Tow Bar Install

[scarf]

Hi guys

really hoping someone can direct me to where I can get a square towbar installed.

Been to 3 places that can't do it for a v36 sedan.

I want to be able to connect up a bike rack.

cheers

oz

[(Locky)]

very very unlikly to get one off the shelf as most people wouldnt want one and even if they did would have f**k all load rating

Only option would be custom which would be big $$$ and not many places do them

[Murry33]

first place you probably want to check is carsales website, so you can buy a car worthy of a tow bar

not the skyline man!! lol not exactly a car built to tow things

[Kolossus]

Quite sure there is no place for a tow bar on the V, something to do with the subframe?

[minh]

Check out Curt hitches in US ebay, thats where i got mine from. Sad to do it on a skyline but had to be done. I use it to purely carry my bikes around.. it doesn't look too bad when the ball etc is not fitted.

[scarf]

  On 20/02/2013 at 8:13 AM, minh said:

Check out Curt hitches in US ebay, thats where i got mine from. Sad to do it on a skyline but had to be done. I use it to purely carry my bikes around.. it doesn't look too bad when the ball etc is not fitted.

Thanks for this. I'm only going to use it for my bike as well. The thule bike rack I've got is the square one and no the ball type, so hopefully will sit flush and not look too bad.

Even getting a roof rack is difficult, but didn't want to do this.

[J.C.]

Hi Guys

Fastfix in Sydney fitted a towball to my V36 sedan before I picked it up from A1 Imports in August(?) last year, looks alright with a chrome ball, and, as someone suggested will probably reduce parking damage.

Cheers

J.C.

I've tried to upload a photo but.... you know!

[Stuart McK]

OMG - it's true! Check this out:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2004-2006-Infiniti-G35-Coupe-Trailer-Hitch-Kit-CURT-114832-56146-/400528344396?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Model%3AG35&hash=item5d4159854c&vxp=mtr

Now I can fit a rack for my mountain bike!

[sonicii]

Looking at the mounting instructions, I wouldn't be carrying anything much larger either than a bike or 2 either.. It's bolted to the aluminium bumper frame, which is in turn just bolted to the body of the car. I don't think I would be brave enough to tow even a light trailer with this setup... certainly not the 1500lb (680kg) it is supposably rated for.

[ChrisB]

I have a Curt hitch on the back of the Stagea but only for a bike carrier.

Note the receiver is only 1.25 inches square tube.

You will need to fit a towball into the hitch that comes with it. The towball hole in the hitch needs to be opened up as it is a fraction too small for a standard towball.

Your bike carrier needs to fit onto the towball.

Unless you have a bike carrier that will mate with a 1.25 inch square receiver.

At the end of the day I wasn't that impressed with the Curt solution and Fist Fit Sydney bar would be your best option.

[strydes]

Been a loooong time since I posted on SAU, but might be time for a comeback...

I copied a guy in the US and made my own with about $80 worth of steel and a couple of nights playing in the garage. very easy to do if you or a mate has a the tools and know how.

It uses the hinges that seem to be part of the number plate adapter anyway, so I fold it down when required, and fold it up to hide it when not needed. The through bolt to hold the carrier is in behind the bumper, and i can install and remove it without looking now though you need long arms. If anything it's a decent dis-incentive to people trying to steel the rack in that they can't see how to get to the bolt.

Works great, but I only ever carry one heavy MTB... just in case. A few roadies should be fine.

[Deep Dish V35]

I have a Curt assembly on my sedan, the US sedan bumper bar is different to the JDM version and as a result the Curt assemble requires ALOT of custom work to make fit. I made an all new reinforcement bar in place of the flimsy factory one. The Curt assembly still needed cutting down to let the bumper fit back on. And yes the hitch needed modding too as mentioned earlier.

But it all works and is now being used to tow a 16 foot catamaran.

Wouldnt tow anything heavier than that without getting the rear steel panel of the car plated or you'll end up ripping the reinforcent bar thru the bumper

[Deep Dish V35]

[Deep Dish V35]

With the Curt assembly, the sedan design is different to the coupe. Sedan one hangs under the reinforcement bar and has a long brace bar that goes under the car most of the way back to the diff (the mounting holes can be seen if you take out the spare tyre). But still, none of this bolts to anything that is chassis related so the strength is minimal.

The reinforcment bar is mounted to the rear panel with 8x M6 captive bolts with 10mm heads to a double layer skin on the car. Its not plated so it will most likely get stress cracks or just pull thru under load of a 6x4 trailer. The bolts are not high tensile either.

Bikes on a rack will be fine, lots of extra steel will need to be welded in if you want to tow a load.

[Howaitonaito]

If you wanna tow stuff buy a car designed to tow. If you wanna carry stuff buy racks - DONE!

[R377]

Anybody tried these guys for a tow bar on their V36 Skyline ?

http://www.towbar.co.nz/vehicles/quickinfo.asp?id=1716

[Jarsky]

This thread taught me a lot. I've been trying to find a hitch for my 350GT Sedan that I can carry my Ninja on the back but it has a weight of ~400lb (~500lb including the carrier); but I learnt that theres a thing called Tongue Weight (TW) which is downward force. This kind of setup tops out at 200lb (132lb / 60kg rated). Doesnt seem theres any setup thats readily available that bolts into the frame (I guess theres really no easy access to it) to be able to support a higher TW. 

This setup is considered a 'class 1' hitch, and while it has a ~2000lb Gross Trailer Weight (GTW),  i'd need a 'class 3' hitch (up to 750lb TW) to carry a bike aka..it needs to bolt into the frame at multiple points. So unless I can get a custom one for a decent price (these are already like $600..i imagine a custom one fitted will be like $2k....1/4-1/5 the price of the whole car) then looks like i'd need a bike trailer (don't really want to be towing a trailer), or to switch cars for my daily unfortunately.  The 350GT is a very thirsty car so maybe its not such a bad idea to look at selling as cool as it is....

[sonicii]

Yeah, tongue weight or 'downforce' is usually 10% of the towbar's rating.  So a bar rated to tow 1500kg will often have a downforce rating of 150KG.

To get a weight of around 225kg (I'm not old enough to speak in lbs), you will likely need a 4WD or similar vehicle, I have never seen any towbars on regular sedans with a figure that high, maybe it was an option on the old Falcons and Commodores?

What fuel economy are you seeing? my old V35 6MT returned around 11L/100km in the city and around 7.5L/100 on the highway, which I thought was pretty good for a large 6cyl with a performance focus.

[GTSBoy]

You're not carrying any motorbike on any sedan towbar. It's a bad idea. Not even feasible, let alone a good idea.