New lightweight hitch for Miatas!
 

We've worked with Mark Rivera at Paco Motorsports to design a new trailer hitch from the Miata. Thanks to CAD design and FEA testing, he was able to develop a hitch that is strong enough to actually hang the car from - but with the ball mount removed, adds a mere 5 lbs to your car and is fully hidden. The rating is 1500 lbs trailer weight and 150 lbs tongue weight, although we don't recommend you actually tow anything that heavy with your Miata. Read the FEA report

It's perfect for someone going to the track - tow your tires and tools on a small trailer, remove the hitch mount and you're back down to fighting weight. Also good for longer road trips. Heck, make yourself one of those cool little teardrop trailers and tour the national parks this summer.

Available for the 1990-97 cars initially. $225 for the hitch, the ball mount and a hitch pin. You'll have to supply a ball that's the appropriate size for your trailer.

We're running an introductory group buy on the hitch so we can buy a larger volume. If we can get 10 people by the end of the month, we'll be able to drop the price to $199. I'll post this over in the Group Buy forum as well.
FM Group Buy center

The photos of the actual part are the prototype. Mark made some small improvements for lighter weight and more strength, as seen in the rendering.
http://www.flyinmiata.com/Store/images/29-50000.jpg
http://www.flyinmiata.com/Store/images/29-50000a.jpg
http://www.flyinmiata.com/Store/images/29-50000b.jpg

Update - we got a lot of feedback asking for compatibility with the R-package rear skirt. So we've reworked the design of the ball mount so it can be installed in three positions. This gives some adustability to the ball height for matching your trailer, and the lowest position will clear the R-package skirt.

New and improved!

So how much does this thing weigh? I need to know for TT classing.

Thanks.

The permanently mounted part is 8 lbs, and you remove 3 lbs of tow hooks to install it. So the overall gain is 5 lbs with the ball mount removed.

Thanks for the reply. I can't wait to get this thing on my car and stop unbolting the unsightly thing under my car.

Can we please get a little more participation so I may buy on the cheap? Come on people!!! I will ban anyone who does not participate in this group buy.

im calling today to order one, but i think i missed the groupbuy :(

I ordered one a week or so ago and got an email that it's backordered. I've been trying to get an answer over the phone and through email on when they'll be available but no body seems to know anything. This was for an NB, so maybe you'll have a little better luck with an NA. :cry:

I used this on 8-hours of road tripping over the weekend and it pulled just fine and although the hitch-coupler is loose it didn't make annoying noise. I'd buy it again if I had to.

I gotta get me one of these. And give my brother my old hitch.

Run a weld bead around the draw bar to tighten the gap. If the bead is a little too big, grind it down until it fits good n tight.

Just got my hitch in the mail, and it's nowhere close to fitting around my exhaust. If you're looking to buy be careful your muffler isn't any/much larger than stock. The bar mounts right between the rear tow hooks and comes strait down from there. If your muffler intersects that area it's not going to fit. Aside from that looks like a great piece. :cry:

I love mine!