Track Tires transport

[ope_sry]

Wow, that's commitment! Do you think you could fit one wheel on the seat if you didn't remove it? I'm thinking one on the seat, one in the back and two on the roof in a suction mounted basket.

Easily could fit one on the seat

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[TYMBOM]

I am not done yet, but 95% complete.

 

[razorlab]

I am not done yet, but 95% complete.

Arey you going to share a how-to when done?

 

[TYMBOM]

Arey you going to share a how-to when done?

I have been photographing each phase. I am not sure how well of a “how to” I will have done, but I will have a picture book and an overview for sure.

 

[TYMBOM]

This was last years Drag n’ Drive event setup but it was very cramped carrying all my fuel and tools, and didn’t allow for dedicated tires. That is why I am changing it up this year.

 

[Traxion]

Are you going to share a how-to when done?

Alright I guess I'll finally get around to writing this up.

Hitch purchased: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004C6TZCM


1. Remove Rear Bumper and unplug any sensors and wires going to the reverse light:
2. To wire the 4 pin trailer light assembly splice into the rear lights as shown below. It's really important you get a good splice since if you mess this up you'll have to deal with taking off the bumper again. I would recommend solder and heat shrink instead. The splice clips I used in the picture didn't self tap very well. I had to strip the wire manually then add the taps.

Driver rear:
Yellow wire to the blue/green wire.
Brown wire into the purple wire

Passenger Rear:
White into the brown wire
Green into the green/white wire

3. Remove the metal triangle in the middle. Slide the hitch onto the impact bar and mark where you need to drill through. You need the hitch to poke through where the reverse light comes out of. While you're there you can also remove the marked area of the heat shield. Leaving it on will make you cut yourself when doing trailer chains and also makes torqueing the hitch bolts much more difficult. For drilling, I would recommend a corded electric hammer drill, thread cutting oil, and cobalt drill bits. A center punch tool will also make getting started easier. Start with a small bit to punch all the way through, then a mid size bit to enlarge the hole, and then the final size bit you need to fit the hitch bolt through. If you don't drill completely square you may have to expand the holes a little bit.

4. Remove the reverse light from the bumper by unscrewing these. You also need to cut off the plastic around where those screws are. They will mess with the clearance of the hitch and being able to push the bumper back on flush like OEM.

5. Attach the hitch and put thread locker on the bolts so that the nuts will stay secure. Hitch instructions say to torque to 105 ft/lbs but I was only able to reach 80-90 ft/lbs as I was torqueing them after I had already partially reassembled things. It should be much easier to torque them if you do it before you reassemble anything.

It will look like this picture but be mounted lower. This is just when I test fit the hitch before I drilled the holes. DO NOT TRY TO SKIP DRILLING. This mounts the hitch too high and the bumper will not fit on.

6. Reattach sensor connectors (reverse light cable will stay unplugged) and put the bumper back on. A couple places where you screw the bumper to the heatshield underneath or car plastic will no longer line up but it will only be a couple centimeters off. I screwed them to the plastic near by to make new holes.


End Result

 

[TYMBOM]

Alright I guess I'll finally get around to writing this up.

Hitch purchased: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004C6TZCM


1. Remove Rear Bumper and unplug any sensors and wires going to the reverse light:
2. To wire the 4 pin trailer light assembly splice into the rear lights as shown below. It's really important you get a good splice since if you mess this up you'll have to deal with taking off the bumper again. I would recommend solder and heat shrink instead. The splice clips I used in the picture didn't self tap very well. I had to strip the wire manually then add the taps.

Driver rear:
Yellow wire to the blue/green wire.
Brown wire into the purple wire

Passenger Rear:
White into the brown wire
Green into the green/white wire

3. Remove the metal triangle in the middle. Slide the hitch onto the impact bar and mark where you need to drill through. You need the hitch to poke through where the reverse light comes out of. While you're there you can also remove the marked area of the heat shield. Leaving it on will make you cut yourself when doing trailer chains and also makes torqueing the hitch bolts much more difficult. For drilling, I would recommend a corded electric hammer drill, thread cutting oil, and cobalt drill bits. A center punch tool will also make getting started easier. Start with a small bit to punch all the way through, then a mid size bit to enlarge the hole, and then the final size bit you need to fit the hitch bolt through. If you don't drill completely square you may have to expand the holes a little bit.

4. Remove the reverse light from the bumper by unscrewing these. You also need to cut off the plastic around where those screws are. They will mess with the clearance of the hitch and being able to push the bumper back on flush like OEM.

5. Attach the hitch and put thread locker on the bolts so that the nuts will stay secure. Hitch instructions say to torque to 105 ft/lbs but I was only able to reach 80-90 ft/lbs as I was torqueing them after I had already partially reassembled things. It should be much easier to torque them if you do it before you reassemble anything.

It will look like this picture but be mounted lower. This is just when I test fit the hitch before I drilled the holes. DO NOT TRY TO SKIP DRILLING. This mounts the hitch too high and the bumper will not fit on.

6. Reattach sensor connectors (reverse light cable will stay unplugged) and put the bumper back on. A couple places where you screw the bumper to the heatshield underneath or car plastic will no longer line up but it will only be a couple centimeters off. I screwed them to the plastic near by to make new holes.


End Result

That is one way for sure. I am retaining the light and complete factory look with mine.

What I have done is a lot different. The wiring with the taps is an area of concern for me as well as how the hitch is attached. The factory bumper left a lot to be desired, but I am also going to be towing a bit more weight and a week long trip of over 1000 miles.

I will say that your way will be much more simple and doable for most people without much fabrication, especially if just using for tires only.

What did you do with your trailer wiring plug?

Good job

 

[Traxion]

I figured having two different types of instructions could help people between what you're working on and what I did. Are you fabricating a full hitch bar that mounts where the crash bar bolts in on the left and right and then pops the hitch under the bottom of the bumper? I think that's definitely the way to go if you want to tow above 1000 pounds to help distribute the load on the car frame.

What did you do with your trailer wiring plug?

I bought a receive hitch cover light that lights up on braking so that it's always plugged into something. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08Z3FH5WQ

 

[TYMBOM]

I figured having two different types of instructions could help people between what you're working on and what I did. Are you fabricating a full hitch bar that mounts where the crash bar bolts in on the left and right and then pops the hitch under the bottom of the bumper? I think that's definitely the way to go if you want to tow above 1000 pounds to help distribute the load on the car frame.


I bought a receive hitch cover light that lights up on braking so that it's always plugged into something. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08Z3FH5WQ

Agreed. I mean is your trailer wiring mounted or loose behind behind the bumper while towing?

 

[Traxion]

Agreed. I mean is your trailer wiring mounted or loose behind behind the bumper while towing?

I don't remember what I did with all the extra wire. I think I either zip tied it to places behind the bumper or wrapped it around the impact bar until there was just enough left to drop it down and poke through. I definitely didn't cut the wire and splice it back together to make it the perfect length.

Also now that I posted this image I forgot I had to cut that little bit to the left of the hitch pin in order to be able to get the right angle to be able to slide it through.

 

[kungfujedis]

Wow, both of those approaches are looking impressive. I'm looking forward to the challenge of leveraging your work. It was too easy with my WRX, just got uhaul to put a hitch on and got a hitch carrier.

 

[TYMBOM]

Here is mine. Everything will look stock when not towing and the licence plate on.

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