September 30, 200421 yr Hey all- My ea82 wagon came (from the og owner) with a hitch on it, which does little more than drag on the ground when I'm running stuff over. It's pretty specific to the car, I'd guess it a factory option. Anyway, the heads of the big bolts (three little screws, 1 big bolt per side of the hitch) are inside the body. Herein lies the problem. Looks like the bolts are inline with the bumper mounts / "Frame" rails so I'm thinking the bumper hasta come off to remove this useless hunk of metal, but I could be missing something obvious. Any thoughts?
September 30, 200421 yr Remvoing the rear bumper is no big deal at all. 4 bolts and a lot of wiggeling. The 4 bolts are accessed from inside the rear hatch, open the middle smuggeling compartment. On the left and right walls of that compartment are little black rubber plugs. Pull them out and you can see the bolts. Take a 14 or 16 socket to them. Sure you can't take this off w/o the bumer coming off? I'd try to loosen the bolts you can see first. Try to get that thing off with the bumper on. If you have to you can take it off easily.
September 30, 200421 yr Author last resort? bust out with an angle grinder and cut that puppy off Ya, I could, but then I'd have big-azz bolt head rattling around in my body. This thing had to installed somehow, so it can be unintalled. The bumper is coming off in a few days for a premptive strike on some rust anyway - pretty sure it'll be obvious then. But not totally sure.
September 30, 200421 yr Author Remvoing the rear bumper is no big deal at all. 4 bolts and a lot of wiggeling. The 4 bolts are accessed from inside the rear hatch, open the middle smuggeling compartment. On the left and right walls of that compartment are little black rubber plugs. Pull them out and you can see the bolts. Take a 14 or 16 socket to them. That's what i figured. Sure you can't take this off w/o the bumer coming off? I'd try to loosen the bolts you can see first. Try to get that thing off with the bumper on. If you have to you can take it off easily. The bumper hasta come off anyway, no big deal except that the hitch ball is siezed on the hitch (and directly behind the bumper), so I can't slide the bumper off till I get the ball off. All 6 little bolts sheared off yesterday (On the bright side, the holes are now plugged) I got the big bolts loose, but since I can't get to the head they just spin now. So now the whole hitch is dangling off the car. Bleh. Then I hadta go to work and couldn't mess with it anymore. Speaking of bumpers, think I could get a sketch or better pics of yers? It'd be a good solution till I can pony up for TWB bumpers.
September 30, 200421 yr On my wagon, I just had my old hitch removed by my exhaust guys - using their impact wrench. On mine, the bolts on the bumper snapped off (sealing the holes), then the remaining four bolt heads were accessible underneath the little rug thing lining the bottom of the hidden storage compartment in the rear of the main floor of the wagon. I held a wrench on each of those bolts while the impact wrench man spun off each nut underneath. A couple wacks with a big hammer, and the hitch dropped to the floor. Then I remounted the bolts and nuts to seal the holes in that little storage compartment. Keep at it. You'll be glad you're not carrying that extra weight around. These cars aren't really built for towing anyway.
September 30, 200421 yr Author I checked under the carpet - nothing there. There all no bolts on the bumper with this hitch. Its actually pretty burly, and totally mated to the frame/body. I really just need to go do it instead of sitting here talking about it. /grabs a beer and socket set, goes outside. On my wagon, I just had my old hitch removed by my exhaust guys - using their impact wrench. On mine, the bolts on the bumper snapped off (sealing the holes), then the remaining four bolt heads were accessible underneath the little rug thing lining the bottom of the hidden storage compartment in the rear of the main floor of the wagon. I held a wrench on each of those bolts while the impact wrench man spun off each nut underneath. A couple wacks with a big hammer, and the hitch dropped to the floor. Then I remounted the bolts and nuts to seal the holes in that little storage compartment. Keep at it. You'll be glad you're not carrying that extra weight around. These cars aren't really built for towing anyway.
September 30, 200421 yr Naw you wont have to remove the ball first. Once you get the bumper bolts off the bumper can manouver up and down. Should be able to slide it up enough to come up and over that ball hitch.
September 30, 200421 yr Author Naw you wont have to remove the ball first. Once you get the bumper bolts off the bumper can manouver up and down. Should be able to slide it up enough to come up and over that ball hitch. The ball just came off... That PB blaster is the ****! Better get another can for doing my lift.
September 30, 200421 yr The ball just came off... That PB blaster is the ****! Better get another can for doing my lift. Get a torch! You can get setup with an Oxygen / Accediline torch from Home Depot for $50; everything included!
September 30, 200421 yr Author It's all done now now, no big deal. The other side of the big bolt was a carriage-bolt head, just to annoy me. Those bumper mounts are great, many possiblities for adapting customness. Maybe I should just bolt a 2x6 back there.... Anybody need a hitch?
September 30, 200421 yr 2x6 would be very large, heavy and expensive. Check out some 2" OD steel pipe and 1x2 C channel :cool:
September 30, 200421 yr Author 2x6 would be very large, heavy and expensive. Check out some 2" OD steel pipe and 1x2 C channel :cool: Yeah, I saw the thread on yer bumpers; the back is simple enough. I need to take the front bumper off to figure out how to make that end.
September 30, 200421 yr Yeah, I saw the thread on yer bumpers; the back is simple enough. I need to take the front bumper off to figure out how to make that end. If you have a rust issue the fronts can be a bear to get off. The ends of the bolts stick out in the fender well where all kinds of fun stuff goes and rusts stuff up. Look down by your valve covers. There on the 'frame rails' are 2 bolts on each side for your front bumpers. Mine were rusted on so bad that even after we had the bolts off 2 of us had to jump up and down on it to break it free. Had to take a torch to one bolt to get it off!
October 1, 200421 yr Author Look down by your valve covers. There on the 'frame rails' are 2 bolts on each side for your front bumpers. Mine were rusted on so bad that even after we had the bolts off 2 of us had to jump up and down on it to break it free. Had to take a torch to one bolt to get it off! Based on posts I've read here, I think your Roo is a bit rustier than mine.
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