Just had a custom hitch install by a local welding/fabrication company. They've now done threee MCS hitches. It looks GREAT! Now to just get my small trailer and lugging tires in the car is a thing of the past. Totally invisable when the ball isn't installed.




Paul

 

That's great, and they didn't have to reconfigure the exhaust!


Good luck!

 

WOW! How much if I may ask? What is it rated at? Do you have pics of how it attaches to the car?

Me want! I'm tired of lugging tires in the back seat.

-Jim

 

I'm also interested in any additional details on this hitch setup.

Did this require a lot of disassembly of the back of the car to install (rear bumper, exhaust, heat shield etc) or was it done without?

I've read all the threads on hitches for the MCS and this looks like the cleanest install so far - I'm very jealous! Since I didn't like any of the other hitch solutions I've found so far, I was actually considering installing the Sportlink and then fabricating a trailer hitch to it myself. Your solution looks much cleaner (and a lot less $$$).

Please share any additional details you can - thanks!

 

All said and done it cost me $500cdn installed with wiring harness tow ball, everything. I'm going to jack the car up this weekend and take some pics. The guys who made it seems to make each one as needed and doesn't seem to have a jig or anything. He's just a small welding shop. I'll post those pictures as soon as I get them.

To me at least this is the nicest hitch I've seen on an MCS, all the others had something I didn't like. The only flaw with this will be taking the tow ball off when I get to the track as it will be hot from the exhaust I would guess. I guess that's what Mechanix gloves are for.

Cheers,

Paul

 

I wasn't around for the install as I had to work but judging from discussions I had with them I think the heat shield and exhaust are removed for part of the install. I don't think the rear bumper had to be removed at all. I'll get pictures this weekend when I have it up on the jack.

Paul

 

Looks good. Maybe a new jacking point too?!

 

Hey, that's a good point Mark. I'll look to see if that's doable.

Paul

 

Best looking setup I've seen so far. Think I'll check out a couple local shops after you get the pics up.

 

Check out my gallery on SOMC for a few more pics.

http://www.somc.on.ca/gallery/view_a...paulmon&page=3

http://www.somc.on.ca/gallery/view_a...paulmon&page=4

More to come.

Paul

 

Paul,

It looks like this just bolts to the bottom of the battery box.

Is that strong enough? Is there more structure that we can't see? I looked at your pictures and it appeared to just bolt to the bottom.

-Jim

 

I made a hitch for My MCS last week, it is in another thread in this general area.

WARNING
DON'T CONNECT YOUR TRAILER TO YOUR MINI ELECTRICAL SYSTEM. An electronic module in the MINI drives the tail lights.

In the 1970's I burned out TWO $50 electronic turn signals in my VW before I found out the cause was an intermitent short in my trailer.

The BMW / MINI tow hitch retrofit kit for which I obtained the instructions includes an isolation module to protect the MINI from your trailer.

The good news is all of the "trailer plug"manufacturers make them and they cost about $35.00. I fished mine out of a clearence bin at the auto store for half that price, because it was listed for an (obsolete) 1994 Ford Bronco. I just cut off the Bronco plugs and wired it into the MINI

The key is that the tail light converter has its own line and fuse direct to the battery, and has a statement on it that it is meant to protect your cars computer.

I measured the current draw on mine. It drew .001 amps from the MINI lights to light the 2.5 amp turn signal on my trailer. It drew .002 to light the tail and running lights. The rest of the required power came direct from the battery.

To make the connection I did not cut or tap the MINI wires. I unpluged the MINI connector from the tail lights. I then carefully unsnapped the plug cover, and used a knife to release the barb (twice on each terminal) and pull the wire out of the plug. Then I stripped the module wire, and wrapped it around the terminal several times and reinserted it into the plug, and replaced cover.

While I was at it, I swapped the terminals in Cavities 1 and 4. This made my unused "fog" lights into the rear brake lights, instead of having the brake light in the same lens as the tail light.

John, Illinois

 

I agree that's what it looks like in my pics. I'll take more this weekend. Talking to them it bolts to way more than that. I'll be sure to get pics up asap once I can jack it up and look under.

Paul

 

John, the company that did the wiring has done several MINIs and BMWs. They used some kind of module designed for the Cooper. I'll take a poke and see what they did.

Cheers,

Paul

 

Paul
It sounds like the folks that did your car know what they are doing.

I intended the post as kind of a general warning. I know of one person that has put a hitch on his MINI S and he tied the lights in directly, and is depending on 5 amp fuses in each line to protect the computer!

I have seen similar suggestions about fusing the lines on other web sites. I figure for the $35 for the powered module, why risk the electronics in the MINI.

The instructions for the Paul Hacker hitch (MC or MCS) and the Dalan (MC only) never mention the wiring.

I look forward to hearing / seeing how the Hitch is attached. The one I built has a VERY low tongue wieght capability due to a long leverage arm between the last bolt and the ball.

