first350

iTrader: (24)

first off, I need to say thanks to Drivesolo , I basically copied his trailer and hitch, and he also did tons of the fabrication stuff (all the welding, drilling, cutting of steel...)

why: I decided to do this b/c I had been either carrying the 4 wheels in the Z w/ me, or having my wife carry them in our CR-V...either way, if my wife ever wanted to come w/ me to an event, it meant that she had to drive too. It also reduced the time loading and unloading all the tires and tools for each event.

trailer write-up:

here's the harbor freight trailer I bought:
small harbor freight trailer

I also just bought a pair of larger wheels so that freeway speeds would be a bit easier on the bearings.

I bought a thick peice of plywood (treated for water protection), and cut it...I had the plywood hang over in the front b/c my wheels would stick out by a few inches over the frame.

the trailer was easy to assemble...took a about a week (worked on it during evenings). the trailer kit came w/ locking nylon nuts, and I also added some lock-tight type stuff to them.

I aimed for 50lbs of tongue weight...this took a bit of planning, but I hit my goal w/in a pound by moving the tool box Fwd/Aft.

the wheels are secured by sliding a PVC tube through the middle of them and using 2 of the ratchet type tie-downs (drivesolo's idea!)...works great.



Hitch write-up:


-removed the rear tail lights and bumper fascia
-removed bumper (aluminum)
-removed bumper supports (peice that connects the bumper to the car)
-weld the bumper supports (the seems on these parts only have a few welds to hold them together...since the bumper is really designed to see copmressive loads, it's not designed for towing...so you need to weld these so that it's stronger and won't come apart)
-drill into the bumper and cut peice of steel (1/4" thick)
-connect all the wiring and double check that it's working. (you need a "light converter box" for the Z to make it work properly - about $25)
-assembly and put everything back together.

I also added a 1/2" peice of Aluminum (as a spacer between the steel plate and bumper) to push the steel mounting plate further forward so that it wouldn't interfer w/ my bumper fascia...since I run a single exhaust, I tucked the bottom mid section of the bumper fascia further up (so that there wouldn't be the 2 areas for the exhaust showing w/ only 1 exhaust tip), but that pulls the bumper fascia further forward...it's a tight fit, but everything worked out well.

parts:
receiver tube: peice of steel that will receive the hitch (most hitch kits has this integtraded into the portion that attches to the car, but since this is a custom job, we had ot buy it separatley)
hitch: peice that goes between the receiver tube and ball.
ball: round peice that attaches ot the hitch and connects w/ the trailer
light converter box: for the Z, you can't just tap directly into the lights and plug them to the trailer...you need a small converter box. I got mine from Kragen's autoparts.
*when I was buying all these parts, I felt so stupid...I would try to describe them to the parts person, who would just stare at me with a blank face; hopefully the names I listed above are correct, bit I can't garruntee it.

hope this helps for anyone else thinking of doing it - it was a HUGE help to have drivesolo walk me through
the steps...it would have taken me much longer, more $$, and having to redo lots of stuff if it wasn't for him!
IF you see anything that doesn't look right or is unsafe, please let me know...I don't want my beautiful Hankooks rolling away.



here's a link to all my pics for this project :
http://picasaweb.google.com/peterumino/TrailerAndHitch

DmanG281

iTrader: (3)

Man looking at that first pic just makes me that much more grateful to have a 2 car garage.

davidv

iTrader: (2)

The trailer looks good. Functional wins every time. Nice work.

danduvz

iTrader: (1)

Can we get an action shot of the Z pullin the trailer? I would definately put it as my wallpaper! Props for putting a hitch on your car so you don't have to bring the wife

first350

iTrader: (24)

I have a 3 car garage, a single + double ...my wife usually parks the Honda in the single, but let me use it for a few weeks while putting all this together; in the end, the trailer will sit next to the Z in the 2-bay garage, along w/ all my tools.

not sure how I'll get a rolling shot of this, unless I cruise w/ a group to some event.

**My wife wants to come to the events, and I felt bad making her drive on her own...before the trailer, it was either:
-me, 4 wheels, tools all in the Z (2 wheels took up the passenger seat, so my wife couldn't ride w/ me)
-me in the Z, and all the wheels/tools w/ my wife in the CR-V.

danduvz

iTrader: (1)

I will pull out the 'ol Nikon in a heartbeat to get a couple shots of you towing a trailer!

Sweet Z by the way. Last time I was on deployment, on the boat, I set your car as the wallpaper on the shop computer Repping WA.

