dragan

I would like to share with you my installation of a hitch onto the Fortwo. The car in the pictures is a 2010 Smart Fortwo. It was not designed to tow and the rebar is made of thin metal (1/8" thick) so I do not recommend towing anything heavier than 200lbs. Tools needed: - MIG welder - Chop saw or bandsaw - allen/hex keys OK so the first step is to lift the car off the ground, either using a jack or hoist. Remove the rear bumper guard, grey plastic piece, to expose the muffler. To remove use hex keys. Next thing, remove the rebar. Three large allen key bolts on left and right side, then the rebar will slide out the bottom of the rear bumper. Rebar: Find a hitch from another car. I found mine at the junkyard Pick N' Pull on a half off day. Came to 20 bucks. Off a Nissan Pathfinder, but anyone will do. I chose a 1 1/4" receiver size as opposed to the 2" because the load of the trailer will be very light. 1-1/4" will do just fine. Measure 4" of space on each side and using the chop saw cut the ends off, you won't be needing them. Measure about 1/4" of depth and cut the receiver end. Measure the rebar and centre the hitch receiver piece. Cut a 3" C channel rebar the same and place that below the receiver piece. This adds stability to the rebar and gives the receiver a solid flat mount instead of the thin wavy rebar. To prepare it for welding use a disk sander to remove the paint from all metal edges. First tack weld the metal every 2 inches, then come around again to finish it. That will prevent any heat warping.

Rebar is the term that describes a metal piece of reinforcement behind the front and rear bumper. Example: http://assets.suredone.com/1517/media-photos/cp006098-front-bumper-rebar-reinforcement-impact-bar-vw-jetta-gti-r32-mk5-genuine-oe.jpg

Sand the metal in preparation for paint. Use a wire brush to get off the weld spray/residue. Use a wax/grease remover as the final step before spray painting. Spray 3 coats of primer. Let dry. Spray 4-6 coats of rubberized undercoat spray. Let dry for at least 6 hours before reinstalling. Reinstall everything, including the black plastic guard onto the rear bumper. Measure and cut enough so the receiver can stick out. I used a wood saw to cut it, then a razor blade or finish. Finally, reinstall the guard and bolt everything back together. Stand back and enjoy the newfound cargo capacity your Fortwo!