[smithSHO]

Im looking for a reasonably priced class II hitch for a 97 Saab 900s. What do people here on the forum have? Who has the best prices? So far the cheapest Ive seen is $160 shipped to my door.

Thanks!
Silas

 

[Slaab4life]

I'm not sure what brand I have on my '97 900s, but I'll look into it this afternoon and report back. I'm sure it was under $200 (was a birthday present last summer), and I found it to be quite easy to install. Four bolts through the support beams and pretty nicely hidden by the bumper.

 

[smithSHO]

Great. Id like to install it myself so any pointers or tips would be awsome. Is any drilling required? Did your hitch come with the nuts and bolts for installation?

 

[Saabador_Dali]

Drawtite Part #36196 $104.95


http://www.drawtite-hitches.com/site_index/towproduts2.htm

I just ordered one. After drawbar and electrical you are looking at a bit under $200. Shouldn't be hard to install. I believe it is a bolt-on operation with the exception of running some wire.

SD

 

[Slaab4life]

No drilling required, all attaching hardware (nuts, bolts and washers) comes with it. It does get a bit tricky when putting the bolts in, some of the holes that the bolts hang down from the car are too distant to get into position by hand, best plan is to put a thick, single strand of wire (I used a piece with probably a 1/2 mm diameter), put that through your accessible area out the hole where your bolt is to hang down, and then wrap the end of the wire around the bolt and pull it through (I will explain is better with pictures later when their is some light). Saabador is right about the electrical portion, you will have to get/order the electronic bits for the trailer and wire that up. Some Saabs have a plug already set up for the trailer wiring, and seems some don't (I don't), so you may have to do some 'splicing'. I've been asked to do a write-up about and provide pictures for that part for another member and will post it here too once I open everything back up to access those portions (hopefully tomorrow).

 

[Slaab4life]

Drawtite Part #36196 $104.95

I will confirm that it is the Drawtite 36196. How were you able to get that number off the Drawtite site? When selecting vehicle I did not see Saab listed. The trailer lighting control unit I used was the Drawtite Modulite Lite part number 18187, listed on their site at $23.25. So if the hitch is $104.95 and $23.25, then in total you are paying $128.20, not to bad for everything you need for the job. I have written up some instructions for for doing the wiring part, but the instructions that came with the control unit were quite good and guided me through the set up. Hardest part was figuring out which Saab wires to tap into for the unit. Thread on this subject is here: http://www.saabcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49675
Unfortunately its raining here today, so I doubt I'll be able to get any pictures of the hitch installation, but like I said, hardest part is getting some of the bolts into position, which can be fixed by using a length of wire to get them in place.

OK, in the middle of this post I got bored and made some crude drawings:

This crude drawing is how you want the bolts to be positions. Mind you I believe that are a few washers involved that aren't 'pictured. Their are two beams that run from the front of the car to the back, one on each side. The view in the drawing is from the side. The These are where the hitch attaches. The beams are enclosed except for where the 'access area,' which is seen if you were looking towards the outside if your head was underneath the spare wheel well. The bolt that is towards the front end of the car (closest to access area) can be put in by hand. The problem is the one to the rear, the only access you have to put that bolt in is the 'access area'. So, as I had learned on this site, you run a piece of bendable wire through the hole for the bolt (the far one), and manipulate it so it runs up the beam to the 'access area'. Once you have it through there you wrap the end of the wire at the 'access area' around the bolt that you are putting back there (first put all washers, etc. that the directions describe for the inside of the beam on first). Make sure you wrap the wire as tightly as possible around the bolt, you have to get the bolt and wrapped wire through a very tight space when you get it into its final position. So now you have something that looks like this (the red is representing the wire):

Now you just need to carefully pull the wire from the end where the bolt will be in its resting place. Something like this:

So there you have it. One thing I realized while writing this is that my 'access area' may be in the wrong place. It may be towards the back instead of the front, but the theory behind getting that far away bolt into place is the same, just going in opposite directions. Its the same situation for the other beam, just use a piece of wire to pull it through.

Oh, and as for removing the rear muffler to gain space to get the other side of the hitch into position as the Drawtite directions state, not totally necessary. I think I may have released the rear rubber hanger, but that was it. Just need to pull the muffler downward enough to get that side of the hitch into position.