05-Z

iTrader: (4)

Very nice...what rims are those on the trailer?

first350

iTrader: (24)

uh...8" 4 lug 4.80 ...I'm upgrading to the 12" rims - maybe I should check if Work Wheels has a set of CR Kai's that would fit the trailer!

drivesolo

iTrader: (6)

Nice to see it all together!

The plate we used for the hitch was 1/4" steel plate.

I also use a security cable that I pass through the wheels and lock off w/ a pad lock so no one can easily jack the wheels if I end up going someplace before or after an event and my car is going to be out of my sight for a while.

first350

iTrader: (24)

Thanks...if you're free this weekend, there an AutoX event on both Sat and Sun in Everett. (I'll be there on both days )

Billhyco

iTrader: (14)

That is basically what I had planned on doing with the same harbor freight trailer. I was going to put the toolbox in front of the tires, however. Did you try that and just have to much weight with tools loaded and so forth?

also, i thought at one point I had found a company that sold a hitch for the Z. are their companies out there or is it a must to custom build one???

Thanks..love the good info!!

drivesolo

iTrader: (6)

Custom built. Was orginally made to work w/ the OEM exhaust and bumper fascia and also to add as little weight to car as possible.

first350

iTrader: (24)

all of the manufactorered hitches I've seen require cutting of the rear bumper fascia (it's only a small portion, but cutting none the less). Either way, it's still gonna be a good amount of work b/c there's not an easy direct bolt on way to doing a hitch for the Z.

I didnt weigh everything separatley, but I'd assume that the wheels are heavier than all the tools (Al. jack, 2 jack stands, battery impact wrench, wrenches, general tools...)...if you put them in the rear, and don't have enough tools, your tongue weight might be too low.

PDX_Racer

iTrader: (2)

Mine is pretty close to being perfectly balanced with the tools on the front and the tires on the back.

I like the tires in back because when I take the tires off, the tongue still has weight on it.

first350

iTrader: (24)

I was worried about that, but I checked, and w/ all my tools loaded and no wheels, there's still enough tongue wieght.

You might also want to think about security - I've set up all my stuff so that I can easiy remove all my wheels and tool box if I'm staying overnight somewhere...some people have had their wheels stolen from their trailer . PDX_racer has his wheels stacked 2 high side-by-side in the rear w/ some very heavy security!

Kolia

iTrader: (2)

I have a Curt Mfg hitch (formelly belonged to Moodude) and I didn't need to cut anything. We did take the rear bumper facia off, but that's to be expected.

DriveI65

I had a Habor Freight trailer for 2 years and bought a 4x6 from Tractor Supply that I like better this spring.

The HF wasn't too bad but it had faults. I became worried about the wheel bearings since the hubs threw grease. The hitch bolt would loosen up after a couple of trips and could pop off. My tires (285/30x18) sat so high I could not see out the back window. The overall quality is Chinese and try to find a dust cap for the axle. No store I could find stocks them in that size.
Note: Get a close fit from NAPA and use electrical tape to stick it on.

The 4x6 trailer from Tractor Supply is longer but lower with more area. It has a mesh bottom that you can use for tie downs and bolting an equipment box. I put two boards across behind the box for tire holders large enough for my 285s and still left room for an EZ Up or rain tires if I get rich. For security, I padlock the box, hitch and put a Kryptonite cable through the wheels and padlock it to the trailer.


Construction is so much better. Tounge weight loaded is 52 lbs. The trailer pulls much smoother than the HF and is easier to back up because the tounge is longer. Since it's lower I can see out the back window over the tires. Overall, I figure with box, tools, jack, 4 wheels and EZ Up it's about 450-500 lbs.

first350

iTrader: (24)

thanks for the info...yeah, the construction of the HF didn't impress me, but that's kinda what I expect for most of their stuff. I bought some extra greese for the bearings just to be safe...and with the larger wheels, I think it'll be fine.

How much does you trailer weigh empty?

z-u-later

iTrader: (43)

I bought my tire trailer from Northern Tools. It is reinforced with square metal tubing (helps with securing the rims/tires) and 2x4s underneath the wooden flooring. The toolbox is in front to accomodate my two sets of race tires. The hitch is from eTrailer. Here are a couple of pics:





I like the idea of using PVC tubing to secure the rims, instead of the straps that I am currently using (prevents scratching the rims). I just need to figure out how to secure two sets of rims/tires. Also, I probably need to upgrade my tires also like you did since they were not really made for highway use. I did tow the trailer ~120 miles this weekend (R/T) to an autocross and no issues (~70-75 mph on highway).

PDX_Racer

iTrader: (2)

...because I was one who had wheels and tires stolen off of my trailer. Hence the security.

They cut through one of those contractor-grade cable locks to get the wheels and tires.