towbar to high?

[mal666]

hi all! ive just about got my towbar fitted to the geep and im now wondering if il be able to sqeeze the hitch under the spare wheel to get it on!?!? roughly how low or high from the ground does the ball want to be?? i took it off my other older geep which it fitted on lovely, but that had the spare wheel over to one side with a swing out carrier and the geep ive just fitted it to has a stationary wheel in the center! i gotta get it sorted and ready for newark!
as usual, any help would be much apprieciated!!

Mal

[aquasigns]

My towball is quite a bit lower than the chassis/bumper bar and doesn't foul the spare wheel at all (which is mounted in the centre on a swingout carrier). The Geep has towed very well in the past with a smallish trailer.

I can get get measurements for you if you wish but won't be at the car until Thursday.

I am sure one of the others can provide the required info. I'll keep an eye on the thread and submit more if needed. Hope you get it sorted in time!

Pete

[drseg]

on my geep [fixed spare wheel ] the tow bar replaces the spare wheel carrier
dunno why but it does

[trextr7monkey]

Hi Mal,

One of our jeeps had the same problem and it was solved by an extension bar at 45 degrees connecting 2 parallel plates. The extension piece bolted onto the normal dropper plate from the bumper instead of the tow bar and the tow bar was then fixed to the outer plate which by this time was about 5" away from spare wheel giving loads of clearance. Hope this makes sense, I can probably digout a pic from my archives if you want - send me an e mail and I can sort it

[dave36]

Hi Mal - getting much sleep?
hitch, my last jago had the same config as yours, builder had got over the problem by extending the spare wheel carrier by 2"
I am thinking of fitting a hitch as well, though I am planning to move the spare wheel to the near side rear in order achieve clearance, and if poss lower the bracket a little - (giving the dog an easier route in and out of the back) talking dog, any problem with dogs at Newark???

[dave36]

Sorry forgot the important bit, the hitches on my other cars are both 18" to top of ball

[drseg]

very interesting point raised by a mate who is old and has always been towing stuff is that all tow bars are bolted and he says this is apparently to allow flexing compared to the brittle properties of welding something - he lent his 16 foot car trailer to someone who lowered the hitch with a welded plate - 400 quids worth of damage when the welds broke to his trailer - ferretty Reg is well versed in all things automotive including building race cars and towing them and if you look at most towbars and drop plates they all seem to be bolted - just a small point which may be pertinent