Hidden Hitch?

S

sake_yo

Member
Location
edmonton, alberta
Anyone have a hidden hitch and has tried towing something substantial? I will be towing a 6'x12' Uhaul trailer across the country essentially over 4-5 days and wanted something safe, reliable, and smooth.

As far as I know there are 3 brands of hitches:
Uhaul/Curt - cheapest, bolts onto bumper, most visible
Hidden Hitch - moderately priced, also visible
OEM - most expensive, bolts onto unibody frame, least visible

I'm just not sure how the Hidden Hitch is bolted on and how it looks. I've tried the search button but all I could find are pics of the 1.25 receiver and not the 2" one I want. Any help would be appreciated! Also, let me know if you think I'm crazy to haul across America.

S
 
I've been looking at hitches on and off for a while now. OEM seems to be the way to go. More important that distance is weight. If you're doing a big move, you're probably packing your interior full, roof rack, and using a packed enclosed trailer. Your whole carrying weight, includes passengers, counts against you. Poor areodynamics of roof cargo and trailer drag don't help either. Unless you've got a lot of pillows and wicker furniture, you might exceed 2000 lbs and that could turn into a bad idea. If you do go thru with trailering weight and distance, pay very close attention to RPM, temps, and NO quick starts. That may overstrain your powertrain. At least you've got 8 cylinders of pulling power.
Have you thought about renting a U-Haul truck and trailering the FX on a dolly?
 
Thanks for the info P&B. Yeah I've thought of everything and, unfortunately, renting a Uhaul truck and towing my car is about 3 times as expensive and can only carry another passenger. I'm carrying 2 passengers and myself so I need to use the FX to pull. If I were to guess I would be carrying/towing about 2000lbs including passengers and I would be taking frequent stops. I will be changing my tranny fluid and doing an oil change before I go. I'll also carry extra gas. Anything else I should prepare for?
 
Hills add extra stresses for towing. I'm not talking about small hills, but maybe a large task like crossing a mountain range. Think of towing as multiplying the stress on your drive train. Then downhills could smoke your brakes. -lots to think about-
I have not looked at the towing and recommended load specs on our cars, but generally, 1000 lbs is considerable weight, and 2000 lbs should be max comfort level weight. (you could do a little more, but I wouldn't recommend it.) So, after 3 passangers and the weight of the trailer, you'll be over 1000 lbs, have less than 1000 lbs total carrying capacity to spread thoughout the car and trailer.
Check the manufacture towing specs. For safest travel, closely watch fluids and temps. Stop occasionally and no quick acceleration.
Best of luck if you go thru with it!
 
sake yo, did you check the weights of the U-Haul trailers, they are heavy. I just checked.

an open 6 x 12 trailer weighs 1730 lbs
an enclosed 6 x 12 cargo trailer weighs 1920 lbs.

Something to consider for sure, especially if you are also carrying 3 people and filling that trailer up. On a short run I think you could get away with it but on a 4-5 day trip across the country would be very hard on the FX.
 
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Geez, you're right. Not sure how I overlooked that. I guess I can only go for the 5x10 which is 900lbs. Thanks for the heads up!
Anyone have a picture of the hidden hitch with a 2" receiver?
 
something else to consider.... to help with the extra load on the transmission, you could add a simple transmission cooler. It just looks like a baby radiator and will give you that extra confidence for the long haul.
 
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