Just fishing for opinions. Might put a class I or class II hitch on the Bonneville. Looking at a Draw-Tite receiver hitch. Instructions online indicates some drilling required. Anybody done this yet, and how well did it fit?

[quote="clm2112 Anybody done this yet, and how well did it fit?[/quote]

Follow up, went with a Draw-Tite #36132. Installation was a bear, particularly doing the driver'* side of the car where the exhaust hanger goes in. If anyone else does this, get an exta pair of M8x1.25x45mm bolts for the exhaust hanger. The original bolts are too short and the ones supplied with the hitch (55mm) are too long..they hit the rubber hanger. Drilling the holes with a 1/2 inch drill bit was pretty easy. One of the hitch bolt holes on each side lines up with an existing hole in the car frame. Just enlarge it and drill the extra holes on each side.

Here'* the finished installation. You can see why it only works on the LE and SE models as it is right up against the rear bumper cover.



Here'* the bolt holes that needed to be drilled (top right corner of the picture) Same thing on the other side of the car too. The rest of the bolts go through the stock bumper impact absorber to body holes.



And last, here'* the finished product from a higher angle. the hitch is tucked far enough under the bumper to be unobtrusive to the look of the car. While I had the back end apart, I also started on the sheetmetal damage from being rear ended a few weeks ago. I got the panel below the taillamps more or less straightened back out.

Yep. I don't have a trailer at the moment, but you never know when you'll need one, especially now that the van is on the block..wife is determined to sell it soon. I figured now was the time to get a hitch for it, before they are no longer made for the car. (as it is, Drawtite discontinued it already, but there'* still some floating around in the distribution network and at dealers.)

I haven't installed the wiring yet, and don't know if I will until I need to use a trailer. Same goes for the ball hitch. It came with a drawbar, but no ball and I'm not going to mount it till I know what kind of trailer I'll be towing. Probably just have U-Haul do it when I actually need to use it.

The pigtail is a no brainer...the harness wiring behind the tail lamps is easy to get to, and the sheetmetal below it is hollow..no wonder it folded up so easily on impact. When you take out the tail lamps you can look straight down to the ground behind the bumper, so any wiring will be invisible when not in use.

With a tranny cooler on the car, I'm not too concerned. I never really tow anything heavy, just a pair of sportbikes on a U-Haul "Garden" trailer. When I get that occasional "wild hair" to go barnstorming around the Smokey Mnts on a rice rocket. I probably never exceed a trailer weight of 1500lbs total.

Having a trailer hitch on my cars has become a bit of an inside joke/fashion statement. Even the '87 Camaro has one on it. It get'* laughs at the track, cause I used to load up my Micky T'* and gear on a trailer, un-hitch at the track, and have fun. Comes in handy too...I once beat a guy who blew his transmission. I ended up flat towing him back to the pits on a rope off the ball on the '87 Camaro. (hehehe.."Who'* Laughing Now, Sucker.." )

Funny you should mention that...there'* a rear spoiler from an SSE for the car leaning against the gun cabinet (courtesy of another Bonneville club member) I just need to prep it and repaint it white to match the rest of the car

The air ride suspension sounds like more work than it'* worth. Though I think I need to get the rear end aligned to take out the camber in the rear wheels.

Car'* got the FE1 suspension (30mm/14mm). I was thinking you were talking about the automatic leveling stuff with the compressor up in the engine bay. Pair of air shocks in the back probably wouldn't be a bad idea. I added about 40lbs to the rear end with the hitch and the Nitrous bottle is another 35lbs on top of that. Who made your air struts?