Time to put the old girl to work.
The hitch I have built will not fasten to the bumper because I have had a bumper actually fall off from corrosion at the mount points. The new bumper is grounded to the frame.

The receiver, 1 ¼” will apply the down load to a box section with two bars that clamp to either side of the box. The bars are deep enough to apply the squeeze to the horizontal top and bottom of the section to prevent the box from collapsing. The stability will come from the 3/8 x 3” flat bar fastening to bottom of the spare tire basket.

The point of load is farther back from the rear support point than I would like but I am sure will not be a problem with a utility trailer with 2500# gvw and a 300# tongue weight.

I was not able to buy a receiver only so I used a 2” to 1 ¼” adapter then shortened up the 2”end.

Let you know if I have any problems.

Attached Thumbnails

         

__________________
1984 300SD turbo 126
"My true love"

God made me an atheist and who am I to question His wisdom

Thats actually a pretty awesome design. If you built and sold those I bet a lot of people on the forum would buy them! Including me!

__________________
-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

It's actually not far off from the W124 hitch - inside piece and outside piece.

__________________
1987 300D (230,000 mi on a #14 head-watching the temp gauge and keeping the ghost in the machine)
Raleigh NC - Home of deep fried sushi!

my receiver is ~1/2" below the bumper, and it drags on almost all driveways

a previous SD had a flat tongue w/ball and it almost never dragged

__________________
Bill

'82 300SD 195K
'84 300SD 199K

Mines lower than that and I've only hit one driveway and a curb that I drove off too fast (suspension bounced and it hit) Oops

Is your car's rear suspension sagging? Mine gained nearly 4" of height when I replaced everything (shocks/springs/pads) etc...

__________________
-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

could be tired, just did a 15k back and forth fully loaded - getting set to do another
the problem is crossing a drive, particularly with any speed

4" eh, so how many $100/in ?

__________________
Bill

'82 300SD 195K
'84 300SD 199K

nice work. there could be liability issues with selling something like that- which is why I finally broke down and paid the $185(JCWhitney, prices keep going up) for a hitch for my TD. I have a few trailers, the largest is an enclosed 5x8 utility trailer which I will have loaded pretty heavily at times. 3500 gross on the trailer i think. but I have yet to scale that one for actual weight.

heres some pics of how the curt unit goes
This is an 84 300 TD, wagon.





















the outer plate at the bumper mount is backed w/ 1/4 plate, has 2 3/8" bolts that replace the OE bolts. they are longer. inner OE bolts remain.

the forward stabilizer also has a baking plate w/ nuts welded on.

there is a pdf of the install sheet available online- I cant attach- its too big??

__________________
1984 123.193 372,xxx miles, room for Seven.

1999 Dodge Durango Cummins 4BTAA 47RE 5k lb 4x4 getting 25+mpgs, room for Seven.