EDIT: One thing I forgot to note: I noticed later on that the rear-most driver's side (US) bolt sits awefully close to the rear muffler. I'm not sure if the muffler and that bolt ever make contact, but I did wrap some electrical tape around the bolt to soften any blows that the muffler may take from the bolt. Might be worth doing the same.

 

[Tboy]

Slaab, Would you mind posting a few pic of the trailer hitch? Anybody else who has them could also. I am interesting in seeing what it looks like installed (how stealth it is). I had a very nice reese hitch on my old Cavalier Z24 the hid away nicely. I used to pull my motorcylce around with that car. Now, I don't have the motorcycle, or the cavalier, and really no need for towing, but it sure comes in handy sometimes anyhow. After all this talk of trailering (and how cheap it is!), I was thinking it would be cool to add one. But since I don't have a need for a trailer now, I would only do it if it looked good!

Here is a shot of my cavaliers hitch. It was a class one.

 

[smithSHO]

Much grass goes to saabforlife for the great writeup! Looks easy enough, thanks again! The cheapest I can find is about $160 shipped for the hitch and ball. And I cant find it on that website listed here. Do you have a link to the page?
EDIT:
Here are some weblinks to the hitch:
http://www.cheaphitches.com/ Hitch, drawbar, and ball for: $168.00 shipped (it says drilling is required?)
http://www.hitchestogo.com Hitch and drawbar for $153 shipped. Add another 8 for ball. (better deal). Whats with the drilling required thing? Ill look at the saab tomorrow morning.

Anybody sell it cheaper?

Silas

 

[Slaab4life]

The cheapest I can find is about $160 shipped for the hitch and ball.

Ah, thats another good point. The hitch does come with the portion that the ball is bolted to, but does NOT include the ball. Also does not come with the square cover for when you aren't towing stuff, need to get that from drawtite or whatever online supplier.

 

[lotus54]

I bought a new one on ebay for something like $70.
I'll have to look up who was selling them. Sounds like they have a few of them.
No reciever arm, ball or wiring for that price, but I think still the cheapest.

Mark

The cheapest I can find is about $160 shipped for the hitch and ball. And I cant find it on that website listed here. Do you have a link to the page?
Silas

 

[smithSHO]

Okay Im still wondering if I have to drill or not to install the hitch? Ive looked at the frame, and I see 4 holes (two on each frame rail) so it looks like it will bolt on, but the hitch sites say drilling is required? So do I have to drill or not?

Thanks
Silas

 

[Slaab4life]

If you purchased the Drawtite 36196, then you do NOT have to drill.

 

[Slaab4life]

Slaab, Would you mind posting a few pic of the trailer hitch?

What you see behind the square receiver is actually just the spare wheel well. All you see is the chain connections and the square, seems the NG900 rear bumper hides the bar pretty well.

 

[Saabador_Dali]

That hitch tucks under there pretty well. I thought it would hang a bit more. Looks good.

Mine came late last week. I actually ordered it from etrailer.com. Looks to be in order. Might be a couple weeks before I can get to it however.

Have you ran the wire yet?

SD

 

[Slaab4life]

Have you ran the wire yet?

Who me? I had this all set up last summer. Did a write up last week about wiring the the lights up:

http://www.saabcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49675

 

[Tboy]

Hey thanks for the pics! That does look really nice. You could add a subtle hitch cover to goe even "stealthier"
Looks nice, I may have to start thinking about that. I will bookmark these threads as they are a valueable source of info!

Tboy

 

[Saabador_Dali]

Who me? I had this all set up last summer. Did a write up last week about wiring the the lights up:

My fault Slaab4life, I am a bit slow(when not behind the wheel :cheesy: ). Thanks for the link.

SD

 

[Slaab4life]

My fault Slaab4life, I am a bit slow(when not behind the wheel :cheesy: ).

No, no, just wanted to make sure your were talking to me before I went and posted that link.

 

[smithSHO]

I installed the hitch this morning, took just about an hour on the nose. Hitch (and drawbar) were $160 shipped from hitchestogo.com (see previous post for link).

Installation was quite straightforward, no problems. It does have a nice tight fit up against the bumper faica, fits like a glove.

I only bought the hitch to pick up a Sea-Doo (96XP) on my way back up to NY tomorrow, so I will be taking it back off and selling it in a few weeks. If you are interested, shoot me a PM.

Pics for your viewing pleasure:

 

[smithSHO]

When towing is it better to use normal or sport shifting mode with the automatic transmission?