I am looking for some photos of a late 90's Newell with a Series 60 and the heavy duty tow hitch, from what I have read could be 14k rating?
My #490 has the lightweight hitch for just towing a toad, I would like to tow a trailer so I would like to get the hitch upgraded to a higher capacity. I will get a fabricator to make the hitch for me, I just need to know what the factory hitch looked like.
The other thought was if Newell also reinforced the frame at the rear of the coach for the heavier hitch, maybe some photos of the frame as it comes out around the engine may help me determine if they made any changes. Mine appears to be two different size C channels nested into one another. I will get some photos of mine and post here.
Appreciate any help on this.
Jeff,
Here are pictures of my hitch. It was installed/upgrades by Newell, July of 2017. I can't find verification but was understanding its a 10k receiver. Would love to know if it matches your installation. If you need any further detailed pics let me know.
(10-28-2023, 08:40 AM)Latitude 28 Wrote: Jeff,
Here are pictures of my hitch. It was installed/upgrades by Newell, July of 2017. I can't find verification but was understanding its a 10k receiver. Would love to know if it matches your installation. If you need any further detailed pics let me know.
Thanks so much Steve!
That is similar to my hitch but I think its definitely more substantial. I did not get a photo of mine because I cannot open my engine hatch at the moment, I am backed up to close to my trailer in the parking spot.
I believe mine is just one piece of 3/8" thick angle holding and it appears yours is two of them, one turned up and one turned down. I was replacing the o-rings today in the HWH six pack for the rear, the previous owner had ordered a Kit from Tom and it was in the bays. I will try to pull it out tomorrow and get some photos.
Tom's six pack rebuild kit is the best and highly recommend if anyone has not done theirs to do so! There was some sort of hitch that came from the factory. The PO took it to Newell for them to upgrade the hitch. I will try and find the work order to see if there are any notes as to what they have done.
Jeff,
Do you have any documentation as to your hitches weight rating?
There is a fabricator in Auburndale, Florida, Jessie and Neil, that does HDT beds and hitches for filth wheels. I have not personally used him but his work looks great. Hall Fabrication, 863-242-0171, [email protected].
(10-29-2023, 06:41 PM)Latitude 28 Wrote: Jeff,
Do you have any documentation as to your hitches weight rating?
There is a fabricator in Auburndale, Florida, Jessie and Neil, that does HDT beds and hitches for filth wheels. I have not personally used him but his work looks great. Hall Fabrication, 863-242-0171, [email protected].
Not sure on the hitch info. I need to dig through the paperwork and books that came with the coach. Where is this information generally located, in the owners manual? I will dig the books out tonight and start looking through them. I have one binder that is nothing but receipts from work done at Newell.
Appreciate the info on the fabricator.
I have a good fabricator here in Tampa that I have used, but I am also looking at a premade hitch. It would still require a bit of welding but I like the idea that most of the hitch will be made already in factory conditions. The only issue is the hitch will have to mounted lower than than the current hitch, but it will not be lower than the skid runners.
The original hitch on my coach had a different design. You would not want to copy that..... It failed with a 4000# trailer and almost tore off. Luckily I saw it before it detached. The design had angle iron framing that has minimal twisting strength no matter how thick it is.
I came up with another solution from some other coaches.
I removed the skid plates that were almost wore through and replaced them with bolt on skid plates along with a hitch that bolted through the skid plate frame.
The tube between the frame is 3 x 5 x 1/4 wall with 2-1/2 reciever. I am guessing it can tow more than it should.....
The bolt holes through the 1/2 skid plate frame were so much easier than I thought using a carbide hole cutter so I ended up getting a set of them.
The skid frame ends were not exactly parallel so some fancy measuring and mock up gave a perfect fit.
(This post was last modified: 10-30-2023, 09:31 AM by Gnawrocki1.)
