How To: Build a custom hitch for the Evo X and RalliArt that is completely hidden
Nov 15, 2009, 08:40 AM
#1
Evolving Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (9)
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 345
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
How To: Build a custom hitch for the Evo X and RalliArt that is completely hidden
Hello All,
I've had a number of PMs from people asking for more detail on how I built the completely hidden hitch for my Evo X that I sold a few months ago, so I'm posting the steps that I followed to create it as best as I can remember now. Pictures of the finished product can be found here: http://gallery.me.com/jwa#100653
Below I have attached the initial bracket drawing that I did based on the final wood mock-up that I built. It should give you a rough idea on what you're looking at, but my final version ended up being a bit different as I was only able to find 2.5"x3.5" angle iron.
The parts list that I bought from the metal supply shop was:
* One piece of 2.5"x3.5"x1/4" angle 9" long (for one of the brackets).
* One piece of 2.5"x3.5"x1/4" angle 11" long(for the other bracket).
* One piece of 1.5"x1.5" square tubing 38" long (the crossbar).
* One piece of 2"x1.5"x3/16" angle 4" long (for the support bracket between the crossbar and receiver tube).
The total cost for these parts was $33.72 from my local metal shop. They will cut things to length, but that's it there. They sell all of the metal by the pound.
Additionally, I purchased this receiver tube: http://www.etrailer.com/pc-COMBO~E-912.htm, and this safety chain loop: http://www.etrailer.com/p-E950.htm.
The basic process to build this should be:
1. Buy the above raw materials.
2. Put rear of the car on jackstands or a lift, if possible.
3. Remove muffler.
4. Remove tow hooks on both sides.
5. Determine which side the 9" and 11" brackets go on. (I believe the 9" is on the driver's side, where there are only 3 mounting holes.)
6. Determine where in the rear edge of the vertical section of the brackets the crossbar will be positioned. The basic measurements from the CAD drawing should be correct. On one side there is a bracket that stays over the frame rail to support so other items, so on that side the hole must be raised in the bracket .125" to account for this and keep the bar even. I believe this is on the passenger's side. On the side with the bracket the hole will be positioned the .5" from the bottom in the 3.5" vertical section of the bracket, and the other side must be .375".
7. Determine which cuts on the top and rear of the bracket are actually needed. If you look at my pictures, I determined that a lot of them weren't needed. The intention from the prototype was to leave room around the exhaust hangers on the one side, and the frame rails on the other.
8. Cut out the holes for the crossbar. A mill is best, but worst case you could get it done with a Dremel with a cut-off wheel.
9. Cut out the sections for clearing the areas mentioned in step 7.
10. Determine where the mounting holes need to be. You should be able to use the stock tow hooks as a guide once you have determined the positioning of the first hole.
11. Drill the mounting holes.
12. Mount the brackets to the car.
13. Insert the crossbar into the brackets and check positioning.
14. Check the vertical positioning of the receiver tube based on where the crossbar is. It should be as shown in my pictures.
15. Cut the center section of the bumper vent ribs out to make room for the receiver tube. I used an X-Acto knife for a nice clean cut.
16. Determine how long the receiver tube needs to be. I seem to remember it being 7", accounting for 1/4" overhang on the rear to weld onto - but I could be wrong.
17. If the crossbar position looks good, and that it will position the receiver tube properly, the easiest method is to tack weld the crossbar in place on the brackets and then the receiver tube to the crossbar. Then remove the assembly from the car and have it fully welded following the welds that you can see in my pictures. Be sure to weld in the support bracket at the front of the receiver tube and the loop for the safety chain.
18. Test fit just to be sure everything is right.
19. Prime and paint the hitch, or have it powder coated if possible.
20. Mount the hitch on the car for the last time.
21. Install the muffler.
22. Enjoy!
That's just about everything that I can remember. It isn't exact, but should give you/a machinist enough to go on. It's a pretty simple design, with no bends or angles involved. It has been a while since I did it and I don't have the car any longer, so my memory is a bit rough on the fine details. Let me know if you have any questions, and of course be careful with everything. This obviously isn't a supported process and there are a number of ways that you could damage things if you don't proceed cautiously.
I've had a number of PMs from people asking for more detail on how I built the completely hidden hitch for my Evo X that I sold a few months ago, so I'm posting the steps that I followed to create it as best as I can remember now. Pictures of the finished product can be found here: http://gallery.me.com/jwa#100653
Below I have attached the initial bracket drawing that I did based on the final wood mock-up that I built. It should give you a rough idea on what you're looking at, but my final version ended up being a bit different as I was only able to find 2.5"x3.5" angle iron.
