Boler joins the family, and your opinion on hitch placement

[naterade]

Got us a handsome 1974 Boler in pristine condition, we are looking forward to a lot of camping this summer

I finally got my hitch, and did the install and wiring all myself - despite a minor snag getting the old bumper off, the install went surprisingly well!

I got the hitch from Rising Sun, it is adjustable in how far it comes out from the mounting brackets.

Currently I have it mounted as far out as possible, which allows room for the spare tire to fit properly behind it. The downside is that the hitch sticks out a bit from the bumper. (You can kind of see it in the picture)

The other option is to remove the spare tire and bracket, and mount the hitch further back, thus putting slightly less stress on the hitch and suspension, and removing a sure-fire shin banging hazard. (I can mount the spare on the roof rack)

Thoughts on this? Is the way I have it now going to be fine, or should I consider moving it back?

[sasquatch-hunter]

If the hitch is the three receivers style, I recommend you weld thè hitch to the brackets. Mines sagged a bit as there were a little free play.
Bolers are so light, it should be a easy tow. Check the frame before you tow it down dirt trails though.

[naterade]

If the hitch is the three receivers style, I recommend you weld thè hitch to the brackets. Mines sagged a bit as there were a little free play.
Bolers are so light, it should be a easy tow. Check the frame before you tow it down dirt trails though.

It is the 3 receivers style, I will look at the possibility of welding. Although, that makes it unadjustable....


Already took it down the foresty trunk road too, the only casualties were 3 eggs that were in the fridge

This boler has a suspension so fortunately I think it will handle the rough roads better than stock bolers

[thedjjack]

Careful if you mount the spare on the rack.... You need to spread the load along the rain gutter. Mine when I got it the rain gutters were bent down from the weight of the spare (31-10.5-15R).

[nxski]

Careful if you mount the spare on the rack.... You need to spread the load along the rain gutter. Mine when I got it the rain gutters were bent down from the weight of the spare (31-10.5-15R).

It should be fine with the 6 feet on that rack. Mine has 4 large feet and I put 3 fully loaded jerry cans up there with no problem and currently have a spare on the roof. My front racks, which had smaller feet, bent my gutters a bit though, so I'm going to weld some wider feet onto it.

[glenn]

That's a nice match with your van. My advice: take it real slow when pulling anything. Pay attention to your right foot, even if you are going really slow, resist the temptation. Decide what is a comfortable amount of throttle, and don't exceed it, even if you slow down to 30 km/hr on the highway. And keep the RPMs up by gearing down when climbing. It doesn't take much to crack your head, I think they make them out of glass.

I'm building a teardrop for my L300 - also very light. I've got the same hitch - I never welded mine. It does sag a little, but not enough to bother me.

[naterade]

Thanks for the comments.

It should be fine with the 6 feet on that rack. Mine has 4 large feet and I put 3 fully loaded jerry cans up there with no problem and currently have a spare on the roof. My front racks, which had smaller feet, bent my gutters a bit though, so I'm going to weld some wider feet onto it.

Yes, my roof rack is quite robust - 6 extra wide feet along the rails gives a lot of strength. I can stand on it without issue

That's a nice match with your van. My advice: take it real slow when pulling anything. Pay attention to your right foot, even if you are going really slow, resist the temptation. Decide what is a comfortable amount of throttle, and don't exceed it, even if you slow down to 30 km/hr on the highway. And keep the RPMs up by gearing down when climbing. It doesn't take much to crack your head, I think they make them out of glass.

I have had the van and trailer out once so far. Pulling seems a bit of an effort for the van, but I do take it very easy. I never put the pedal to the floor, trailer or not. And I use the O/D switch often to keep the revs high going up hills. I like to cruise the highways at between 90 and 95 km/h, which I feel is a comfy speed for the van. We have a 8-month old baby, so travel is slow no matter what, so we're never in a rush to get anywhere.

I am going to keep the hitch as is for now, with the spare in it's intended place. I'll see how we do next voyage which will be a long trip into the interior, and go from there. I'll post some pics when we get back

[Firesong]

Hitch is fine. Check it time to time and tighten if needed