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300E trailer hitch, wiring

Hello,

As bad as it sounds, I'm thinking about installing a trailer hitch on my '89

300E--to pull the little boat I don't have yet.

Can anyone recommend a brand or source in the US for a class 1 (2,000 pound capacity) hitch that's not going to look like baboon's a** on the back of my car and one that bolts on? I've found a couple on the internet but would really appreciate any recommendations.

I'm also wondering about the wiring.

I had a guy (someone who installs hitches) tell me that the car also needs a $100 (installed) wiring harness to go along with the $300+ (installed) hitch. He said something about an electronic situation with respect to the existing tail light wiring. Could this have something to do with the brake light circuit being used to disengage the cruise?

Anyway, I'd like to hear suggestions from anyone who has ever wired or installed a trailer hitch on an MB sedan.

Thanks,

Mike

Reply to
mharness
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Well... not on a Mercedes sedan, but I do have a hitch on my CLK.

I had absolutely no desire to own a pickup truck but do have the occasional need to fetch building supplies, "toys", or a couple of yards of cow-pie pâté for the garden every now and again. Ergo: a hitch for one of my coupes seemed to be a darned good idea.

I found a specialty hitch company in Massachusetts that did the work (Da'lan Inc), an excellent job I might add. IIRC, they make hitches for Ferraris, Porches, MBs, BMWs, etc and provide them to Draw-Tite, Reese, and several other biggies. Here's a link to one of the sites that feature some of their products:

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They used my car as a prototype for that particular chassis, but have many custom designs regularly stocked and shipped worldwide.

They have the requisite isolation relay boxes which feeds battery power to the trailer lights in complete isolation from the MB lighting wiring (used to trigger only, so all MB monitors still work correctly).

I'd suggest the 1-1/4" hidden receiver. When the ball is removed, you'll have to look hard to see that it's there. I've had mine for over 6 years and love it:

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The local farmers get a real hoot out of an MB coupe making manure runs (heheheh... even the cows grin when I drive up to the bucket loader!) but hey, even manure runs can be done with style!

hope this helps,

Paul

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Reply to
Paul Hyndman

Hello Paul,

Thanks for the information.

It looks like I may have stumbled onto the hitch that you're referring to--Da'Lan Class I Trailer Hitch Receiver with Drawbar

Quantity in Basket: none Code: 247294 Price: $199.78

but I bought mine from

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for about $175. This hitch is for an E320 but it looks like it will work on my 300E with only slight modification of re-drilling two holes that bolt to the bottom of the spare tire depression in the trunk and some rather heavy cutting of the plastic bumper valance. I'm not sure how good it's going to look but it'll have to do. Still haven't install it but I'm 98% convinced that it will.

I'll post again with the results once the deed is done.

Mike

Reply to
mharness

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