Nickfromny hinted in another recent thread here in Racing and Competition that Rick's maybe be offering the Hammerly in the future. No time frame given.

 

Mark, how thick was this plate? It looks like it bent a bit when the bolts were tightened. I'm waiting for Jeff to come back to this thread, I'm curious about what kind of plate he has to add.

Sebringer, DaveOnLI is right, the last I knew Harold was making a revised design and was not sure when he was going to get back into production. You might want to try sending him an e-mail - HMCHammerly@cs.com

 

Great- thanks for that.

 

[QUOTE=Triple-H,Aug 4 2004, 08:33 AM] Mark, how thick was this plate? It looks like it bent a bit when the bolts were tightened.

 

Is there a spec stating how much tongue weight the Dalan on the S2k can handle? Would pulling a waverunner be out of the question?

 

The Da'Lan hitch is rated for 2,000 pounds, and tongue weight is typically 10-15% of that. However, some owners have reported problems with the bolted attachment under the trunk sheetmetal tearing.

However, I had a Da'Lan hitch on my '00 and pulled a 500 pound track trailer for over 5,500 miles without any problems. The tongue weight was about 60 pounds.

 

Awesome, thanks for the quick reply.

 

I received the following from Bill. I've asked the folks who have posted their failures here for email addresses or to write to Bill directly.

Quote:

Jeff,

I can't log in to see the pictures that this fellow is referring
to. Can you get an ID for this guy so I can talk with him?

I don't see any reason to damage the trunk floor unless the hitch
is running out of angularity. It amazing how many folks forget this
issue. Etgar's hitch has 4 Years on it now with no issues.

End quote

I sent Bill the images so he can see what this thread is reporting.

I've asked for clarification as to what "out of angularity" means. I think Etgar used to be on this board - anyone know if he still is?

 

I got a reply from Bill about my question on angularity:

Jeff,

If the trailer tongue is angled either up or down in relation to
the drawbar, some angularity is lost. To get the kind of load that would
pull the front mount down, I expect that the trailer this fellow was
pulling was too tall for the hitch and he just let the tongue run
downhill to the reciever. This meant that when he went through a dip
(like leaving a service station) he was in danger of locking up the
hitch/ball connection and trying to pry the hitch through the floor.
This type of action usually leaves a mark on the hich bar, rubbing
through the paint. I would also have expected to hear it.

Solution? Simple either have a trailer that sits level or space
the ball so that the trailer sits level. The hitch is designed to work
with most trailers, but common sense is still needed.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. While I always caution
customers that the trailer hitch is difficult to install, I expect that
if someone has a problem they would contact me. In this case I never
heard about this before.




PedalFaster and Donut, it would help to know if this describes your situations...

 

I love it when people politely insinuate that I'm a moron.

I tow the Harbor Freight 4' x 3.3' utility trailer with the large (12") wheels -- the closest thing to a standard autocross tire trailer there is. I don't know what its tongue weight is, but it should be light. I almost always pull just four wheels and tires, and I have nothing on the trailer besides the wheels -- no heavy toolbox or other accessories. I always evenly distribute the tires front to rear specifically to minimize tongue weight, and I drive carefully whenever I'm towing.

I took some measurements. The top of the hitch ball is a bit under 16" off the ground when it's mounted on my car; my driveway slopes a bit at the end, so it might actually be a touch shorter than that. The top of the inside of the trailer's receiver is about 15.25" off of the ground, so the trailer's actually a little shorter than the hitch. I can't think of any way of lowering the ball or raising the trailer without making major modifications to either, but I don't think the angularity is extreme at all.

My feeling is that the bottom of the trunk is made of thin metal since it's not designed to withstand heavy loads, and that the vibrations and stresses inherent in towing a trailer cause the metal to fatigue and eventually tear. The Hammerly hitch, in contrast, attaches to parts of the car (the differential mount and bumper) which are designed to withstand much higher loads.

To summarize: I tow probably the most popular autocross tire trailer out there in the lightest possible configuration. I don't overload the trailer, and I drive carefully whenever I tow. If that means that I lack common sense, then most everyone on this board who tows lacks it as well. Draw your own conclusions.

Steve