Spider Trailer Hitch?

ocduff said:

Zunige - looks great! Where did you have it installed (I'm in Jersey too) and how did it mount, and what brand is it? Cost? Details please!

Great pics. I wonder how it would mount on my S4? With the rubber bumped shroud in the way.

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My hitch was custom made by a shop in Lexington, KY. (It's about 2 hours away from my wife's hometown in OH. The Spider is with us in NJ right now, but it will spend the winter in OH.) The fellow who did it specializes in fabrication for performance and race cars. I observed that many of the SCCA racers would haul their tires to the autocross in little trailers, so that's what I did. The fabricator had done this many times for a variety of small cars, but not on an Alfa Spider, although he was certainly familiar with our Spiders.

The whole assembly is custom made, and took pretty much all day to complete (thinking time included ). The assembly that fits the hitch receiver to the car is a "T". The single arm is fitted to a bracket that was welded to the underside of the car, right behind the differential. There is a very sturdy piece there that is part of the Spider's body. (Another option could have been the metal piece that runs along the side of the wheel well.) The cross arm of the "T" attaches to brackets that were fitted in the bumper support area, but the arm does not attach to the bolts that support the bumper. The fabricator didn't like the 6 mm size of the bumper bolts. (The '74 bolts are sturdier.) The hitch receiver itself is welded (all TIG) to the underside of the cross arm hitch assembly and the single arm is welded to the underside of the hitch receiver. I'm sorry that I'm not close to the receiver hitch assembly to take pictures (it's off the car). Nonetheless here are couple of pictures of the bracket that is used to attach the single arm of the "T" to the car. (It's close to the differential.) All three ends of the "T" slide into a bracket and a pin and clip are used to secure it in place. The custom job is not easy, and you may have to adjust (and bend) the arm that runs back. The fabricator did a superb job and I think his experience really made a difference. The assembly is very easy to remove, and the brackets are fully hidden when the assembly is off the car, plus it does not rattle at all when it is on the car.

The receiver is 1 1/14 inches, and the ball mount is for a 1 7/8 inch ball. All components came from the U-haul store, and are rated at 2000 lbs. However, I must strongly emphasize that the custom towing assembly is not rated in any way, and certainly was not made for towing anything more than an absolute maximum of 500 lbs., including the weight of the trailer. In fact, the fabricator quizzed me about what I wanted to tow before taking on the job, and told me that he will not work on a performance car if he gets any vibes that the owner may decide to tow something heavier.

With a car that has a spoiler covering the underside of the bumper, you would have to cut an opening in the spoiler to access the receiver hitch.

Best regards,

ocduff said:

Also, how did you get the wiring installed?

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That was pretty easy, although it did take me some time to do it, but that's probably because I'm beyond meticulous and anal about how things look in the car. If you lift the trunk carpet off the rear driver side area, right in front of the rear light, you can access all the wires. The brake light wire from the driver side of the car feeds the passenger side break light, so there is no need to do anything on the passenger side. The passenger turn signal lead is separate from the driver lead, and it was little trickier to identify, but it also comes from the driver's side of the car, so again no need to do anything on the passenger side. Note that that you do need to use a kit for cars with separate lights for turn signals and brakes. (Inexpensive, even if bought separately and there are versions that have a test module built in.)

Best regards,

74rally200 said:

Has anyone here installed a trailer hitch on an Alfa? I have a '74 Spider and would like to be able to attach a low, very light duty motorcycle trailer for Vespa and Lambretta scooters. Any thoughts or recommendations?

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Given the nature of the Spider body, and the hitch that could be installed, I think that not exceeding a total towing weight of 500 lbs. is a key decision making factor. Hence, you need to determine accurately the weight of the scooter and the trailer. My trailer, which is an inexpensive utility version, with a piece of plywood fitted on top, plus the hooks that I added, weighs 173 lbs.

Keep in mind as well, that you cannot go in reverse with the typical small trailer, since it just won't steer. In order to back up, you need a trailer that has the triangle frame type attachment in the front, and the longer the trailer, the better it steers. There are a variety of trailers, including some very light aluminum ones, that you can find with a google search. I don't see why you wouldn't be able to find one that suits your needs, provided the combined weight of the trailer and scooter are not excessive. It is also equally important to make sure that the weight is properly distributed. The rule of thumb is to keep about 10% of the weight on the tongue, so that the trailer stays level and doesn't have a tendency to pull up or push down.

Last, but not least, get an oil cooler fitted to your Spider. The engine will generate a lot more heat when pulling 500 lbs., and the temperature will rise when going uphill, so it's a good idea to follow the factory recommendation to fit an oil cooler for towing. And a final word, the oil cooler versions that are available from some of the aftermarket Alfa suppliers are small. (I haven't counted lately, but the one that I use has at least eight rows, and it is wider and taller than the one from IAP, for example...)

Best regards,