hahnn002

I'm not flaming you, but I'd like to know. If you do put the boat on the S2000 could you take some pics of it just so we could see how it looks? I'm guessing you could pull it of with the S, I've seen people do stranger things with cars than put a trailer hitch on to pull a boat.

Gernby

I'm going back and forth about whether to try it. I feel confident that it will work, but the risk / reward ratio isn't very good. One thing that I haven't thought enough about is the possibility of damage to the boat if the bumper pulls off while I'm headed up the ramp. The boat would probably be much more expensive to repair than the bumper.

mikegarrison

By now it is obvious that no one really knows the answer to your question. You could always just test it yourself. No need to use the boat, just use a come-along and an inline spring scale. If I were you I would close this thread. But, I'm not you.

Gernby

I'm not going to close the thread until I post the video.

xviper

Attaboy!

(I'll keep the flames in check. )

CrazyPhuD

Make sure you get the looks of the other people at the ramp. I want to see their faces when a S pulls a boat outof the water...

Gernby

Actually, I wouldn't even try it if there were other people at the ramp. I wouldn't want to take out other people or their boats / cars with a runaway 3000 lbs trailer.

Elistan

One thing to keep in mind... When our car brakes a full ability, it's probably over 1g of deceleration. Which translates to over 2800lbs of force on the suspension hookups. Each hookup of course only gets a portion of that load, but we've already seen those brackets pull away from the frame. The frame itself can obviously take that load without any issue. The only question is, would the boat put force on the frame that equivalent to what the frame experiences during acceleration/braking?

In your favor, the force is only longitudinal along the frame, so you don't have to worry about any twisting. And the amount of force that the boat will be putting on the frame will mostly likely be no more than it sees in a typical autocross. So to restate the question, WHERE will this force be applied? Given my vague memories about how the x-bone chassis is constructed, and where the hitch is attached, I don't see it being any issue except for how things are attached (the bolts and such.)

BlitzSRM

okay, just started reading this tread.

aside from the the manual saying not to tow. its no worse than turbocharging the S. Towing, while driving slow, will put less stress on the car then autocrossing at WOT/full braking. you might want to put some weight in the trunk for traction (i.e. full tank of gas).

going back to your original question. will the bumper mounts hold up. I can answer your question, but i need some information.

you need to identify the weakest location of the bumper mount after that is identified, i need the bolt, welds lenths, etc how how that part is mounted, the dimension of the parts. (a picture will be helpful). Finally Materials they are made of. if not definate i can make a conservative estimate.

this information is to establish failure mode, which can range from shearing of the mounting bolts, to shearing or bending of the mounting plate.

after that we calulate the max force the mount will experience (at the ramp).

compare it to the ultimate loads the mounting bracket can withstand, were finished.

I can eazily calculate it for you. I kinda do this with aircraft repairs all the time. so just give me the information, and i can give you a definite answer.

Gernby

I can't find the pictorial of the installation of a Da'Lan hitch. I think the bumper beam is attached to the frame via three 14 mm bolts. Two of the bolts are on the left side of the beam behind the tow hook, and 1 is on the other side. The bumper beam is made of thick sheet metal, but I didn't measure the thickness.

The hitch attaches to the bumper beam using 2 large bolts very close to the mounting points where the bumper beam attaches to the frame. It also attaches with 4 more large bolts under the trunk pan.