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| martin Veteran Date registered: Apr 2006 Location: Del Mar, CA Isles of Scilly, UK Vehicle(s): 99 G500 95 E300D 95 R1100GS 06 K1200R Posts: 297  | RE: 280GE Hitch Is the factory hitch on my 280 some weird metric size? Not really. The hitch is a 50mm diameter ball. 1" = 25.4mm ... so ... 50mm = 1.9685" which is very close to 2". I also have a 280GE with the factory "metric" hitch and have towed a variety of trailers from a long 18' car hauler to a short motorcycle trailer all requiring a 2" ball with no problems whatsoever. -Martin (280GE hitch.jpg) Attachments ----------------  280GE hitch.jpg (498KB - 0 downloads) | |
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| 4x4abc Date registered: Apr 2006 Location: La Paz, Baja California, Mexico Vehicle(s): 02 G500  | ||
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| RE: 280GE Hitch Thanks for the quick reply guys, guess i'm good to go.  Sean | ||
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| elevatorbernie Expert Date registered: Aug 2006 Location: Vancouver B.C. Canada Vehicle(s): 1989 280GE Posts: 1347  | Re: 280GE Hitch The ball size is almost the same. The european/metric G ball is 50mm and the standard one we have is 2 inch. However the profile (shape) of the ball is not the same. It's close and some people claim to have used the G's hitch and ball on standard trailer receivers with no trouble. Myself, I didn't feel confident about using it, not only because of the ball issues, but due to the tongue rating. My G's original Oris hitch was rated for 120kg, about 265 lbs, that's not very much when we are taking about North American trailers. European trailers are designed to have their weight placed over the wheels, while our's weight is biased alot more to the front for some reason. For example, my boat is 18ft long, the trialer is about 25ft, I have adjusted the trailer so the boat is rearward as far as possible and the tongue load is still over 300lbs! I suppose I could have moved the trailer's axle forward to carry more of the load, alot of work and only good for that trailer; when I switch trailers I would still have a problem. So it was easier to have a new hitch made. My hitch is still fastened to the frame in the same place, however in the future I plan to have it intergrated into a new bumper and spread the load more evenly across the frame. (hitch 004 (Small).jpg) (hitch 006 (Small).jpg) Attachments ---------------- hitch 004 (Small).jpg (28KB - 1 downloads) hitch 006 (Small).jpg (35KB - 1 downloads) | |
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| 4x4abc Date registered: Apr 2006 Location: La Paz, Baja California, Mexico Vehicle(s): 02 G500 | ||
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| elevatorbernie Expert Date registered: Aug 2006 Location: Vancouver B.C. Canada Vehicle(s): 1989 280GE Posts: 1347 | Re: 280GE Hitch Here's the factory data sticker from mine. 120KG. I wonder how much the tongue load is on a loaded car hauler trailer and if it's inside the tolerances? "The ball fit" is not a good excuse when your in court after killing people with your rig on the freeway.  Edited by elevatorbernie 6/20/2007 1:40 PM (data sticker (Small).jpg) Attachments ---------------- data sticker (Small).jpg (36KB - 6 downloads) | |
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