thanks for the input.

 

Some kind of joke I hope.

You try to pull a trailer with a car that has such a short wheel base as the Crossfire has and your looking for trouble.

 

Motorcycles pull trailers. They have a much shorter wheelbase.

I think that the problem, as stated, would be to find a hitch that could be mounted to a car with a center exhaust system and nothing in it's design to mount a hitch.

 

That's an interesting idea.

 

It would only look cool if the XF was towing a HOT bike!! Anyway do a search I think someone just did this.

 

You could probably find a machine shop or a race car/roll bar shop that would be able to do it. The new tubular hitches don't look too bad. Have it tucked up tight and paint it body color. And don't forget to take the ball off when not towing... My 2 cents.

Joe

 

you'll notice that the owners manual lists towing capacity at "zero" but the car does have a tow-hook(as in towing the car away from the fire hydrant) offset to the right on the back. that gets it away from the exhaust of course.

seems a very lightweight attachment could be made there.

i'm suspicious of what the short wheel base effect would be like and wonder if the stability control would get confused. especially in the rain where it's actively playing with the hydroplaning.

anybody try this ??

dan

 

that's not the word i'd use, but okay.

 

I will follow this thread because I would like to mount a one (1) bike, bike rack, on a hitch, on an XFire like this as well. Probably has to be a custom job though (the hitch)...keep us posted...

BTW, manuals for a car like this always says towing zero (0)...its a lawyer thing vs. an engineering thing, they can do it, but it costs too much in engineering or liability. Don't tell me what you can't do, but rather, what you can do...

 

Huh? I must have missed the utility part of the manual. I'd pass on the hitch and buy a Toureg...

 

As far as stability goes, the closer the hitch is to the rear axle, the more stable it is as leverage on the vehicle is limited. Would I do it?? No. But hanging a bicycle on one couldn't hurt, could it??

Joe

 

If this works out, maybe I'll now have a place for a spare tire or two.

 

i like the positive attitude, thanks.

 

The only way I see to mount a hitch receiver and retain the exhaust and look of the rear end would be to mount it behind the plastic bumper cover and cut a single square into the center of the cover for the receiver. I've seen the back of this car with the cover off and it would be fairly easy to do.

The trick would be to get enough solid mount point and keep it close enough to the steel so as not to interfere with the bumper cover.

I had though about this too since I can't carry four tires/rims and additional tools in my SRT6 to the track. I may have to trailer it down. I'd rather drive it...

 

Page 163 of the SRT owners' manual;

"TRAILER TOWING

Trailer towing with your Crossfire is not recommended."

But who am I to judge.

 

I 'm thinking that you could make an upside down U and stub the bottom ends into the frame rails with small receiver like hitches. Use like 1" OD tubing for the "U" and bolt or
weld 1" ID tubes to the frame rails. Pins would hold in place during use and you would miss the exhaust system. Hang your bikes or whatever on hooks welded to the tubing. Keep it lower than the rear window, paint it body color, and take it off when not in use. You probably wouldn't see the receiver ends under the car. A decent tubing bender could do this for you cheap.

Joe