1. The Offroad Commode – “Now you can GO where you’re truck goes”. This gift needs little introduction. Do read the attached marketing materials, for safety’s sake. (NOT FOR USE ON MOVING VEHICLE)
2. The Grinch Winch Towing Device – The Grinch Winch has an adjustable hand throttle allowing you to vary the towing speed, a hydraulic brake for quick and easy stops, and a rope friendly roller system allowing you to tow from almost any angle. The Grinch Winch is designed to fit a 2” receiver hitch on any vehicle and also comes ready for bottom side wheel mounts. This winch can be used for snowskating, wakeboarding, snowboarding and other snow and water sports. Perfect for the ambitious athlete without an ounce of common sense on your Christmas list. First Aid Kit not included!
3. Shade to Go – This trailer hitch mountable umbrella shades from the sun and adjusts to provide shade almost anywhere. Use with trailer hitch mount on any vehicle. Who needs the Carribean with this gift? Now that’s relaxation.
stay cool
(Hitchsource.com takes no responsibility for use or implementation of these gift ideas, including potential hickey bobbing accidents or road rash due to improper use of the Offroad Commode).
The final installment of the Hitch Source top 10 trailer hitch tailgating ideas will be posted Thursday January 15, 2009. Check it out. Wait until you see our #1 pick. Thank you for joining us and we look forward to you comments.
As we continue with are top 10 trailer hitch tailgating ideas you will see that you can really party down with traile hitch accessories.
5. Freedom Grill FG – 100 – Size matters but don’t drop your pants yet, comparing grill size at a tailgator is one sure way to establish dominance as a master of the tailgating universe. This hitch mounted grill company makes a great product and they’re also the winner of The National Barbecue Association award for excellence (no I didn’t make that up, it’s a real group, just like trekkies and the Lindsey Lohan fan club). There’s also a American Tailgators Association and a United States Tailgating Association, not sure why we need both. According to testimonials, this monster grill is the best way to bridge the gap between Bears and Rams fans.
6. Alfred Hitch Cover – Whether you’re a firefighter, Harley lover, or Mets fan, there’s a Alfred Hitch Cover for you. Don’t leave your hitch naked, make a statement about who you are with these great hitch covers. My personal favorite is the “Got Beer” bottle opener trailer hitch cover.
7. Party a Cargo – This hitch mounted kegerator is sure to make you the life of the party. The entertainment Party a Cargo can include boom box, 9” LCD screen, iPod docking station and CO2 cylinder for your kegerator. (good luck explaining THAT open container).
Check out all the great, fun ways you can use your trailer hitch. We’ve included our favorite uses for trailer hitches, as well as ideas for the tailgating fan in your life. We’ll post 3 blogs with these great ideas and then we’ll give you an opportunity to vote on your favorite as well as the chance to enter your name in our sweepstakes to win our special tailgaters survival pack. Share, enjoy, comment. We’re glad you’re here!
(Hitchsource.com takes no responsibility for use or implementation of these ideas, including potential hickey bobbing accidents or road rash due to improper use of the Offroad Commode).
8. Skitching -A word made by combining two words, skate and hitch. Of course trailer hitches are great for pulling your boat or rv, but what about for pulling people? If you already have a trailer hitch, you already have the fun. Here’s the premise… Have your friends grab the trailer hitch (or tie off a rope from the hitch) and pull them around town preferably on a board or bike in highly trafficked downtown areas. If you’re parents have a college education you probably call this skitching, if not, you may know this Winter past time as hickey bobbing. Whatever you call it, it’s all kinds of fun. Here is a great example of skitching gone wrong.
9. Hitch Mounted Hammock Stand – No longer just for your yard, porch or deck, the hammock can go with you wherever you go. If regular tailgating events such as beer drinking and eating bratwurst are more activity than you’d like, take a nap in the hitch mounted hammock.
10. Tow Hitch TV- Get rid of the dorky AM headset and trade it in on the Tow Hitch TV! Watch the pre-game show in HD and impress your friends. Whether you’re camping or checking out the big game, it’s the perfect gift for the tailgater on your list. Sofa and satellite dish sold separately…
Join us next week for 5-7 of our Top 10 Trailer Hitch & Tail Gating
We have done it this time. Over the next few months we will be adding several new racks. Hitch bike racks, cargo carriers, roof racks, ski racks, from our current suppliers like softride and swagman however we are truly excited to offer Thule hitch bike racks and accessories. So, keep checking as we add more new racks all of the time.
Trailer hitch motorcycle carriers are a great alternative to loading your bike in the back of a pick up. Common hitch carriers are similar to beefed up bicycle roof rack trays that mount sideways on a trailer hitch. Hitch Source currently offers two types of hitch mounted motorcycle carriers. The Hitch Source carriers are not the standard style. Both are very unique in function and design. First is the Ultimate MX Hauler This is similar to a motorcycle stand used in garages and at the race track with a hydraulic jack connected to a trailer hitch mount. this bike carrier is expensive but, cool. Hitch Source’s other motorcycle carrier is The Boss hitch motorcycle carrier. Similar to the standard style the Boss hitch motorcycle carriers have a long wheel tray but this carrier uniquely tilts down to allow for easy loading and unloading.
