No doubt many of you are aware of my search for a trailer hitch for my 1995 940 wagon. I had ordered a nice Class II Reese hitch (with free drawbar) from Hitchfinder.com. It was $120.00, but shipping was a bit more than the $116.00 drawtite at eTrailer.com. However the free drawbar ($20.00 value) makes the Reese hitch a better value than the Drawtite. Plus the Reese has optional weight distributing and the exact same tow specs (3500 lbs, 350 lbs tounge weight).

Well, the wrong hitch was sent to me and was useless. Due to its arrival late on Wednesday and my job responsibilities, I was not able to get anyone on the line at Hitchfinder for a while. Returns is only open to 5:00 pm CST, and the hold-loop is insane - you get hung up on after 5 minutes. So, it was late Friday when it got straightened out. The returns people are very nice! However, they couldn't get the item out until the following Monday, but exactly 1 week after the wrong hitch arrived, I recieve my new, correct Reese Hitch.

This is a NICE hitch, heavy, *well* made. The free drawbar is also nice, solid piece of steel, exactly like the $20.00 model offered at eTrailer, but painted black. I'm going to mount the whole rig up tomorrow. Aside from the drawbar and pin, The kit included seven heavy duty 19mm head, 30mm long hex bolts with washers and supplemental lock washers (one extra). In short, they give you everything but the thread lock and the wrench to install it. No guesswork, no cheap mysterious bolts, manufacturer spec bolts with a nice little instruction sheet.

Aside from the original order difficulties, the transaction provide me with a great hitch at a good value. I'd recommend this as a source for a hitch if you're needing one.


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Six Volvos: all wagons.... 1972 145S, 1976 245 DL, 1983 245 GL, 1986 740 GLE, 1990 740 GL, now a 1995 940. Number 7 (a 1967 122S Wagon) is on the way.... Who needs a sedan, when you've got storage compartments in a wagon?

I looked at the hitch installed in my ‘95 945 after reading your post. I can not see how the mounting can differ between brands. My hitch was installed by U Hall by the PO, a friend of mine. U Hall wouldn’t be my first, second or third choice but it looks like it was a very good job. It’s most likely a DrawTight. Loctite? Who needs Loctite? Really a good idea but I have my doubts if it was used on my car. The mounting has a four bolt pattern on each side. You said that you have 7 bolts. I wonder what the difference is. The hitch just bears a little pressure against the bottom of the bumper cover but not enough to distort it. No cutting necessary. Plan on dropping the muffler to get the right side in. The left side mounting also has the muffler heat shield. No interference, it slides under the edge without distorting it. Installing the hitch should not be as hard as installing the wiring. Let me know if your need a brake light/tail light wiring diagram.
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Tom F. Couple of Volvos Mods, RainX & cup holders.

Of the many flavors of loctite thread lock, blue is the mid grade, and orange is max. I found orange residue on the tow hook bolts, when I removed it. So I think volvo agrees that a locking fluid is a good idea.

Also mounting didn't differ between the Drawtite and Reese, both use the same holes. I didn't have to remove the muffler, I just loosened the outside edge of the heat shield to allow me to get the drawtite bar "under" (above) it to get it bolted in. But it bolted back up w/o any interference.
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Six Volvos: all wagons.... 1972 145S, 1976 245 DL, 1983 245 GL, 1986 740 GLE, 1990 740 GL, now a 1995 940. Number 7 (a 1967 122S Wagon) is on the way.... Who needs a sedan, when you've got storage compartments in a wagon?

The Volvo hitch I pulled was fastened with 6 M14 bolts of two different lengths. There are, I believe 8 holes in total of which six are designed to line up with holes in the frame. What one would do with seven bolts, I'm unsure. Maybe a spare?

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alex

The drawtite has a flat bolting surface 1/4" (or 1/8") steel plate. Three bolts go into pre-existing holes on each side. The Number 7 bolt was a spare. I used it to start the holes/clean the threads on the passengers side because some undercoating had been sprayed into the bolt holes and made getting the fasteners started very difficult. Using #7 allowed me to clean all three holes w/o "gumming" up the 3 mounting bolts, thus allowing the loctite to work better.