The parts list that I bought from the metal supply shop was:
* One piece of 2.5"x3.5"x1/4" angle 9" long (for one of the brackets).
* One piece of 2.5"x3.5"x1/4" angle 11" long(for the other bracket).
* One piece of 1.5"x1.5" square tubing 38" long (the crossbar).
* One piece of 2"x1.5"x3/16" angle 4" long (for the support bracket between the crossbar and receiver tube).
The total cost for these parts was $33.72 from my local metal shop. They will cut things to length, but that's it there. They sell all of the metal by the pound.
Additionally, I purchased this receiver tube: http://www.etrailer.com/pc-COMBO~E-912.htm, and this safety chain loop: http://www.etrailer.com/p-E950.htm.
The basic process to build this should be:
1. Buy the above raw materials.
2. Put rear of the car on jackstands or a lift, if possible.
3. Remove muffler.
4. Remove tow hooks on both sides.
5. Determine which side the 9" and 11" brackets go on. (I believe the 9" is on the driver's side, where there are only 3 mounting holes.)
6. Determine where in the rear edge of the vertical section of the brackets the crossbar will be positioned. The basic measurements from the CAD drawing should be correct. On one side there is a bracket that stays over the frame rail to support so other items, so on that side the hole must be raised in the bracket .125" to account for this and keep the bar even. I believe this is on the passenger's side. On the side with the bracket the hole will be positioned the .5" from the bottom in the 3.5" vertical section of the bracket, and the other side must be .375".
7. Determine which cuts on the top and rear of the bracket are actually needed. If you look at my pictures, I determined that a lot of them weren't needed. The intention from the prototype was to leave room around the exhaust hangers on the one side, and the frame rails on the other.
8. Cut out the holes for the crossbar. A mill is best, but worst case you could get it done with a Dremel with a cut-off wheel.
9. Cut out the sections for clearing the areas mentioned in step 7.
10. Determine where the mounting holes need to be. You should be able to use the stock tow hooks as a guide once you have determined the positioning of the first hole.
11. Drill the mounting holes.
12. Mount the brackets to the car.
13. Insert the crossbar into the brackets and check positioning.
14. Check the vertical positioning of the receiver tube based on where the crossbar is. It should be as shown in my pictures.
15. Cut the center section of the bumper vent ribs out to make room for the receiver tube. I used an X-Acto knife for a nice clean cut.
16. Determine how long the receiver tube needs to be. I seem to remember it being 7", accounting for 1/4" overhang on the rear to weld onto - but I could be wrong.
17. If the crossbar position looks good, and that it will position the receiver tube properly, the easiest method is to tack weld the crossbar in place on the brackets and then the receiver tube to the crossbar. Then remove the assembly from the car and have it fully welded following the welds that you can see in my pictures. Be sure to weld in the support bracket at the front of the receiver tube and the loop for the safety chain.
18. Test fit just to be sure everything is right.
19. Prime and paint the hitch, or have it powder coated if possible.
20. Mount the hitch on the car for the last time.
21. Install the muffler.
22. Enjoy!
That's just about everything that I can remember. It isn't exact, but should give you/a machinist enough to go on. It's a pretty simple design, with no bends or angles involved. It has been a while since I did it and I don't have the car any longer, so my memory is a bit rough on the fine details. Let me know if you have any questions, and of course be careful with everything. This obviously isn't a supported process and there are a number of ways that you could damage things if you don't proceed cautiously.
Last edited by JWA; Aug 15, 2011 at 08:46 AM.
Nov 15, 2009, 08:26 PM
#3
Evolving Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (9)
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 345
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Here's more info that I wrote up on this when I was selling the one that I built, just so that it's all in one place for future reference:
Originally Posted by JWA
As a lot of you know, no one makes a proper hitch for the Evo X. I wanted to be able to use a hitch-mounted bike rack and possibly tow a small tire trailer with my Evo X, so a few months ago I set out to design one. I have now sold my Evo X, so the hitch is available for sale. I'll describe how it was built.
First, I ordered the Hidden-hitch model that lists the new Ralliart as a fitment as they use the same exhaust and rear subframe, hopeful that it would work for the Evo as well. Unfortunately, it won't fit either the Evo or new Ralliart, and they obviously have mistaken the new Ralliart with the old version that shared the exhaust with the base Lancer. The crossbar wants to be right in the middle of the muffler canister, and the brackets come down right in the middle of where the exhaust tips go.
Since I had the exhaust off and a proper aftermarket hitch handy I took all of the measurements and began designing a hitch that would fit. I modeled it after the material usage and construction techniques of the Hidden Hitch/Draw-tite brand aftermarket hitches so that it would be reasonable to expect it to be at least as strong/capable as those.
