Finding the right Trailer Hitch

May 22nd, 2007

I do a lot of searching around the internet looking for keywords and ideas about trailer hitches. A lot of what I see is people wondering where to find a hitch for their particular vehicle. Some of these people may have looked for a hitch locally and couldn’t find the right fit, or some my just be looking for information (window shopping as it may be) on a hitch for their vehicle. Either way, the great thing about the internet is that there is a simple way to find the hitch you want, including price, weight, styles and availability. One of the best trailer hitch sources on the web can be accessed through our site. Go here , click on the trailer hitches.com link, and simply enter your make and model into the form under “Shop Trailer Hitches Today!” From there, you will generally find several options for your vehicle. And, don’t forget, if you have a trailer hitch, or if you’re into camping trailers , you probably better have a trailer hitch cover; find yours here today!

Trailer Hitch: Mounted Basketball Hoop

May 16th, 2007
Whoa. Who thought of this? The hitch mounted basketball hoop from Portable B-Ball is pretty amazing! It will hitch to your 1.25 (with adaptor) or 2 inch trailer hitch and extends to up to 7 feet above your hitch. Check out the photos here (portablebball.com). I love that it angles away from the rear of the car to allow better play under the hoop.
I also love the idea that you can drive around and people can see that you have a basketball backboard and rim attached to your trailer hitch!
Go Jazz.

15% off all NBA Hitch Covers

May 7th, 2007

Well, the Jazz did it–they went down to Houston and beat the Rockets in game 7! And now they face the red-hot Golden State Warriors. Whether or not the Jazz can win another huge series remains to be seen. One thing’s for sure, my 11-year old son will be watching, and cheering, and screaming, and groaning. He’ll jump up and down when they make a big shot. He’ll hide his head when they miss or get a bad call. Whoever wins, it will be exciting around here.

We have a couple of huge Jazz fans in the family. My mother in law has season tickets and several of her relatives fight over who gets to go to the games with her. Regardless of who attends the game, that person is always calling the others to talk the game over after it’s done, win or lose.

If you have an NBA fan among your friends or family, keep in mind that an NBA trailer hitch cover makes a great gift, (even if you have to give it to yourself!) Our trailer hitch covers are useful, durable, good looking, a great way to show your support for your team, and, during the month of May, all NBA hitch covers are 15% off! So, if you’ve been thinking about getting a hitch cover for your truck or SUV, now is a great time to do it.

Happy trailering, and best of luck to your team, unless of course they’re playing the Jazz, and then I’ll just have to offer my condolences.

Ban Bull Balls??

April 27th, 2007

Apparently bull balls, truck nutz (www.trucknutz.com), or whatever other brand name you know them by are raising quite a stir in Maryland. Del. LeRoy E. Myers Jr., R-Washington/Allegany, filed a bill for Maryland to ban such “toys” and others like them with fines up to $500 for drivers caught displaying them. He sees it as a law supporting decency, others, like the ACLU, see it as a law contrary to the first ammendment.

The text of the bill reads :

“A person may not display on a motor vehicle any model, sign, sticker, or other item that depicts or resembles anatomically correct, less than completely and opaquely covered, human or animal genitals, human buttocks, or human female breasts.”

While I haven’t found Bull Balls anything more than a crude form of humor, as a mother, I would fully support removing the playboy bunny and similar depictions of the famale form from mud flaps and bumper stickers, so I guess I’m up in the air on this one.

To read the full article, click here.

What do you mean “motorcycle trailer”? Part II

April 25th, 2007

Today is part two of looking at motorcycle trailers. During road trips I’ve seen touring motorcycles on the interstate in the middle of no where. They must be on cross country trips, but how much stuff can you carry on a motorcycle? Some of these bikes have loads of power and a few storage boxes attached saddle-bag style to their sides. There’s just only so much you can carry in them right? On those long road trips you want to have some extra space so you can bring a few more amenities from home. This trailer may be the answer:

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The ZZ2000LT is the sleekest trailer I could find that’s designed to attach to a motorcycle. No small surprise that they’re intended exclusively for Harley Davidson and Honda Goldwing motorcycles. This trailer is sweet. It’s also expensive – $3,995 plus $95 for packing and then you’ll pay a few hundred dollars for shipping. It’s going to be worth it though. Chrome wheels, factory matched colors, a tongue-mounted cooler, carpeted interior, suspension on the wheels, chrome trim, and a huge 200 lb. weight capacity. It even has 16.5 cubic feet of interior space. This is a big motorcycle trailer. It’s going to get the job done for you. It will take your cross-country touring to a whole new level.

What do you mean, “motorcycle trailer”?

April 24th, 2007

If you go to google and type in motorcycle trailer you’re going to get one of two results: first, you might find a trailer that you’d pull behind a truck or suv. You know, a trailer to carry a motorcycle. The other option you’d have would be trailer that attaches to a motorcycle. In my next couple of posts I’ll feature an example of the coolest version of each type. Today we’ll look at the trailer you’d load your favorite bike on for a cross-country trip (you don’t want to put unnecessary miles on it right?).

