger when I shorten it.

 

If you want to keep it from sinking down, you might consider a set of Air Lift 1000 bags for the rear springs. I used them in my VW Golf and they worked great. They cost about $70-80 and install pretty easily. You add a few PSI to them when you are towing or have a lot of weight in the back (passengers + luggage, etc.), then let the air out for normal driving. They help keep the car nice and level and avoid bottoming out over bumps.

If you are interested, I have a PDF from the company of all the different sizes. You just measure the ID of the springs and the internal height without a load in the car. Find the closest match and buy that one. IIRC, the rear spring size on my Golf was the same size as the front springs on a Ford Explorer.

 

I cut the tubing... now it looks just like my edited picture. It feels much better now. Without any weight on it I have about 9" of ground clearance... When I was standing on it (~200lbs.) it had about 6" of ground clearance.

I can't see myself putting 200lbs on it, but if I did I would go very slow over speed bumps and definately not drop off any curbs.

I don't plan on using it very often (mostly on car trips) so I don't think I will buy airbags yet, BUT if fully loaded it hits speed bumps I might be required to get some air bags or raise up the luggage rack somehow.

 

I just installed my hitch. I was wondering how everyone did the wiring for trailer lights??

 

I used a Hopkins powered converter. You'll need a converter, since our cars have independent turn/brake lights. The "powered" part means the power to light up the trailer lights comes from your car's battery instead of the car's lighting system.

I got power from the fuse box behind the tip-out tray near the steering wheel. If you need help with wire colors or anything else hitch-related, let me know.

 

Tail light = GREEN
Left brake = VIOLET
Right brake = ORANGE
Left turn = LIGHT GREEN
Right turn = YELLOW

You can grab all signals from the left side except for the right turn signal. I also found a good ground point on the right side. For the power, remove the tip-out tray by the driver's left knee and take it from here:



The Hopkins kit will have an inline fuse as well as all the wires and scotch-locks (wire taps) you need.

Again, get a powered converter so that you are not robbing power from the xD's lighting system. The powered converters just grab a signal from the lighting system, but get the actual illumination power from the battery (from the connection in the illustration above).

You want either the Hopkins 46255 or 46365. If you buy another brand, such as Modulite, you may need to purchase the wire & fuse that runs from the battery (or fuse box) to the converter separately.

 

Just bought my xD-Uhaul installing a trailer hitch next week. I ordered an Advantage-GlideAway 4 bike rack from Costco. Looks like it should work well- has anyone tried this rack on their xD/

 

Just be careful about the stress on the tongue. Bike racks add a lot of leverage... so even though the hitch is rated for 200 pounds of tongue weight, you'll max it out with a bike rack with a lot less weight than that.

 

I finally got a free day to work on my teardrop camper... and took it out for a ride down the road.

 

I have yet to install my hitch.. the darned thing has been sitting in my garage since I got it

Anyone want to buy it?

 

It takes about 20 minutes to install it... what's the hold up?

 

I'm too lazy? Eh, I'm sure I can find a guy willing to install it for me ;)

 

Lmao, what happened to women being independent? BTW, how long have you been a mod? I've never noticed it before so I'm going to say congrats on becoming one.

 

Just a recent event actually

Eh I would do it myself but why when I can have men slave over/under my car for me?