Bug Hitch...ish

[windfish]

Picked up a hitch for my '70 Beetle, was listed as a beetle hitch on craigslist and it looked very similar to the one Curt makes - http://www.curtmfg.com/part/11652
Its well made, I can't quite tell if it was homemade or commercial. Looks commercial-ish but there's no brand on it anywhere

Almost looks a little warped in this pic, but I laid it on the floor and the bottom is flat, then curves up slightly towards the end.

It lines up with the arms the engine mounts to, I attached it with a couple u-bolts. This is it slid all the way forward, it cannot bolt to the bumper like other hitches, I guess if I slid it back it could bolt to the apron? But then the bumper is in the way.

My plan for it was to weld a 2" receiver to it so I could have a way to attach a standard bike rack and ditch my trunk-mount. So I don't mind modifying it.
Just wondering if anyone has any idea how it was supposed to be originally mounted, maybe it was made for a different year?

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Originally had a bracket that bolted on to the bumper and hung down a couple of inches for the bolt in the center. If you are going to weld a 2 inch receiver, you already have the skills necessary to fabricate a bracket. You apron is not near stong enough and neither is an aftermarket bumper.

[windfish]

Thanks.
I didn't think the apron was strong enough, but it was at the right height

Was thinking about making a ¯¯\_/¯¯ shaped bracket out of angle iron, adding reinforcement to the bumper, and bolting it together. So that's the way I'll go then.
There won't be a heavy load on it, but it needs to be able to stand up to a fair amount of side-to-side torque -- bike rack is basically a big lever.

On a related note, thought I'd share that http://www.woot.com/ has the Yakima DoubleDown Ace 4 hitch-mount rack for $119 + $5sh
Today or until they sell out. Timely.

[60ragtop]

If you search the gallery, there is quite a few examples of different hitches mounted to give you some ideas
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Rick
Certified Mechanic by the State of Michigan in 1977
ASA certified in 1987
Certified Hunter Wheel Alignment Master Technician 1986

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Yep Windfish, thats what the bracket looked like. Had a couple of meaty washers inside the bumper. You seem to like angle iron, I might consider a couple of long pieces of angle iron inside the bumper to spread the load.

In High School we used to haul stuff that weighed twice what the car weighed up and down the hills around Cincinnati. As I recall the hitch had a 200 lb weight limit stamped on top. I am pretty sure we didn't exceed the 200 lb tongue limit by more than like 4 times.

My father would sit down often and explain density and calculating square ft and exactly how much weight we had in the trailer bla bla bla. I always took it as a compliment that we could haul some rediculously heavy load down a rediculously steep hill with the occasional stop light. I realize now he was not complimenting our skill, but critisizing our choices. He never acutally said "that was bad" so we never picked up on the don't do it part of the lecture.

By the way, I have seen a hitch bike rack that just bolts in the hole where the ball goes. You would not need to fabricate a receiver.

[brendo907]

this is on my super, I believe this is the bracket people are talking about

[windfish]

Yep, that's probably it brendo

And yeah ptjjb, Curt does make a bike rack that would fit right up. But its just - http://www.curtmfg.com/Category/184/Bolt-On%20Bike%20Rack
vs http://www.yakima.com/shop/bike/hitch/doubledown-4
The Yakima hitch mount is a significantly nicer rack; and I'm having to make the bracket so the welder is out anyways.

Was planning on using angle iron simply because its easily available and fairly strong.
Stopped by the local metal recycling place and found these:

No idea what it went to, but it fits about near perfect. Had to shave a quarter inch off both sides. Its actually about the width of the bumper bracket.
Will keep the extra flange bit sticking out for now, its not hurting anything.

I got four of the brackets because I wasn't sure how much I'd need, will just cut the end off one and drop it straight down to the hitch.
Ended up ordering inch and a quarter receiver tube, I think it'll work out better. That and the rack came in yesterday so I figured I'd mock it up and see how it goes together

Going to recess the receiver a bit more than originally planned, the bike rack sticks out so much otherwise.

But yeah, I'm pretty happy with the pieces. Hoping to have time over the weekend to weld it together and bolt it to the car.

[Multi69s]

Just a caution on hauling bikes. Keep an eye on the alignment of the pea shooters in relationship to the tires of the bike. Otherwise, you will be driving down the road and hear a big bang and your cycling day will be done. Don't ask me how I know
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73 Squareback - 2L, T4, Automatic W/ AC
Gone, but many fond memories 69 Baja Bug 2010 - 5 Rib Bus Transaxle
Gone but not forgotten 72 Baja Bug 2010
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[kyleader]

Very interesting idea! I've never seen these for bugs before, thanks for sharing.
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My bug build:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=465143

Happy Bug'in...

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I really like the angle iron going to the bumper brackets. Should have significant strength. It looks like your deck lid will clear the rack but you might want to check and adjust and inch or two.

[windfish]

Got it mostly done last weekend, but ran out of time.
Finished it up today and painted it with Rustoleum truck bedliner

Added ears to the bracket so I can bolt to the bumper supports

Was going to weld this to the above bracket, but I like being able to remove this bit and leave the main cross brace in place.

Due to clearance issues the mounting bolt is welded in place

Bottom of the receiver is supported by a couple pieces of standard angle-iron cut to fit.

Going to let it dry a few days then put it on.
I've been test-fitting as I go so it should all bolt up cleanly. Welds aren't all that pretty but overall strong, at least strong enough for the bike rack.
Decklid clears fine, 's one of the reasons I wanted to go this route -- I use a bike rack fairly often and while the trunk-mount is on I can't open the lid and check on things.

And yep, I've been conscious about keeping the bike tires away from the mufflers :)

[windfish]

And done.

Receiver angle ended up being slightly tilted back, so the bike rack's arms (which already tilt up a little) tilt up a bit more... but its workable.
Better than visa versa.

Bolted together

And the engine lid clears with ease

Went back out and put my 29er on just to see, looks like it'll work fine. Front wheel clears the exhaust okay but I still may pull it for travel, 's no biggie.

[JasonBaker]

Nicely done

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beautiful work. I love how the receiver tucks in leaving the original hitch looking very original. I might even put a ball on there just for show.

[windfish]

For a bit over three years the above worked alright.
The spacer between the bumper mount and hitch was a bit light duty, and it having only one centered bolt top and bottom allowed the bike rack to sway a bit more than I'd like, but it never seemed in danger of failing.

A neighbor recently dumped some bug parts on me, including a pair of '67ish bumpers. And since my '70 had cheapie, thin, rust speckled aftermarkets I figured might as well use them.
Tried cutting down the '70 style bumper brackets, but the '67ish bumpers ended up way too high, looked funny.
Bought the conversion brackets, which meant redoing the hitch attachment, so I made it a bit stronger.

New spacer:

Thicker metal, two bolts top and bottom.
Not the prettiest welds, but should be good 'nuff.

Simple piece of angle iron bolted between the mounts this time, will paint it later.

Rock solid now, wiggling the bike rack now sways the whole car.

So yeah, just a small update to a simple project.