Both hitch motorcycle carriers work very well and are in a class of their own. Hitch Source recently has arranged to offer several other trailer hitch mounted motorcycle carriers including street bikes and dual dirt bike carriers as well as some of the more common styles. We will keep you posted.
Magnetic tow lights are the quick and easy way to connect the towed car’s turn signals and brake lights to the motorhome’s . The quality kits include the motorhome side socket, the vehicle side plug, the wire harness and two magnetic lights. Deluxe magnetic tow light kits come with the a storage case and anti-scratch pads to place between the magnet and the body of the towed vehicle. No splicing into the towed vehicle required, Magnetic tow lights are compatible with all makes of automobile and are DOT approved.
Universal wiring kits designed to splice into the vehicles electrical system are available. The best Universal wiring kits come with diodes which make connection easier and prevent electrical feedback to protect the towed vehicles wiring system. The diodes have two wire connections on one side and one on the other. Diodes are designed to be placed inline and have the second wire connection on the input side for the wire harness connecting the motorhome. Again a complete kit will come with diodes, a motorhome side socket, a vehicle side plug, mounting brackets, extension cord to go between the motorhome and the towed vehicle, plenty of bonded, wire connectors, and detailed instructions.
The most recent design is somewhat of a hybrid between the previous two styles of towed vehicle brake light systems. Tail light wiring kits with bulbs require little modification to the towed vehicle and at the same time can be neatly and permanently integrated. Tail light wiring kits with bulbs are like magnetic tow lights in that they operate completely independent of the towed vehicles wiring system however there are no magnets or lenses. Separate sockets and bulbs are mounted inside the towed vehicles tail lights conveniently bypassing the towed vehicles wiring system and protecting the manufacturers warranty. The wiring can be routed underneath the towed vehicle and the socket mounted to the grill or bumper facia. A good kit will include the motorhome side socket, the vehicle side plug, and extension cord to go between the motorhome and the towed vehicle, plenty of bonded wire, light sockets and bulbs.
As a final note, if you are going to splice into the vehicle’s electrical system check to see if the brake and turn signal configuration is the same. If the motorhome has separate brake and turn signals but the towed vehicle does not a wiring converter is required. If the motorhome and the towed vehicle both have separate brake and turn signals a total of 6 diodes is required. Post your questions and happy trails.
Many people still believe that trailer hitches have to be welded, cut, drilled, or fabricated. Today that simply is not the case. Trailer hitch installation is a 30 to 60 minute exercise of bolting a custom manufactured hitch to factory provided holes or weld nuts in the frame of your vehicle. Curt Manufacturing has trailer hitch applications for almost every vehicle manufactured since the late 70s. Installing these hitches is as easy as it gets. Simple knowledge of hand tools is all anyone needs to do their own trailer hitch installation. For example, the very popular Toyota Prius trailer hitch installation takes only 30 minutes. Obviously, with out instructions or the proper hardware it can be difficult to get the trailer hitch installation done in a 30 to 60 minute time frame. Don’t let set backs like lost instructions or missing bolts bring your project to a halt. We have the trailer hitch installation instructions for all Curt Manufacturing hitches available online and can special order bolt kits for any hitch model. The trailer hitch installation instructions are in a printable pdf. format and include detailed description of hardware required for proper installation. So, If you buy a used hitch, lose the instructions or some of the hardware you can always find trailer hitch installation instructions and hardware requirements with our trailer hitch search tool.
The Honda CRV has been one of our most popular hitches. This week Joe has put together a page on our website dedicated to the Honda CRV. In this business, like many others, we find that 10% of our hitches account for about 90% of our business, so in an effort to make it easier for customers to find compatible trailer hitches, trailer wiring, ball mounts, hitch bike racks and more, we decided to incorporate our experience with these products into a single page where customers can find what works. With the new page format, customers can see the ratings that customers have given to the products and get an overview of the options that are available.
We’ll keep you posted about other products and vehicles as we add the pages to the site. Now Honda CR-V owners can purchase accessories that are known to be compatible with the CRV.
With camping season in full gear, we’ve added the entire line of Torklift Camper Tie Downs to the site this week. The tie downs mount to the frame of your truck, allowing you to easily and securely attach your camper to the truck. What makes the Torklift tie downs different from the rest, you say? We’re glad you asked.
Torklift tie downs look a lot like a receiver trailer hitch. They have a receiver portion and a tie-down portion. This allows you to attach the mounts once and to only use the tie downs when you need them. When you’re not using them, the tie downs are removed and the receiver portion is virtually invisible on your truck.
How do they fit such a wide range of trucks? Well as the guy who added them to the site, I can tell you that there are A LOT of models of these suckers. They’ve custom fitted them to each application, so you can be assured that they will fit like a glove (not like OJ’s…). We’ve linked in the installation instructions for each bracket so you can see what you’re getting yourself into before you start. The camper tie down brackets are designed to mount to existing holes on the frame where possible and, do not affect the ground clearance of your truck.
We’ve taken our normal philosophy of providing product selectors and have developed a Torklift Tie Down Selector to help customers find the models right for your truck rather than having them dig through pages and pages of listings. In addition to the Make, Model, and Bed length of your truck, the type of hitch and the running board configuration is important in selecting the right brackets. Let us know what you think of the selector.
We’re excited about our new relationship with Torklift and are looking forward to working with them on their quality camper products.