If you haven't done other research, take a look at this to see how some other hitches are attached. There is an instruction sheet for the DALAN and an image of part of the Sport Link. I suspect yours is tied to the same points on the car.

http://user.mc.net/~jdewey/MINI/Trailer_hitch/

Good Luck

John

 

Well, I jacked the car up tonight to take a look. I couldn't take pictures as it started to rain, not to mention pinching my finger in the handle of the jack when I put the handle pieces together, OUCh!

Well, I'm concerned with how this hitch was put on. First, there are 4 bolts that go through the battery box heat shield. I'm not sure if some other bracing is under that or if it's simply connect to the battery box. If it's connected to the battery box. If there is some extra bracing I can't see then I'm not worried. All I can tell at this point is that it's got 4 bolts through the heat shield so I'm reserving judgement on this until I can confirm. The other connection is actually welded to the frame of the car. A strap of metal was welded to part of the frame behind the battery box and the hitch was then welded to this. While this is strong it's not exactly removable if I ever need to take the hitch off for some kind of problem back there.

So there you have it. Perhaps the nicest looking hitch but not exactly the nicest install. I'm going to jack the car up again on the weekend and have a good look. If it's simply connected to the battery box I'm going to go back and let them know that the battery box is just a tub of plastic, it's not structural.

Paul

 

The battery box in my (September 03) 2004 MCS is a steel box that is welded to the floor of the trunk. I considered bolting a hitch to the battery box but since the joint is covered with some kind of sealant, I could not see how many spot welds there are connecting the box to the floor. I chickened out and did it another way. If there are enough spot welds it would make a pretty good attatchment point.


I bet you will find that under the heat shield there are "straps" wrapping the box and tied into something tougher.

If it is just bolted to the battery box consider this:

From about 1969 when bumpers were non functional decorations, until 1974 when "real" (big ugly heavy) crash bumpers went on cars most trailer hitches just bolted through the floor of the trunk in 4 places. These were generally rated at 2000 / 200 pounds, except for the one on my buddies Pinto which was rated 100 / 1000 as the car should not handle the 2000.

It was a pretty strong system. My friend had too much tongue wieght on his hitch. When the car in front of him stopped he slammed on his brakes. Instead of nose diving, his car "rear dove" and the front wheels had no traction to stop the car. He rearended the car ahead, and the 2000 pound boat he was towing was damaged when it hit the front of the trailer. Neither the hitch or the floor of his Pinto bent.

John

 

Well I took a closer look today. It seems as suspected that ontop of welding the hitch to the frame of the car that it's also bolted to the bottom of the battery box. Looking over how it was done I'm not terribly worried. The welding is what gives the hitch it's strength for towing while the bolts give it the tongue weight. A solid piece of metal was put on the bottom of the battery box floor and the hitch was bolted through this metal, through the battery box floor and through the skit plate. I'm confident it's not going anywhere. Perhaps not the ideal way to install it but I like the fact that is't totally hidden when not in use.

I'm thinking of going back and getting the company to make a modification though. There is a piece of metal welded to the frame and then the main member for the receiver is welded to that metal. I'm contimplating getting them to make that connection bolted so remove the weld and put in two bolts or some kind of tongue with bolts. This will allow me to remove the receiver if I ever need to drop the exhaust etc.

I'll have my 4ft x 4ft trailer this week that I'm getting as a hand-me-down. I'll remove the sides and hopefully be able to end up with something that looks like this:

 

I just finished a (REVISED) hitch for my MCS. It is SIMILAR to the sport link BUT it does not have as many attachment points. I did not remove the bumper facia, or have to remove the exhaust system to put it on.:smile:

I did undo the brackets on the mufflers and let them hang down a couple of inches for clearence while I was working.

The hitch reciever attatches to the existing holes in the box beams.

For the receiver and the hitch, the steel was about $20 and the coupler bolts and nuts around $10.

(I also used a Reciprocating saw metal cutting blade and a few welding rods.)

An earlier version required drilling the trunk and had much too long a leverage arm.

More information is at.

http://user.mc.net/~jdewey/MINI/Trailer_hitch/


John

 

Oh MAN that is awesome!

Any idea what the capacity is on it? Does it just hug the battery box?

If it's strong can I pay you to make me one?

See you Tuesday!

-Jim

 

The problem with making a trailer hitch is not that it might break for you, but that 2 owners down the line some idiot trys to pull a 16 foot boat with it and gets killed. Then you have this problem that MINI says you can not pull any trailer with an MCS, even though the MINI is rated for a 900 pound trailer.

Having said that.

The 1/2 by 1 by 48 inch steel was from Blaines farm and fleet. As I recall there is one in Janesville just off of I94 on route 14. The coupling nuts are available several places. They were abut $5 at Ace and under $2, (and larger and easier to weld to) at Home Depot.

After that some pipe, angle iron and 3/4 by 8" bolts would finish the job.

John