[A/S] Re: trailor hitch help needed

["overlander_64" <overlander64@xxxxxxxxx>]

Greetings Remco!

Even in the US, you would have a certain degree of difficulty 
outfitting your '57 Imperial with the appropriate Class III/IV 
receiver hitch - - it can be done, but takes a great deal of 
persistence as many shops virtually refuse to custom fabricate 
hitches due to the liability issues involved here in the US.

What you will likely find is that you will need a Reese (or similar) 
weld-up hitch kit.  I recently had one of these fabricated at a shop 
in the US for my '75 Cadillac Eldorado - - essentially the same 
products were used when a different shop fabricated the hitch for 
my '65 Dodge more than twenty years ago.

The hitch is basically a "side-ways "H"" that is a welded frame of 
2" square steel tubing (they used tubing with a .25" sidewall 
measurement) for the "legs" of the "H".  The connector for the "H" 
was purchased from Reese and it carried a part number of  11022 and 
was called 36" Long Receiver Tube for 2" Hitch Bars - Uunpainted. 

The welder created flanges on the legs of the "H" that were bolted 
to the frame of the car and reinforced with welds along the car's 
frame as well (the legs of the "H" fit between the frame rails at 
both front and rear mounting points).  The Receiver Tube was 
centered on the rear bumper and was welded to the legs of the "H" at 
both the front and rear - - the Receiver Tube was positiioned such 
that it was centered on the rear bumper and flush with the lower 
edge.  You can see the Receiver Tube that was utilized on my hitch 
at:  
http://www.reeseproducts.com/products/products/std_hitchacc.shtml#110
21

I use a Reese Strait-Line Hitch with this receiver on both of my tow 
vehicles.  It is an adjustable height hitch head with weight 
distribution bars and Reese Dual Cam Sway Control.  You can see this 
product at:  
http://www.reeseproducts.com/products/products/wd_dualcam.shtml

I would offer to send you a digital picture of the hitches on my '65 
Dodge and '75 Cadillac, but both cars are stored more than 375 miles 
from my current location.  You might try e-mailing the folks at 
Reese Products to see if they might have installation diagrams for 
their "weld-up" packages.

Hopefully you will encounter fewer difficulties with your weld-up 
package and '57 Imperial in the Netherlands than most of us have 
encountered in the US.  If you can do your own welding, that is 
probably the single greatest obstacle that I encountered as the 
basic parts are readily available - - I suspect that the steel 
tubing could be sourced locally for the legs of the "H" on the 
hitch - - meaning that the Receiver Tube would likely be the 
difficult item to have shipped.  The Strait-Line hitch can also be a 
weight issue (it isn't terribly bulky as it is sent in pieces) - - I 
believe that the shipping weight must be close to 100 pounds.

Good luck with your project!

Kevin