The spacing is actually very nice and there is perfect room to mount the crossbar so that it goes behind the muffler, between it and the rear bumper cover. The bumper cover has cut outs on the bottom side where the brackets extend downward almost like it was made for it. It's an amazingly clean installation.
I used the same mounting points that the aftermarket hitch used, which are the points where the tow hooks are mounted on the Evo X. Thus, it mounts to known solid points using factory hardware. The aftermarket hitch used only two bolts per side, but I designed it to use all three on the left side and all four on the right for additional support. When I mounted it I left the tow hooks off under the theory that in a pinch the hitch itself would be a good place to strap onto, and that the tow hook brackets were pretty heavy, so leaving them off kept the weight pretty close. However, you should be able to mount them along with the hitch if desired.
I wanted the system to be easy to use but completely hidden in normal daily driving. Thus, I positioned the receiver tube so that it cam out right behind the license plate. When the plate is on the car you can not see the hitch at all. When using the hitch, I found it was easiest to unscrew the plate and mount it off to the side, only using one set of the mounting holes. You could put it in the window too. The stock rear valance has a nice "vented" section behind the plate. In the center of these vents there are two support ribs running conveniently on each side of the location for the receiver tube. This allows you to cut the vent ribs out between the supports. This is the only non-reversible modification that needs to be made to the car, but it is behind the license plate. I used a sharp X-Acto knife to cut mine.
As I mentioned, I had it built using the same material types, thicknesses, and support techniques as used by the aftermarket hitch companies. I used a Draw-tite brand receiver tube and safety chain ring. The brackets and crossbar were professionally milled to exacting tolerances and the entire unit was tacked in place on the car to ensure proper positioning before being finished welded by a professional welder. It was then primed and painted with rust-resistant primer and paint in satin black.
As I used the stock tow-hook mounts which are obviously intended to support stress from the factory, and the same materials and construction as aftermarket type-I hitches available for other cars, I think that it is reasonable to assume that it should meet the same capacity as those hitches. Thus, I would assume that it should be fine with up to 200lbs of tongue weight and pulling a maximum total trailer weight of 2,000lbs. However, obviously the lighter the better. Also, I must state that I don't warrant or guarantee anything other than that it will fit on a stock Evo X.
The installation takes roughly 20 minutes. You need a jack, two jack-stands, a ratchet and two sockets. I believe that they were 12mm and 14mm. You put the rear of the car on jack stands, unbolt the two bolts holding the muffler to the mid-pipe and slide the muffler off of the rubber hangers. You then remove the tow-hooks on each side of the car and retain their mounting bolts. Cut out the center section of the vent ribs on the bumper cover, and then simply bolt the hitch on using the bolts from the tow-hooks. Re-install the muffler and you are done. One tip - a little WD-40 or other spray lube on the rubber muffler hangers makes it easy to slip them off. The rest is easy.
First, I ordered the Hidden-hitch model that lists the new Ralliart as a fitment as they use the same exhaust and rear subframe, hopeful that it would work for the Evo as well. Unfortunately, it won't fit either the Evo or new Ralliart, and they obviously have mistaken the new Ralliart with the old version that shared the exhaust with the base Lancer. The crossbar wants to be right in the middle of the muffler canister, and the brackets come down right in the middle of where the exhaust tips go.
Since I had the exhaust off and a proper aftermarket hitch handy I took all of the measurements and began designing a hitch that would fit. I modeled it after the material usage and construction techniques of the Hidden Hitch/Draw-tite brand aftermarket hitches so that it would be reasonable to expect it to be at least as strong/capable as those.
The spacing is actually very nice and there is perfect room to mount the crossbar so that it goes behind the muffler, between it and the rear bumper cover. The bumper cover has cut outs on the bottom side where the brackets extend downward almost like it was made for it. It's an amazingly clean installation.
I used the same mounting points that the aftermarket hitch used, which are the points where the tow hooks are mounted on the Evo X. Thus, it mounts to known solid points using factory hardware. The aftermarket hitch used only two bolts per side, but I designed it to use all three on the left side and all four on the right for additional support. When I mounted it I left the tow hooks off under the theory that in a pinch the hitch itself would be a good place to strap onto, and that the tow hook brackets were pretty heavy, so leaving them off kept the weight pretty close. However, you should be able to mount them along with the hitch if desired.
