I’m looking to get a tow hitch on my car to pull around a jon boat but don’t have a clue as to where to get one. I see them for sale at the auto parts store, but I’m not up to installing one. I want to actually say attached to my car.
Any ideas?
Look in the yellow pages. There are usually places that specialize in this sort of thing. Sometimes, you will also find U-Haul places that install permanent hitches.
I second the U-Haul place. I have had all of ours done there. I also got the quick chage ball that has a pin through the ball itself (oush!) and you can change between the two most common sizes of 2" and 1-7/8. Been a bleesing many times.
Preview is my FRIEND! :smack:
Most hitches, or more accuratly, hitch receivers, today are carefully engineered to fit a specific vehicle, and will be a truly simple bolt-on installation using existing holes in the frame - on our old Jeep, the holes were not only already there, but tapped, “pre-loaded” with bolts (keeps the threads clean) and just waiting to be used. It took longer to round up the tools than it did to install the thing.
Otherwise, for somewhere in the rough neighborhood of $300, you can have a hitch receiver and the wiring for a trailer installed, assuming the vehicle was intended for towing. If holes need to be drilled, the price is apt to go up for the extra labor needed.
If you have a 6 Roblees franchise in your area, they are about the best bet. They’re cheap and they know what they’re doing.
My experience matches gotpasswords’. I’ve installed hitch receivers on my last 4 vehicles and had little problem doing so. This argues that having one installed should be reasonably inexpensive, but I’m not sure I’d want to bet on that.
Some car companies sell hitches that are truely custom fit for that model car. You might drop a dime on your auto dealer.
U haul has been mentioned, and letting your fingers do the walking in the yellow pages. Other than that, I got nuthin.
No single factual answer is possible so let’s go to IMHO. You already got the best out of our GQ readers. 
samclem GQ moderator
On a somewhat related note, how much could I reasonably expect to haul with, say, a 1.8L Corolla?
Only reason I’m asking is a) we’re looking at buying a house in the next couple of years, and b) we’re getting an Ikea, and I’m wondering if it might be more cost effective to get a hitch and a little trailer than to rent a pickup truck every time we need to haul something big across town.
U-Haul did mine for a reasonable price. However, I hate despise and abominate those incompetent retards, so please find somewhere else if you can.
My little Hyundai Accent hauled a fully loaded 4x4x8 trailer across the US, with the trunk and seat wells loaded, and two people, and a dog. So I’d say you’re good for a small trailer. Just expect a slow crawl up any major hills.
If you’re just looking at using it for Ikea trips, you need to add up the cost of installing a hitch, buying a trailer and registering the trailer, plus figuring out where you’ll store the trailer and compare that to renting a small truck now and then, or even making friends with someone that has a pickup. Also, a lot of Ikeas offer delivery service at a price that may or may not be competitive to renting a UHaul for half a day.
How’s the performance of your car with full-size people sitting in every seat? If it’s working hard just to haul four people, don’t expect it to haul much weight on a trailer without problems. I just had a look at hitches for Corollas, and it looks like you’re limited to a total tow weight of 2,000 pounds, including the trailer itself.
Not trying to scare you off from doing this, but a Corolla is really one of those “It can, but…” vehicles. Something else to consider beyond just the weight is the car’s braking capacity - will it be able to stop safely with 2,000 pushing on if from behind?
The OP said he was also looking to haul a jon boat. Smallish, square front aluminum fishing boat with a small engine. I’ll guess, 500-1000 pounds. Then about a 500 pound trailer to haul it on.
And as gotpasswords said. Consider stopping power.
The sticker on your inside door frame should give you towing information.
Also, not to scare you King Friday but front wheel drive unibody vehicles are not a very good towing platform. Also consider, boat ramps. Higher vehicles such as a truck or SUV are much better at getting a boat in the water without turning your day into Titanic 3. Consider tailights and other electronics that may get wet or submerged.
Understanding that I have know idea where you are moving too, or what kind of house or property, or what and where you could store a trailer or vehicle, and that you are thinking about towing a small boat. I might consider getting a small beater pickup. For going to the lumber yard, or picking up furniture or what have you, a trailer, if you are not used to driving around with them can be a pain.
The OP said he was also looking to haul a jon boat. Smallish, square front aluminum fishing boat with a small engine. I’ll guess, 500-1000 pounds. Then about a 500 pound trailer to haul it on.
And as gotpasswords said. Consider stopping power.
The sticker on your inside door frame should give you towing information.
Also, not to scare you King Friday but front wheel drive unibody vehicles are not a very good towing platform. Also consider, boat ramps. Higher vehicles such as a truck or SUV are much better at getting a boat in the water without turning your day into Titanic 3. Consider tailights and other electronics that may get wet or submerged.
Understanding that I have know idea where you are moving too, or what kind of house or property, or what and where you could store a trailer or vehicle, and that you are thinking about towing a small boat. I might consider getting a small beater pickup. For going to the lumber yard, or picking up furniture or what have you, a trailer, if you are not used to driving around with them can be a pain.
A word of warning. Once we got a hitch installed on the Jeep, JiffyLube wouldn’t change one of our fluids. I think it was the manual transmission fluid, or maybe the differential oil. They said the factory recommends a heavier fluid, that they don’t sell, for vehicles used to tow.
And this is because of a light utility trailer that we use probably 3 or 4 days a year. When the trailer’s empty, I can lift one of its wheels off the ground.
So it made regular maintenance less convenient.
By the way, I’m not in love with JiffyLube or anything. It’s fine with me if someone does the predictable hijack and tears them up with this thread. Though maybe you should ask the OP first.
I found a car shop that specialized in attaching tow hitcvhes when I moved across country. They welded it on. This was eonsd ago, now, so I don’t know how things have changed.
YMMV of course, but my EZ-Loader trailer is about 250 pounds. Maybe less. I don’t have a jonboat, but it seems to me that they’re pretty simple and light. A neighbour has a small aluminum boat (about a 12-footer?) that two of us can pick up and carry. I have a 14’ inflatable that’s about 220 pounds, and a 25 hp. outboard that’t about 280 pounds. So the whole package weighs less than 800 pounds.
Hmmm. I’ll have think more carefully about this whole Corolla + trailer idea.
Thanks, and sorry for the hijack.