[orbywan]

Here is the latest in the addition of the hitch and dropping the floor of the boat tail down to a more optimal slope to get the air flowing better. Since the addition of the boat tail was a great boost to mpg it’s definitely staying. Since it is staying the next job is to extend the hitch so I can tow toys and the tow vehicle when we travel.

Since the boat tail extends back about four feet, that means if I want to leave the basic configuration of the boat tail as is, the hitch receiver needs to be extended back about 3 feet. If you can imagine holding 3,000 pounds at arms length, that’s a pretty good idea of how serious it is to extend a hitch that far.

As you can see by what my friends have referred to as the ‘horizontal Eiffel Tower’, some equally serious thought and engineering went into it. Time will tell how it does, but I’m confident it is up to the task and then some.

The good part of the design is that when I’m not towing, the lower part of the hitch is removable in ten minutes or less. Once it is removed and the lower cover installed, the remaining hitch structure is completely out of the air stream. The other advantage is that the remaining superstructure has two additional beneficial features. The first is it acts as a super heavy-duty floor for the boat tail area, so I can take advantage of all that space back there. The second advantage is that if I have a tail strike, the superstructure is about a half inch above the lower cover in the center so it will help absorb whatever impact might occur, hopefully saving the frame of the boat tail in the process.

Next is re-skinning it with coroplast, building the lower covers, one for without the hitch, one for with the hitch, and extending the hitch wiring. Oh yeah, and finishing out the door I fabbed in the middle so I can get to this area easily. The fun never stops. : )