Hitch Removal

[yorktownman]

No problem! If you want to sell the parts once removed please let me know!

[methodmatch]

Well finally this past Thanksgiving Weekend, my friend and I finally went to work on my X5. I had several parts in tow and was going to first remove the hitch. Well when finally removing the bumper, thanks Ranchhand for the posts on that. We examined the hitch. I really wish I took pictures, but the previous owner just tack welded the hitch to the existing reinforcement bar that's bolted to the body. WTF?! It would be seriously negligent to tow anything of sizable weight with this setup. So of course we get set to remove the reinforcement bar, since the hitch was welded to it. Well said jackass also covered up the bottom inside thread and bolts with the shitty tack weld, so it's impossible to unscrew the nuts. the support bar is in the way, and on one of them it looks like there is a bead weld RIGHT ON THE THREAD! So the only thing done was put on the new muffler tips. With the bumper off, i examined where I'll need to start doing work to attach the harness for the Aerokit. And for some magical reason, there are huge cuts made to the under side of the bumper where the harnesses would screw to the bumper. WTF?!?! Epic fail... so I had to reassemble the bumper with only the tips done, and have to look for a new bumper. I'll end up plasma cutting the bumper off. And before you saw just Sawzall it off... well we tried that too. 1/8 metal and 20minutes and several blades later, not much thatn an inch was cut into the bar.

so anyone know of a place to look for a new bumper!?

[ard]

Originally Posted by methodmatch

Well finally this past Thanksgiving Weekend, my friend and I finally went to work on my X5. I had several parts in tow and was going to first remove the hitch. Well when finally removing the bumper, thanks Ranchhand for the posts on that. We examined the hitch. I really wish I took pictures, but the previous owner just tack welded the hitch to the existing reinforcement bar that's bolted to the body. WTF?! It would be seriously negligent to tow anything of sizable weight with this setup. So of course we get set to remove the reinforcement bar, since the hitch was welded to it. Well said jackass also covered up the bottom inside thread and bolts with the shitty tack weld, so it's impossible to unscrew the nuts. the support bar is in the way, and on one of them it looks like there is a bead weld RIGHT ON THE THREAD! So the only thing done was put on the new muffler tips. With the bumper off, i examined where I'll need to start doing work to attach the harness for the Aerokit. And for some magical reason, there are huge cuts made to the under side of the bumper where the harnesses would screw to the bumper. WTF?!?! Epic fail... so I had to reassemble the bumper with only the tips done, and have to look for a new bumper. I'll end up plasma cutting the bumper off. And before you saw just Sawzall it off... well we tried that too. 1/8 metal and 20minutes and several blades later, not much thatn an inch was cut into the bar.

so anyone know of a place to look for a new bumper!?

Probably wasnt the prior owner- but rather someone that convinced the owner that (a) THEY knew what they were doing and (b) it would be negligent for a non-trained civilian to tackle such a task... it kills me when people say "have a professional do it- it isnt worth the risk"...

I do quite a bit of welding and metal work...a right angle grinder is indispensable for all sorts of things. You can get a 1/4" wheel to grind down stuff, or thin 1/16" for cutting/slicing....

[methodmatch]

@ard,

yeah we tried that, unfortunately my friend had limited supply of discs. Where the hitch support "T"s on the reinforcement bar, the guy added angle supports in the form of triangles. we were able to use the grinder to cut through those supports, but not much else. I think with the plasma cutter it'll be a fast clean cut.

[blue dragon]

wow, didn't the previous owner read the instructions? There are eight bolts that should be used.

[methodmatch]

@blue dragon: This is where I wish I had pics of the setup. They just didn't even use the bolts at all. The welds were done were the side vertical struts of the hitch met the horizontal plane of the reinforcement bar. There were no brackets on the hitch harness to be used with bolts.

I'm waiting on a new bumper, !@#!%&, so when that comes and back at my buddies, I'll make sure to take pics and share.