F M J trailer hitch Info?

[Mikes5thAve]

It was a common thing to do yes even with bumpers like ours. Countless number of cars had bumper hitches right up until chrome bumpers disappeared and it was never an issue when people were realistic with what they were towing. Thats why it's so hard to find anything about receiver hitches for them.

 

[armataz]

It was a common thing to do yes even with bumpers like ours. Countless number of cars had bumper hitches right up until chrome bumpers disappeared and it was never an issue when people were realistic with what they were towing. Thats why it's so hard to find anything about receiver hitches for them.

yah, I know,
I actually have a factory tow package on the white 78 SE wagon. but I would not trust it my self.
it is far from what I would consider safe for anything except a lawn mower trailer, by todays safety standards.
it's just a couple pieces of flat stock with some L brackets that all bolt together, and a chrome ball mount.
it is designed to flex with the load. and uses the internal bumper core for weight support.
as you described. but I still would not consider a good idea. unless you modify the bumper as well, to make it a solid mounted bumper.

the white SE is a parts vehicle for my blue wagon and my 79 duster.. is not running the 225 engine was robbed for it's super 6 parts before I bought it.

 

[armataz]

yah, I know,
I actually have a factory tow package on the white 78 SE wagon. but I would not trust it my self.
it is far from what I would consider safe for anything except a lawn mower trailer, by todays safety standards.
it's just a couple pieces of flat stock with some L brackets that all bolt together, and a chrome ball mount.
it is designed to flex with the load. and uses the internal bumper core for weight support.
as you described. but I still would not consider a good idea. unless you modify the bumper as well, to make it a solid mounted bumper.

the white SE is a parts vehicle for my blue wagon and my 79 duster.. is not running the 225 engine was robbed for it's super 6 parts before I bought it.

View attachment 48857

I think the actual reason theres nothing about receiver hitches for our vehicles, is because they are basically a 90's creation.
because, by the mid-late 80's, bumpers were starting to be made with a foam and sheet metal core wrapped by plastic
.so our cars up to the early 80's, were no longer being supported by manufactures who were building them.

 

[slant six]

Glad to Stir Up some discussion
I would never Bolt anything to an absorber Bumper; yes it can be done, It's just not for me.
I want to Tow up to say ~3500 Pounds and more likely less thane 2500# when the time arises.. My closed back half of a '62 Valiant Trailer is 800# empty and I hope to engineer a solution soon to replace the live 7.25" axle with something else. Cool Stuff guys!

 

[Mikes5thAve]

yah, I know,
I actually have a factory tow package on the white 78 SE wagon. but I would not trust it my self.
it is far from what I would consider safe for anything except a lawn mower trailer, by todays safety standards.
it's just a couple pieces of flat stock with some L brackets that all bolt together, and a chrome ball mount.
it is designed to flex with the load. and uses the internal bumper core for weight support.
as you described. but I still would not consider a good idea. unless you modify the bumper as well, to make it a solid mounted bumper.

the white SE is a parts vehicle for my blue wagon and my 79 duster.. is not running the 225 engine was robbed for it's super 6 parts before I bought it.

View attachment 48857

Thats similar to what I have that came off my 79 with tow package but it's flat and not bent up like that. The last car and owner towed a tent trailer cross country several times with it. I've only used it for pulling a utility trailer years ago and don't have it on any more.

 

[Mikes5thAve]

Glad to Stir Up some discussion
I would never Bolt anything to an absorber Bumper; yes it can be done, It's just not for me.
I want to Tow up to say ~3500 Pounds and more likely less thane 2500# when the time arises.. My closed back half of a '62 Valiant Trailer is 800# empty and I hope to engineer a solution soon to replace the live 7.25" axle with something else. Cool Stuff guys!

With that much weight you should at least add plates from the side of the receiver up to the bar, not just the front and back. Like I said they get most of their strength from being right at the bar so hanging down like that is going to put a lot more strain on it.

 

[armataz]

With that much weight you should at least add plates from the side of the receiver up to the bar, not just the front and back. Like I said they get most of their strength from being right at the bar so hanging down like that is going to put a lot more strain on it.

I agree,, it would be good to add some central bracing to support that kind of weight
looking at this pic..

what kind of metal is your license plate bracket mounted to?
if its a heavy gauge core support, you could weld a couple braced hangers to the draw bar and use it as an additional forward mounting point. to distribute the weight

 

[slant six]

The hitch in the above picture is on my '64 dart. I defiently want that hitch off in a jiffy with just the 4 bolts. I would not be welding anything extra on that one.

 

[armataz]

The hitch in the above picture is on my '64 dart. I defiently want that hitch off in a jiffy with just the 4 bolts. I would not be welding anything extra on that one.

theres nothing really wrong with the draw bar.. it's just not designed "as is" for that kind of weight.
it would be an easy fix with just a little more modification.

