[jmcelroy]

I have aired my gripes with the car here openly in the past . . . but there are also many things I love about it.

I took the family camping along the Mojave Road/Trail for Thanksgiving last week and it was glorious.

Pulled a 1900lb pop-up camper and a roof box full of stuff. Two adults, two kids, and our dog.

I recently pulled the interior trim and installed a 7-pin socket for towing. I paid careful attention to getting the tongue weight right at 200lb. Aired the rear tires to 36psi and hit the road. Flawless and well-mannered for the seven hour freeway slog getting there from San Jose.

Took it all around the trails and washes (after trailer removed, of course).

Great way to avoid Black Friday commercial nonsense. Got to teach my kids about preparedness and responsibility too. My 10yo son is road food and activities deputy. My 7yo son is transportation and lodging deputy. He LOVES this role, suggesting to me that we check tires, oil, fluids, wiring, hitch, potable water, and spare battery before leaving.

Jason

 

[SilverOnyx]

The best Dad-Wagon for the Best Dad!

 

[MRQ]

- it looks wonderful. With parental approval, I humbly submit - https://www.yelp.com/biz/carneceria-la-michoacana-los-banos-2 for dinner or dinner to go on the way home for you 10 year old. Picture of the tow setup would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jmcelroy]

Will have to take some pics of the towing setup.

For now, here's a vid of a sunset drive through the desert.

 

[Professor 54]

Kudos! A few years ago I anointed my tween son “Emergency Weather Technician” in charge of flashlights, batteries, water, and emergency radio crank. Oh, and I let him start the Subie. Pure boyhood bliss!

 

[jmcelroy]

Picture of the tow setup would be greatly appreciated.

Full hitch and stinger setup. I hate rattling so I modified the stinger to use a through-the-receiver threaded pin with a lock on the end. Got the idea (and the parts!) from an old Yakima bike rack. Just needed to accurately cross-drill the stinger to hold the threaded insert.

This is the other side showing the full-diameter hitch pin and the smaller anti-rattle bolt. Got the 7-pin socket from e-trailer. Unfortunately the kit included shitty fasteners that rusted. I always use stainless when I'm building/modifying vehicles ;-0

This is the stinger mod. Did it on a $40 drill press. My machining tools are on the other side of the country so I make do.

I put a fused, dedicated 12V power tap to the battery positive terminal to support the trailer brake on the 7-pin connector. I also ran a brake pedal sensor line from under the steering wheel back to the socket. I removed the sill plates and trim and followed the existing vehicle wiring all the way back to the spare well.

I routed the 12V power tap line through the firewall where the rest of the main wiring goes through. Did not want to remove the boot for worry I wouldn't be able to get it sealed properly on reinstall so I pierced the boot and used a dab of silicon/RTV.

This is where I ran the wires from the spare well to the 7-pin socket. Tried to keep it clean and serviceable.

A few things about the job . . . the wiring and bracketry took about a day and included my mulling it over a bunch to get it clean and right. I'd bet it could be done in half that time. The four-pin adaptor that connects to the stock harness was already in place when I had the receiver installed six years ago when I bought the car. You don't need all the anti-rattle nonsense if you want to save some work, but I'm particular about noise and never mind spending time on doing a nice job.

Jason

 

[SilverOnyx]

...the wiring and bracketry took about a day and included my mulling it over a bunch to get it clean and right. I'd bet it could be done in half that time. The four-pin adaptor that connects to the stock harness was already in place when I had the receiver installed six years ago when I bought the car. You don't need all the anti-rattle nonsense if you want to save some work, but I'm particular about noise and never mind spending time on doing a nice job.

Time mulling things over is well spent. Nice job indeed!

 

[Napalm]

How awesome!! That looks like a great trip!

 

[savrip]

Thanks for the photos. I've added my hitch already and now need to install the brake controller and wiring. Not going to get to it before our own road trip in a couple of weeks.

 

[jmcelroy]

Thanks for the photos. I've added my hitch already and now need to install the brake controller and wiring. Not going to get to it before our own road trip in a couple of weeks.

Don't know if you've made a selection yet, but I went with the Curt Echo. It's the Bluetooth one that fits between the tow vehicle socket and the towed vehicle plug. It has worked flawlessly and was easy to set up.

Since I had all the trim out anyway, I did run the wire from the oem brake pedal position sensor under the steering wheel back to the socket in case I ended up not liking the Echo.

Jason