hitch for bike carrier

[idk2016]

Sure has been tricky finding accessories for this etron! I ordered a Hidden Hitch 60368 that was meant for an A3 [sedan I think].I had it modified by a welder due to the muffler clearance,and it now fits.No affect on the handling,or mileage so far.If you're in the Toronto area,visit Vangro for a custom hitch versus my modification approach. Ecohitch is a behind the bumper installation,it would be great.Yet they do NOT offer a hitch for the etron,or any A3.As for the bike carrier,I am using a Thule Helium Aero for two bikes,very light to avoid additional weight.

It's been a couple of months now, I haven't noticed any range loss 38km/23miles [charge], I got 36/22 range while running a/c, plus the audio,and crawling in gridlock. Temperature outside: 33C/91F

Ecohitch has something for the Tesla, Mitsubishi I-MEIEV, LEAF.Look what the Leaf can tow! http://torkliftcentral.com/rving-and-to ... f-ecohitch

 

[c76man]

I've been hunting for a bike rack hitch solution for quite some time. That's great that you found a solution. Any chance you could post some pics? Did the hitch bolt to the frame rails without modification? In looking at my car and the Hidden Hitch instructions, I thought it looked like the frame rail was a hole short on each side. Was it simply altering such that it cleared the muffler? I appreciate any help you can offer, as I've spent a lot of time looking. No one that I've talked to was willing to attempt a custom solution, or it was very cost prohibitive. Thanks.

 

[idk2016]

I've been hunting for a bike rack hitch solution for quite some time. That's great that you found a solution. Any chance you could post some pics? Did the hitch bolt to the frame rails without modification? In looking at my car and the Hidden Hitch instructions, I thought it looked like the frame rail was a hole short on each side. Was it simply altering such that it cleared the muffler? I appreciate any help you can offer, as I've spent a lot of time looking. No one that I've talked to was willing to attempt a custom solution, or it was very cost prohibitive. Thanks.

My welder did drill ONE hole into the frame rail.Then modified the Hidden Hitch until it fit around the muffler,and bumper area.We had to do it this way to not reduce the integrity of the hitch body,and stem area.I didn't take any pics.of the installed hitch.This forum needs a link to load pictures which I don't want to do. IF you're near my welder,see him about a custom one because one of the biggest hitch retailers recommends him when they have nothing.Think buying the Hidden Hitch,and doing the modification may be the cheapest.Make sure the welder spray the trimmed/exposed areas with anti corrosion paint.I also bought anti corrosion stuff that would leak into crevices around the bolts[eg. Rust Cure Formula 3000,
WD40 LONG-TERM CORROSION INHIBITOR].


Since posting,I have taken my bike out with this setup in the city,and at major highway [interstate] speeds. I can say no bike was harmed,or became road scrap.The hitch was solid,no affect on the etron at ANY speed.

 

[arne]

Question for the original poster - the Hidden Hitch #60368 appears to be the same as the Draw-Tite #24930. Both of those units have almost vertical uprights. I note that the Curt hitch for A3 has a shorter cross tube and the uprights are sloped more, possibly giving more clearance to the sides? I wonder if the Curt part might not require welding?

Pictures of both can be seen at https://www.etrailer.com/hitch-2016_Audi_A3.htm

Thoughts?

 

[idk2016]

Question for the original poster - the Hidden Hitch #60368 appears to be the same as the Draw-Tite #24930. Both of those units have almost vertical uprights. I note that the Curt hitch for A3 has a shorter cross tube and the uprights are sloped more, possibly giving more clearance to the sides? I wonder if the Curt part might not require welding?

Pictures of both can be seen at https://www.etrailer.com/hitch-2016_Audi_A3.htm

Thoughts?

I've owned DrawTite on a previous vehicle,no issues,liked it a lot. For the etron,I really couldn't find a Drawtite for a sportback,last model was in 2014. All 3 companies are owned by Cequent Group. Entirely up to you,the Hidden Hitch is what came up when I searched for a hitch using the 2014 Sportback ,last time it was available. Issue with the Hidden Hitch,it was JUST a bit short with the pre drilled holes,and then clearance for the muffler.So my welder cut into the hitch itself,and one hole per side into the frame, look at the pictures.

http://imgur.com/TmTzWhk

http://imgur.com/vnoDTYs


I avoided the Curt after seeing the install on an A3,more drilling,look it up:

https://www.etrailer.com/tv-install-tra ... 11192.aspx

 

[arne]

The Curt in the video you linked is for the previous generation Sportback, the new one is a different part number and is very similar to the Drawtite in design.

I see what you were talking about now with the muffler clearance, I had to do the same thing with the Drawtite I put on my Golf TDI. (Mine is the GTI hitch, I converted the TDI to GTI dual exhaust.)

 

[arne]

So as a follow up to this, both Curt and Draw-tite/HiddenHitch now say that their hitches for 2016 A3 fit all EXCEPT Sportback e-tron. After looking closely at the install instructions, I agree that the sedan hitch will not fit - they show it being mounted to holes in the frame rail that do not exist on our Sportbacks.

On the other hand, the A3 Sportback is on the same platform as the Mk7 Golf/GTI. And the Golf/GTI hitches look as if they might fit. The frame rails look correct, the questions would be the exhaust and rear facias, which are not the same as the VW offerings. I have asked these companies for followup on this.

I have also contacted Ecohitch (Torklift Central) in Kent, WA about hitches for e-tron. It might be worth others using the comment form at the bottom of the page I've linked here to do the same - http://torkliftcentral.com/rving-and-to ... hitch/audi

Again, on the Ecohitch, I'm thinking that the Golf/GTI model might fit.

 

[arne]

It would be worthwhile if any who are interested in a hitch for their cars would contact the makers to request they add the fitment. The contact links are:

http://www.draw-tite.com/contact (HiddenHitch is same contact info)

http://www.curtmfg.com/Contact

http://torkliftcentral.com/contact-us/ (contact form at bottom of page)

 

[rogerconnertn]

I posted comments for both. Want an etron, but no towing hitch would be a serious drawback. I this still the case?

 

[arne]

I posted comments for both. Want an etron, but no towing hitch would be a serious drawback. I this still the case?

Officially, yes, still true. Unofficially, it is looking likely that a hitch for a Golf/GTI may fit, but no one has tested that to verify yet. I'm looking to see if I can find a seller with a really good return policy now. Will post here if I find anything new to report.

Worth noting that TorkLift (EcoHitch) has told me that they would gladly build one if I want to take my car to them in Kent, WA. That could still be an option, although that is a full day's drive for me each way.

 

[rossman]

Worth noting that TorkLift (EcoHitch) has told me that they would gladly build one if I want to take my car to them in Kent, WA. That could still be an option, although that is a full day's drive for me each way.

Oh, please post if you do make it out to TorkLift! