Quote:
Originally Posted by Lambrettaman
If/when I get my 300TD, it will spend part of its life towing a small motorscooter trailer. I'm wondering if anyone knows what the allowable tongue weight would be for a W123 300TD? We have a motorcycle carrier that we use on our behemoth (Suburban) that attaches to the hitch receiver and carries the 250lb weight of the scooters. Wondering if I can use this on a 300TD. I know it's somewhat dependent on the actual hitch, so I'm curious about the rear suspension's capabilities.
Thanks.
Mike
Tucson AZ
|
As far as I have been able to find out, there is only one true receiver type hitch and it is made by Da'Lan
http://www.etrailer.com/products.asp?model=300TD&category=hitch&year=1985&make=Mercedes-Benz&t1=&h=e
There hole for the shank is 1 1/4" which is the smaller size that you see on US trailer hitches. They say the tongue weight is 200lbs. max. and towing capacity of 2,500 lbs. They are also expensive at around $350.00 plus freight.
Another option is the European style hitch. They were made for Mercedes by a few different vendors the most well known of whom is Oris. You can pick these up used on German eBay for as little as 20 or 30 Euros. Airfreight will probably be around $125.00. Keep in mind that the European system is different in that there is no reciever on the hitch. The ball is part of a casting that bolts to a horizontal bar that goes inside the bumper. The down side of these hitches is that they mount where the shock absorbers for the bumpers of the US models bolt into. Therefore, if you use one of the European hitches, you have to have a European bumper or you will have to fabricate brackets to hold the US bumper on and the bumper will no longer have the shock absorbers.
I elected to go with the Euro hitch because I also picked up Euro bumpers for my car. The tongue weight on the Euro hitch is 75Kg or 165 lbs, adn the towing weight is 1500Kg or 3300lbs. I was able to get a Bosal brand hitch which is still MB OEM brand new for 50 Euros plus freight including the electrical harness. I think I got lucky with this price for a new hitch.