I wanted the system to be easy to use but completely hidden in normal daily driving. Thus, I positioned the receiver tube so that it cam out right behind the license plate. When the plate is on the car you can not see the hitch at all. When using the hitch, I found it was easiest to unscrew the plate and mount it off to the side, only using one set of the mounting holes. You could put it in the window too. The stock rear valance has a nice "vented" section behind the plate. In the center of these vents there are two support ribs running conveniently on each side of the location for the receiver tube. This allows you to cut the vent ribs out between the supports. This is the only non-reversible modification that needs to be made to the car, but it is behind the license plate. I used a sharp X-Acto knife to cut mine.
As I mentioned, I had it built using the same material types, thicknesses, and support techniques as used by the aftermarket hitch companies. I used a Draw-tite brand receiver tube and safety chain ring. The brackets and crossbar were professionally milled to exacting tolerances and the entire unit was tacked in place on the car to ensure proper positioning before being finished welded by a professional welder. It was then primed and painted with rust-resistant primer and paint in satin black.
As I used the stock tow-hook mounts which are obviously intended to support stress from the factory, and the same materials and construction as aftermarket type-I hitches available for other cars, I think that it is reasonable to assume that it should meet the same capacity as those hitches. Thus, I would assume that it should be fine with up to 200lbs of tongue weight and pulling a maximum total trailer weight of 2,000lbs. However, obviously the lighter the better. Also, I must state that I don't warrant or guarantee anything other than that it will fit on a stock Evo X.
The installation takes roughly 20 minutes. You need a jack, two jack-stands, a ratchet and two sockets. I believe that they were 12mm and 14mm. You put the rear of the car on jack stands, unbolt the two bolts holding the muffler to the mid-pipe and slide the muffler off of the rubber hangers. You then remove the tow-hooks on each side of the car and retain their mounting bolts. Cut out the center section of the vent ribs on the bumper cover, and then simply bolt the hitch on using the bolts from the tow-hooks. Re-install the muffler and you are done. One tip - a little WD-40 or other spray lube on the rubber muffler hangers makes it easy to slip them off. The rest is easy.
Nov 15, 2009, 08:28 PM
#4
Evolving Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (9)
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 345
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I just pasted in my original writeup about it. As I mentioned in there, since I patterned it after other aftermarket hitches built for other cars and used the same mounting points - though even more securely - that the models made for base Lancers use, I would assume that it should be good for the same that they are rated for, which is up to 200lbs of tongue weight and pulling a maximum total trailer weight of 2,000lbs. Thus, a light trailer with two quads loaded correctly to have just a bit of tongue weight should be fine - but I'd be easy on it. The lighter the better.
Dec 1, 2009, 04:19 PM
#6
Newbie
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: jax fl
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
hey i love this but do you guy think i will have any problems with towing a bike it is a 600 with a small ride on traler i have a stock cluch and i dont wana burn it out ether
thanks
thanks
Dec 1, 2009, 07:16 PM
#7
Evolving Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (9)
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 345
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
A 600 sport bike on a small trailer would be ~600lbs. So if it is just you in the car that would be similar loading on the clutch as if you had three 200lb people in the car with you. The clutch shouldn't be an issue if you drive it correctly anyways. You shouldn't be slipping the clutch or dumping it any time.
Trending Topics
Dec 31, 2009, 11:17 PM
#8
Newbie
iTrader: (4)
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: bay area, CA
Posts: 73
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
do you have dimensions for the other side?
I know the height is the same, just want to make sure that the length is the same, and if i need to make certain cuts.
thanks
I know the height is the same, just want to make sure that the length is the same, and if i need to make certain cuts.
thanks
Last edited by DaFastOne; Dec 31, 2009 at 11:25 PM.
Jan 1, 2010, 10:35 AM
#9
Evolving Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (9)
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 345
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The rest is the same, it's just the height that is different. You want the crossbar hole to end up in exactly the same spot, side to side. The mounting holes will be different, but you'll just use the stock tow hooks from each side to mark their location before drilling.
Jan 15, 2010, 10:06 AM
#11
Evolving Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (9)
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 345
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Sorry, but no. I don't even have an Evo any longer, so there would be no way for me to do it. I considered having some fabbed up for others on here when I made mine, but in order to make it worth my time I felt that they would be cost-prohibitive. The raw materials are cheap, and the time isn't bad if you're doing it for yourself, but it just wouldn't work out to go into small-scale production. Not to mention the sponsor fees for the forums in order to be able to sell them.
Jul 11, 2011, 07:14 PM
#14
Evolving Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (9)
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 345
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
There you go guys - I updated the first post with a new address for the full gallery of pics that I had and two of the three pics that I had inserted into that post. I'm not sure what the third pic showed or where it is, but you should be able to work out the gist of the process.