Re: Trailer (caravan) hitch fot Stag

["Leon Herinx" <lehe@domain.elided>]

Tim,

 

I don't know what a hitch is but if it's a towing bar, my Stag has one.

Last year I used it to tow a small trailer, 150x100x48 cm, while going on vacation with the wife and kids to England. No luggage in the car and plenty of space to bring back spare parts.

 

The towing bar consists of a pipe, about 2" in diameter, bend slightly to follow the bumper , running between the 2 bumper brackets. At each end, a L shape plate is welded on with 2 holes drilled.

The plates are fitted between the bracket and the body. A triangular plate, 12"x7", is welded with the 12" side, in the middle of the pipe. This plate is reinforced with strips of steel. The bottom corner of the triangle is is cut off for 2". Here a L shaped steel is welded on, it runs under the booth to the front of the car for 30" and is also bend to follow the booth. This L shaped steel is attached to the to the booth with 2 bolts. Inside the booth there are reinforcement plates welded to the floor. The towing bal,in my case a steel rod wich ends in the towing ball, is welded to the L shaped steel. If the towingball is bolted on, then the L shape steel has to be welded to the back of the triangle.

This setup quite good as occasionally trailers with sand, 1800 kg, are towed for a short distance and the bumper and booth are still on the Stag.

 

For cooling problems: before changing radiators, thermostats etc, check the temperature with a seperate thermometor because an (old) voltage stabilizers can give a misreading. My temperature gauge was reading 3/4 scale while the temperatur to the radiator was 85C and the drop over the radiator was 15C. The stabilizer works with a Bi-metal wich can be adjusted, the set screw is glued over. Calibrate on the tank reading, eg half full is half full. After doing this on my Stag, my normal temperature is 1/2 scale in hot weather and 1/3 in cold weather.

 

 

Leon Herinx - 76 Stag - Netherlands