Thought I'd throw up some pics of the trailer hitch I built a few weekends ago. These may help someone who is interested in taking on the same project. Comments regarding weld aesthetics are not necessary.

One thing that's not immediately obvious, and can cause heartache if you get tired of crawling under the car and just push ahead, is that the front bracket that attaches to the diff mounts is not centered...

The hitch is 11 gauge, the plates are 3/16" (doubled up to make the verticals on the hitch), and the angle is 1/4".

 

Pretty creative man! I especially like the brackets that mount to the bumper support!

 

I've seen under that car a few times....

 

Another thing that'll save you some time:

You'll need two longer bolts for the diff mounts, and five longer bolts for the bumper. The diff mount bolts are 10mm x 1.25mm, 30mm length should be enough. The bumper bolts are 8mm x 1.25, again 30mm should be enough. I went with 40mm and 30mm, respectively, because that's what they had. It doesn't matter, since there's plenty of room...

Your average home depot probably doesn't have these bolts (especially the 10mm ones), at least not in a high enough grade. Keep in mind that they're not graded the same as imperial. Get grade 10.9, 8.8 is garbage; 12.9 certainly can't hurt but I don't know if that actually exists or is a myth...

 

It is best if you can find a real hardware store, not a "big box".

 

Nice. It's the same style as the Hammerly / Chase Race hitch.

They use a Heim joint for a little bit of adjustability.

 

Yeah, I'm not really claiming there's any originality on the design. Then again there's really not much room for originality...

By the way, the Harbor Freight small trailer (w/12" tires) is just about the deal of the century - was on sale for $180 (common sale) - 15% coupon (fairly common coupon).

 

looking good, i built a hitch similar to it last month.

one thing about the Harbor Freight trailer, it might seems like a good deal at first but wait till you try to register it. i guess depends on what state your in but in PA, it was a pain in the ass. i got the trailer for $150 and then paid $220 got get it register.
because it's sold as a kit, i needed to take it to a Recon shop to get it certify ($110) and then to the notary to register it for 5 years ($110).

i could have gotten a prebuilt trailer from Tractor supply for $400 with registration and not had to deal with all that paper work.

 

In California, I just had to take it to the DMV and pay $25 to register it. The inspector looked at it, said "yep, it's a trailer" and signed off. He did recommend imprinting the VIN on the frame instead of just having it on a riveted-on tag.

 

In WA, the only trick to certifying it was that I needed to bring in the original sales receipt. They didn't even need to see the trailer, just the receipt.