Installing a tow hitch on my E92 M3

[Richbot]

My advice on HF trailers is always get one with at least a 12" wheel as taking a 10" wheel HF trailer down the hgihway at **0+ mph will eventually break the piece of square tube that serves as an axle and you'll keep wearing out one of the tires and wondering WTF is going on but it'll just keep going until eventually somebody yells at you at a tollway stop on I80 on the way to the Peru National Tour that you have a wheel about to fall off and then you'll be like oh well yolo and tape it back together for the rest of the trip

Not that that ever happened to me

[nsogiba]

As I mentioned in my original posts I was pretty active in the LS community over the last 10 years. The Vette I sold didn’t fit my lifestyle anymore but I always loved the bang for the buck aspect of the performance. Most fun of all was my turbo truck, which was a basic 4.8 combo with a turbo and a reliable as a rock 4L80E.

Browsing Marketplace over a cup of coffee, I saw a complete LQ4/4L80E for a decent price about 15 minutes away. Since the hitch on the M3 was done, I figured it was the perfect opportunity to test it out.















Back home in the garage, I usually put some straps around the lift arms and use the lift to pick everything up and attach to engine stand.





The M3 pulled the trailer great, I estimate it was about 1000 lbs between the engine, trans, and the trailer itself.



Don't worry, I am not swapping the M3, been there done that. Thinking I might do an old cop car with a big turbo, fun street car that wastes tires at highway speeds.

[nsogiba]

My latest project was refurbing my trailer. Bought it new in 2016 and it has been incredibly useful as mostly a utility trailer but also a track day tool. The deck was rotten in one place (painted regular plywood) but the frame was salvageable despite having some rust/scale.

Back when it was new and nice:



Chinesium paint oxidized quickly and turned pink.



This was a bit on the heavier side for the C5, but just had to take it slow.





M3 putting in work too



Ok, damage report:






Bye Bye deck





The extent of the rust:





The insides of the tires were rough. Somehow outer sidewalls weren't so bad



The cost to buy/mount 2 new tires as well time to sand and repaint the old rims came out the same as brand new ones, so I picked up a set and will keep the old ones as spares.

As further rust prevention I painted the rims (also change up the color a bit from boring Trailer White).



Heavy wire wheel and needle scaler were essential for removing rust and scale. I also put in new hub seals and regreased the bearings since they were in good shape.






Primer and Black Gloss brushed on from Tractor Supply






That's as far as I am today. It has been a challenge getting the paint to dry with the very cold temps, but it's getting there when I run the heater for a bit. More to come.

[roastbeef]

it would be really cool to find an e9x shell and use the back half of the wagon as your trailer with matching paint and wheels.

[nsogiba]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

it would be really cool to find an e9x shell and use the back half of the wagon as your trailer with matching paint and wheels.

The Corvette boys do that. Bit cheesy IMO (I say this as a former Corvette owner).



If anything I want to go big one day and do a gooseneck on a C5/6 with the hatch removed.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/41502/...ow-rig-triumph