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Old 05-31-2019, 04:24 AM   #1
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Boxster trailer hitch

This was a fun little project on Monday.

My car lives a dual- identity. It's my track toy, but if I'm to continue rationalizing ownership, it has to pretend to be a street car as well.

So last season I came to the conclusion that I needed spare wheels with sticky tires. Great. But I'm also Scottish, so I was somewhat worried about the heat cycles I'd subject those tires to on the track commute. The obvious solution was a little trailer, like some if y'all have done.

So last year I built a hitch that attached to the bumperette brackets. I used that to and from the track twice. Seemed fine. Last week I was preparing for my first foray to the track this year (today! Yeah! ) and discovered that both bumperette brackets had a small crack along the top of the mount. I doubt they would've made it to the track again.

So I whipped this one together. Fun, simple, allowed me to dump the bumperettes altogether. The most expensive part was the draw bar.

Maiden voyage this morning!



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Old 05-31-2019, 04:45 AM   #2
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Those bumperette brackets are only held on with two aluminum rivets. I'm glad to hear you went with a different design. Those brackets can get ripped off very easily. How is the new hitch attached?
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Old 05-31-2019, 07:41 AM   #3
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Those bumperette brackets are only held on with two aluminum rivets. I'm glad to hear you went with a different design. Those brackets can get ripped off very easily. How is the new hitch attached?
I welded 18" of 3/16th steel angle, top and bottom, then bolted it to the back of the aluminum bumper.
Yeah... it ain't going nowhere. Hahaha

As you can see, I relocated the threaded insert for the tow hook, as well.

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Old 05-31-2019, 09:13 AM   #4
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Those bumperette brackets are only held on with two aluminum rivets. I'm glad to hear you went with a different design. Those brackets can get ripped off very easily. How is the new hitch attached?
My tow hitch is on the bumperettes but I took the whole bar and got the bumperette attachments welded to the bar. Although before that the rivets did hold OK for me, but I felt better after I got it welded. I like your approach, looks really good!
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Old 05-31-2019, 12:40 PM   #5
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Great looking hitch, very clean install, I like that the license plate is hinged instead of offset. Does that hitch have a button that retracts the pins? If so, nice touch, seems like the only way to do it on a 986 without bumperettes!

I have thought about making a hitch to tow my small sailboat. My idea was to mount it using a bolt threaded into the tow hook opening to support the weight and then stabilize the mount using the bumperette brackets.
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Old 06-02-2019, 08:49 AM   #6
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very creative, I like it.
any concerns about legality of having your license plate flipped up like that?
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Old 06-02-2019, 09:43 AM   #7
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very creative, I like it.
any concerns about legality of having your license plate flipped up like that?

Can’t see why. Cars used to have it flip down for access to fuel filler cap.
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Old 06-02-2019, 12:16 PM   #8
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I have thought about making a hitch to tow my small sailboat. My idea was to mount it using a bolt threaded into the tow hook opening to support the weight and then stabilize the mount using the bumperette brackets.
I think that's the premise behind "porschehitch", as well.
https://porschehitch.com/product

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Old 06-02-2019, 12:40 PM   #9
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I hadn't seen that before, thanks!
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Old 06-03-2019, 03:13 AM   #10
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That is exactly how I built mine.
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Old 06-03-2019, 01:00 PM   #11
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mine uses both the bumperettes and the tow hook to spread the load a bit. no cracks as of yet.

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