| Author |
Message |
mark4905
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, January 02, 2005 - 7:49 pm: | |
looking for any advise on hitch installion on 4905.pictures would be great also. thanks mark |
T. (Bluegrass)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, January 02, 2005 - 8:12 pm: | |
Building a hitch to pull your toad on MCI and Gmc,
Thank MR Fred Hobe Page,2 http://users.cwnet.com/~thall/fredhobe2.htm Though this tip is mainly for MCI's, it is very similar for GMC buses. I think that it is dangerous to put a heavy tongue weigh on MCI and GMC hitches. I have seen the motor mounts on these coaches with cracks in them . Pulling and pushing on the motor cradle does not put the stress on them as much as down force weight on the motor cradle. First get 3/8 by 3 inch flat steel. Cut 2 pieces 8 inches long and 2 pieces 10 inches long. Weld the 8 inch piece to the end off the 10 inch piece in an L shape. Grind the edge so you get a strong weld. Now cut 2 pieces 12 inches long. Fit the L shaped piece to the motor mount with the L pointed up. On the left side it will fit just back of the water line that runs across the coach. Line it up so that it is under the bumper about 4 inches. And mark were the cradle touches. This is were you will be wielding later. Now lay the 12 inch piece on the L shaped piece and drill 3 ,1/2 inch holes below the marked line. I spot weld them together so that they don’t move. After you have them drilled, mark them right and left. Now cut your spot weld and put your six ½ bolts in and tighten. The 2 bolts that go to the front, put then pointing toward the out side of the coach. If you point them toward the inside of coach you wont be able to get them out. Now weld these brackets to the motor cradle. With them bolted together, measure and cut your 3 inch 3/8 thick angle iron to fit between the two brackets, as close to the bumper as you can get. Weld the angle iron to the mounts. Spot weld so they won’t come apart. Now take bolts out and take this out and finish welding. You can now put your receiver on this after you install angle iron. The angle iron needs to be installed so that you can weld the receiver on the top and end of the angle iron.The receiver can be put in the center or it can be off-set to drivers side a foot. This makes it easier to make a right turn as you are turning to the inside lane and this is were most damage happens. Also you can see your toad a lot easier. It took me almost as long to tell how as to build it. Good luck on this project.
L bracket welded to coach frame with 3 hole to install 1/2 grade 8 bolt |
Geobus (4108gmc)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, January 02, 2005 - 10:38 pm: | |
Mark4905
I just went through what you are doing, but with my 4108GMC. It was and still is a real problem trying to decide what to do. From what I have read at BNO, pulling a car isn't much of an issue, but it takes a good mount that goes forwards to the radius rods. The hitch I built took several days to construct and side bolts into the frame above the axle on both sides. It drops down the forward side of the bulkhead with more or less 7in chnl (welded several together for a custom fit) down along side the engine mounts/radius rod brackets. The side of the chnl is also bolted to the bulkhead. My bulkhead was replaced with plate steel when I had my engine updated and a V730 installed. From the 7in chnl, which drops just below the bulkhead, on each side, I basically extended back to flush with the rear bumper with 4x4in tubing (welded two chnls together to make a tube).The hitch doesn't put any load on the cradle. There are other details and I could go on with what I did, but I am still not sure if it is good enough to take a 500 lb load at the hitch and I have no idea what total load it can take. The hitch looks like a real overkill and weighs more than I would like, since the extra weight is likely counter productive. I will see if I can get you some photos. Last month, I used it to pull a 2500 lb trailer 1000 miles and it worked fine. Then again, it doesn't take much to pull such a small load. Sometime this summer I plan on hooking up my larger trailer and putting a gauge on the hitch to see how much it is deflecting, with increasing loads and driving on the highway (probably should find a couple good potholes to hit for a good test). This is the only way I know to determine if my design can handle real road conditions. After all of the above, I am still considering adding a "Tuff Tow" wheel to my trailer, if I can't convince myself I am not doing any harm to my coach. I do not intend to do anything to damage the coach.
I am looking forward to see what other feedback you get.
Good luck and have a great day. |
Brian (Bigbusguy)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, January 02, 2005 - 11:47 pm: | |
I dont know if I will build this for my 4905 . But I will plan for it.
What I was thinking on doing when I build my bed frame was to build it like a bridge and then have part of it extend though the bulkhead at the rear bedroom wall at the floor and have a brace run down to the hitch at the bumper so down load on the hitch will be carryed by the frame work of the bed and pushing down on the bulkhead in the bed room. So any hitch down force will not be carryed by the roof but carryed by the bulkhead under the bed .
I will look it over when I replace the rear floor
and then see how I can brace it all up.
I also used 16g sheet metal covering the widows to help hold up the roor for a added hitch.
Brian 4905 Klamath Falls 0regon |
RJ Long (Rjlong)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, January 03, 2005 - 3:24 am: | |
Mark - Check out the hitch pics on Daris' Boutillier's site. He's got a 4106, but the chassis is similar enough to your 4905 that you can use the same installation.
http://www.freewebs.com/darisb/
Click on the link in the LH menu. (The MPH calculator's great, too!)
HTH,
RJ
PD4106-2784
Fresno CA |
T. (Bluegrass)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, January 03, 2005 - 4:14 am: | |
RJ
The link dont open on my puter, does It work on yours.
Tony |
Gary McFarland (Gearheadgary)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, January 03, 2005 - 9:54 am: | |
I think Daris' hitch may be suitable for a light hitch, but I'd be careful following that design for a very heavy trailer.
Gary |
RJ Long (Rjlong)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, January 03, 2005 - 12:18 pm: | |
T - Yup, it works on mine. Forgot to say that the hitch is located under "Exterior" in the LH menu.
Gary - Remember, Daris' coach is a GMC. We don't have moster frame rails to work with. His hitch ties into the rear radius rod mounting, the rear bulkhead, and the rear bumper/engine cradle support (which is actually tied into the roof). The rear radius rod mounting point is probably one of the strongest parts of the coach, as it takes all of the driving and braking loads, transferring them into the main chassis. On a V-drive GMC, Daris' hitch is about as strong as we can get.
The Scenicruiser, OTOH, being a T-drive configuration, is a whole different animal. It's been so long since I've poked around in a Scenic's engine compartment, I've forgotten how GM laid out the rear of the chassis and engine cradle.
I will agree with you tho, that a heavy trailer should have a Tuff-Tow or similar to take the major tongue load.
RJ |
Gary McFarland (Gearheadgary)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, January 03, 2005 - 12:31 pm: | |
Yeah, I understand, we have parallel "Hitch Threads" going on here, I just wanted to make sure that anyone looking was aware that while Daris' hitch may be suitable for a toad or a light trailer, it has little lateral support, and I would be concerned about lateral strength. Not to be critical, I know you work with what you have. Just want to make the point that attaching a 10K# trailer to that could be a big problem.
Referring to the "Other hitch thread" What were the CA Greyhound freight haulers, were they "T" drives?
Gary |
RJ Long (Rjlong)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, January 03, 2005 - 1:01 pm: | |
Yes, T-drive, current production MCI D4500s.
http://www.mcicoach.com/NewCoaches/PassengerCoaches/passengerDseries.htm
You could send a note directly to MCI and ask them what they did for the Canadian Hound's hitch system. . .
RJ |
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