 

[slant six]

4-9-23:

The hitch is all installed and I finished up the wiring last nite.
Took a trailer load of Tires and parts to the garage. Signals and brake lights / tail lights all work properly.
Tossed the bike on the back of the wagon for the easter visit with the inlaws. They live by a nice bike trail

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[armataz]

nice aint it?? having a modern draw bar is kinda handy. and way safer . the original leaf spring hitches were kinda scary even with the extra support brackets that tied to the bumper, that were suppose to minimize flexing

 

[slant six]

nice aint it?? having a modern draw bar is kinda handy. and way safer . the original leaf spring hitches were kinda scary even with the extra support brackets that tied to the bumper, that were suppose to minimize flexing

Agreed. Thanks!

 

[slant six]

Went with the Loaded Trailer to a swap meet. This trailer weights ~800# empty and I probably added 800# of parts for a good 300 Mile round trip. The wagon towed my "ValianTrailer" incredibly well.. espically for the 2.45:1 Rear gears in the 8.25 Axle, It does not pull grades or start out on a hill incredibly fast but It will keep up with traffic where there is 0 to minimal grade on the insterstate. No Frame hitch issues at all... Now I just need to fabricobble a copy of this hitch for the '79 Duster!

 

[slant six]

9/4/23
Monday (Labor Day) - The '79 Disco Wagon was fitted with the one-man canoe loader and we headed to the River takeout on the Kiskimentas River.
We got on the road before sunrise.
Getting my 9-year-old daughter up before sunrise requires some motivation.. the canoe trip works as that motivation for this day!

A local canoe outfitter takes us, our gear, and our canoe 13 Miles up the road to Saltsburg, PA, and We shoved off at 8:45 for a 5-hour paddle; 11 miles back down the river to our parking spot.
The wagon got a lot of looks at the river parking area when we were loading up.

I was beat from 5 hours of paddling but it was a good weekend with the family and the wagons!

 

[armataz]

9/4/23
Monday (Labor Day) - The '79 Disco Wagon was fitted with the one-man canoe loader and we headed to the River takeout on the Kiskimentas River.
We got on the road before sunrise.
Getting my 9-year-old daughter up before sunrise requires some motivation.. the canoe trip works as that motivation for this day!
View attachment 50893
View attachment 50894

A local canoe outfitter takes us, our gear, and our canoe 13 Miles up the road to Saltsburg, PA, and We shoved off at 8:45 for a 5-hour paddle; 11 miles back down the river to our parking spot.
The wagon got a lot of looks at the river parking area when we were loading up.
View attachment 50895
View attachment 50896

I was beat from 5 hours of paddling but it was a good weekend with the family and the wagons!

try that with a modern factory rack.... I dare you LOL plastic cheep piles of AAAARRG. tried to hall a box and mattress, with the grand voyager and the tin foil bars ripped out the plastic adjustable mounts. I have an couple extra sets of the steal bows on my 78 because it's my service wagon. it can handle over 300 pounds of equipment (ladders lumber scaffolding ect..) with out flexing

 

[Mikes5thAve]

We had a 2001 focus wagon and it had a metal roof rack. We had a canoe on it, I had loads of countless numbers of lumber on there and it held up great. Thry went plastic in 2002 and you could flex it with your hand.

 

[78VOLAREWAG]

What wheel & tire combo are you running?

 

[slant six]

What wheel & tire combo are you running?

Hi there,

These are 17X8 Mustang wheels running 245-45-17 with a 1.5" Spacer on all four corners. Makes an otherwise stock car handle a bit better, but with bar and Spring upgrades would probably be a nice corner carver too.

Those Mustang 17X8's come in 2 offsets something like ~+32mm and +45mm offset.

These are the +32mm as the +45's are a bit harder to find.

Where are you in Pittsburgh? I am in Westmoreland County not too far. Saturday 9/16/23 I will be hauling a trailer load of parts up to the Gene's Mopar BBQ at the Salisbury Fire Department in Salisbury PA. Should be a nice day for a drive to the high country of Somerset County and a MoPar show!

 

[slant six]

We had a 2001 focus wagon and it had a metal roof rack. We had a canoe on it, I had loads of countless numbers of lumber on there and it held up great. Thry went plastic in 2002 and you could flex it with your hand.

I was unaware of plastic racks I guess.
I use Yakima or Thule - Just bought one for my '64 Dart and probably will get another one for my '62 valiant wagon as it does not have a factory roof rack on it, and I would suppose it would be very difficult to find one as opposed to a Factory F/J/M Body rack.. It seems like every FJM wagon I have seen has one. almost like they were standard. I know they were not standard but it seems like they were.