One of the best examples of a motorcycle trailer I could find is the Diamond Deck. As you can see in the pictures, it’s versatile. It can carry up to three dirt bikes if they’re narrow enough; or you could pull a full-sized Honda Gold Wing. I’m not sure why you’d want to though. More about that tomorrow.

The Diamond Deck comes with a 2,200 pound gross weight rating, 12″ sport wheels, and up to three motorcycle rails to keep your bikes stable. The base price is $1,495 for the tent trailers with two rails, and a center rail will run you an extra $125.00. If you’re at all close to the manufacturer you might consider a road trip to pick it up because freight will be between $250 and $350.

Bottom line, this trailer is a great value for everything it can do for you. Learn more about it here.

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Trailer Innovators

April 23rd, 2007

We have tons of respect for anyone that innovates and creates their own trailer. Hitch up a home-built trailer to your station wagon for a family weekend? Sounds great to me. Michael Boyink put a lot of tlc into this Bantam trailer. He restored it from a rusted relic to a family favorite. It may be old, but it connects to a standard trailer hitch — light enough to pull behind any family vehicle. Check out some pictures from his collection or learn more about what he’s done at his site here.

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Michael has added some really cool trailer accessories to his creation including a bike rack and a shelf system to hold camping supplies.

Here’s another creative soul who thought built a trailer you can hitch to your bike. It’s a lightweight, simply constructed design made of bamboo. Pretty cool, and very duplicatable. Here are a couple of pictures to illustrate:

The creator of the bamboo hauler lives in the UK and she’ll give you the plans to build your own. She just asks that you post on her blog what you did with the plans. Pretty generous of her right? Check it out here. Anyway, if you’re a person that likes trailer hitches in all their forms, you should appreciate these two examples of creativity.

Adjustable Trailer Hitch Ball Mounts

April 19th, 2007

When towing, it’s very important that your trailer tongue be level with the ground. If you are always towing the same trailer, you can set your hitch up just right for that trailer and be set for life, or at least the life of that towing relationship. But, if you find yourself with two or more trailers with differing coupler heights, it makes sense to have an adjustable ball mount.

To find the ball mount drop (if your trailer coupler is below the height of your hitch) or rise (if the coupler is above your hitch) that you need, simply park your vehicle and trailer on level ground. Measure from the ground up to top of the inside of your receiver tube (where the top of the ball mount shank will be) and measure from the ground up to the bottom of the trailer coupler. The difference between these two heights is the length of the rise or drop you need in your ball mount.

You can find adjustable ball mounts all over, with prices ranging from $25 to over $200.

Check out some of the best trailer hitches and ball mounts at our new affiliate store TrailerHitches.com.

Every truck a trailer hitch, every trailer hitch a hitch cover…

March 20th, 2007

As an owner of a trailer hitches and hitch covers ecommerce site, I’ve started noticing our favorite products everywhere. Whenever I’m driving down the road I notice whether trucks and SUVs have (or don’t have) trailer hitches. When I see a vehicle that obviously has the towing capacity but doesn’t have a hitch I ask myself why. Why would you let all that towing power go to waste? Trailer hitches in all sizes and varieties are just a few clicks away. At the same time, when I see a big truck that does have a hitch but doesn’t have a hitch cover, I’m confused. Especially when I see a sports sticker on the bumper or in the rear window. I mean, if you’ve got an NFL team decal that shows the world your devotion, why not reinforce the message with the right NFL hitch cover? Leave no doubt, that’s my motto. There are a lot of sites on the web that supply you with trailer hitches and hitch covers at very reasonable prices. Whether it’s our store or someone else’s, do the right thing for your truck or SUV and get yourself properly outfitted. You’ll be glad you did!

Toyota Tundra

March 16th, 2007

I love the new Toyota Tundra TV commercials, and the actual truck looks pretty cool too.  To see the commercials, follow this link http://www.toyota.com/vehicles/minisite/commercial/tundra_tv.html

Right after the commercials came out, I found videos on the Toyota site about the making of those commercials–apparently it was all pretty much just like it looks on TV.  Unfortunately, those videos are gone, but I found a blog with some more information, check it out here http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2007/02/how_they_made_t.html

The 2007 Tundra has a lot of nice features, and Toyota.com has a lot of videos to showcase these features.  At Trailer Hitch Universe, we’re mostly concerned with the trailer hitch and towing features, so I’ll focus on those: The 5.7L V8 has a 10,800 lb. towing capacity and can carry over 2000 lbs in the long bed. The V8 tow package includes a heavy-duty tow hitch receiver, 7-pin connector, trailer brake controller prewire, supplemental transmission cooler, TOW/HAUL mode (not available with 4.7L V8), automatic-transmission temperature gauge, 4.100 rear axle ratio (on 4.7L models) or 4.300 rear, axle ratio (on 5.7L models).  Front tow hooks come standard on all models except the 4.0L Double Cab.  Toyota reccommends the Reese weight distribution hitch bar, and I would also like to note that hitch is shown with a matte black toyota logo hitch cover.