Tone's Trailer Hitch

[Apostle]

has anyone installed Tone's hitch and harness?

wondering how hard it is to install and what is the towing capacity of the VX?

[XCross69]

I got it and installed it myself....to me the hardest part was getting the cladding off and even that wasn't bad...Rememeber I don't even work with power tools that much and still did it so that should tell ya how easy it is!!

[AndyC]

Well, I installed one on my 01 VX to pull my 00 16' SeaDoo Speedster. It pulls it fine and what looks I get :). Cladding was the hardest part, since I was so careful with it and then the cutting it for the hitch. It was easy to cut but I did the minimun and when I put the cladding on it wasn't enough, so off it came again. It worked out to be the larger size in the directions.

Andy

[tiggergreen]

I bought the tow hitch from Tone. It can pull 5,000 pounds and handle 500 pounds on the tongue.

See this thread (http://www.vehicross.info/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=783) for details.

I had it installed at Midas. They even welded the bumper rods to the hitch.

I just towed a 5x8 U-Haul with the VX and it handled it as if it wasn't even there.

Brent
www.xanderstudios.com

[Yefim]

I started installing Tone's hitch today and ran into a problem. I think I followed the directions correctly, however when I drilled the first inner hole it did not lign up with the one already drilled in the frame. It was really off. Does someone has better and more precise measurements on how to drill it correctly - like so many inches from the top, from the right, etc. I now need to drill a second inner hole hoping to drill it correctly, then attach the hitch and re-drill the one I already did. Any help on how to do it correctly is appreciated.

Thanks.

[colmhd]

Tone hitch installed in a couple of hours. The trick with the hole alingment is to get the hitch centered as best as possible when making the punch marks for the drilling, even with that there was a bit of wriggling to get the last two bolts fitting right. A straight arm and a level eye??
Just as well I remembered me glasses.

No complaints though, looks great. A nice tidy tow.

[Yefim]

Actually I think it is centered all right... I am off on the up/down adjustment.

[newthings]

I just clamped up the hitch and used it as a drill guide. Be sure to clamp very tightly.
Roy

[Yefim]

Originally posted by newthings
I just clamped up the hitch and used it as a drill guide. Be sure to clamp very tightly.
Roy

Do you remember how high did you clamp it? Tere is too much play up and down to be able to drill precisely to match with the pre-drilled holes in the frame behind.

[newthings]

Hmm, good question. It has been too long to remember how it looked. The hitch cut out in the cladding comes up to the transition where the cladding covers the gas tank and then bumps out to rise up the back of the car. That should locate the hitch in the Z axis. I recall pix from Tone and others showed the position on the crossmember. Hope that helps.
BTW, did you get the backup plate so as to not crush the crossmember when tightening?
Roy

[Yefim]

Yup, I got the backup plate, thanks for clarification though... I was wondering what it is for :)

If anyone has closeup pictures of Tone's hitch install I would appreciate if one can post it or email tem to me. I don't want to start drilling again before I figure out the exact spot.

Thanks!