Tow Hitch For JZR

Making A Tow Hitch For The JZR

I know to some this might seem to be a bit over the top; but, to me the desire to tow a small trailer seems to be a natural design expectation for my JZR. Now, I am not expecting to tow a house trailer, just a small motorcycle style cargo trailer - a few extra close, some camping supplies, and of course some form of refreshment - as needed. Actually, I was very please to discover that this ideal to tow a small trailer is not new at all - check out the "Blast from the Past" article about Bob Nolan's 3 wheeler build a decade ago.

In designing my JZR towing hitch I had some requirements:

The hitch must be able to tow a trailer carrier 100 to 150 lbs.

Must use a standard ball (1-7/8") as that seems to be most popular hitch format

Ball hitch must be removable and simple to install and remove

Hitch receiver must be hidden and/or have minimal impact on the vehicle's profile.

The towing unit (hitch and receiver) that I have designed fits in the bottom, rear nose of my beetle-back JZR. Sorry, but you barrel-back folks are on your own. Below is a picture of the assembled unit. The receiver was welded out of some scrap metal the was around the shop. The ball is a standard 1-7/8" ball that you can get from any auto parts or general hardware store. The hitch is actually 2 spade-shaped (♠) plates.

The picture below shows a simple breakdown of the towing unit into its various parts.

In the picture above you can see the bottom of the receiver and its rectangular box that one of the receiver plates slips into. Also the 1/2 inch bolt hole through the center of the receiver's rectangular box. A 1/2 inch, grade 8 bolt and the 3/4 inch threaded stud of the ball are used to affix the two spade-shaped plates that make the hitch in the receiver.

Notice how the spade-shaped plate above have three 3/4 inch holes in them? The hole at the nose of the plates are obviously for the ball's threaded stud; but, the two other holes are for the attachment of safety chains from the trailer. Even though I will be tow a small trailer, every trailer towed on the road in the the state of Ohio must have provisions for safety chains. I would strongly suggest everyone have them!

In the picture above you can see how the 2 hitch plates clamp at the receiver and ball, thus making the unit very strong - stronger than needed for this application anyway.

The tow unit's receiver simply slips over the lower chassis hoop of the JZR's rear nose as seen above. The receiver is affixed to the chassis with 4 bolts (two from up top and two from the underside). I have not installed those bolts for the picture above, but you can see the two upper side holes. The receiver is actually an inside gusset; and, this design make it small and barely seen from the exterior when the hitch is removed. Plus, this design allows for virtually any rear tire to be used.

Above is an exterior view of the tow unit mounted to the JZR. As you can see, the hitch does not stick down more than 1 inch and less than 2 inches overall - accounting for the ball's 3/4 inch nut. Best of all, the unit is quickly removed and stowed when not in use.

This last picture is an overall exterior view of the tow unit in place. Not too abtrucive! As a final note on this subject I should tell you that I did not make the spade-shaped plates, I had them made by eMachineShop.COM as a sort of test of their work. And it is very good, everything was within design specs. If your interested in learning more on that, see my article on Getting Custom Parts Made Online .

RETURN