There was also a flat washer and a lock washer on each bolt. Very secure. it's not going anywhere! (at least not without the rest of my car)
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Six Volvos: all wagons.... 1972 145S, 1976 245 DL, 1983 245 GL, 1986 740 GLE, 1990 740 GL, now a 1995 940. Number 7 (a 1967 122S Wagon) is on the way.... Who needs a sedan, when you've got storage compartments in a wagon?

THanks for the bolt dimensions and sizes. I will go pick them up today. I removed the bolts for the heavy plastic rear tow thingy that is attached to the car that needs to be removed for installation of the tow hitch. I also removed the plastic facia thing. That is all the mods necessary for the 94 940 wagon. The hitch slodes right in next to the exhaust heat shield. THanks -

Well, I just picked up the hitch to install it and realized that it's a drawtite after all. Not what I ordered, but it'll do just as well. The drawtite hitch was not supposed to include the free drawbar, so lucky me!



Okay, i've installed it. Took ~40 minutes. Don't be concerned that the bolts that hold on the volvo tow hook are 17mm and hitch bolts are a heavier 19mm. The bolt shaft appears to be the same, or at least it fits into the same holes. I haven;t rewired the rear yet, but I'm going to install the Drawtite light module that I bought from IPD.

My only warning is that the two large standoffs on the rear edge of the lower facia will be inaccessible during reinstallation due to the trailer hitch. I'm just going to leave them out, it stays in pretty well, and I trimmed the facia very closely to the shape of the hitch.


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Six Volvos: all wagons.... 1972 145S, 1976 245 DL, 1983 245 GL, 1986 740 GLE, 1990 740 GL, now a 1995 940. Number 7 (a 1967 122S Wagon) is on the way.... Who needs a sedan, when you've got storage compartments in a wagon?

You kind of wonder whether Drawtite=Reese; on emanufacturer, different labels.
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John Shatzer, '97 V90 @ 115K

I just ordered the DrawTite from etrailer.com for my 95 940 wagon. I'm hoping to get it in time to install this weekend. I haven't made arrangements for the wiring, though. Do you have any recommendations or words of wisdom for which wiring kit to use and where to get it?

Robert

Your car isn't red is it? Same model and year as mine :)

I have two options for trailer lights. I ordered the trailer light kit from IPD for $38.00. It's a good kit, but requires that you get some connectors, an inline fuse, 12 gauge wiring, and that you run power directly from the battery.

I also have a volvo wiring setup I saved from my 1986 740GLE. That kit requires connecting things to the fusebox and to some connector back behind the dash. I hear that such a setup may cause problems with my bulb-out sensor. Additionally, the plug-in is very strange and would require an adaptor. However, it is OEM volvo....

I'm going to install the DrawTite setup this weekend.
If you do the same, there's a 3/4" knockout hole by the spare tire and you can pass your wires through there. Find a rubber grommet and be prepared to cut your wires and install some snap-connectors (the plug end can't pass through the existing hole!

Have fun!

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Six Volvos: all wagons.... 1972 145S, 1976 245 DL, 1983 245 GL, 1986 740 GLE, 1990 740 GL, now a 1995 940. Number 7 (a 1967 122S Wagon) is on the way.... Who needs a sedan, when you've got storage compartments in a wagon?

Glad to hear you got that sorted out.

What are you going to pull with it?

Well, I hope not to have to pull anything with it, however, the hitch setup is a safety measure in case my 122S breaks down on teh return trip from Texas.
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Six Volvos: all wagons.... 1972 145S, 1976 245 DL, 1983 245 GL, 1986 740 GLE, 1990 740 GL, now a 1995 940. Number 7 (a 1967 122S Wagon) is on the way.... Who needs a sedan, when you've got storage compartments in a wagon?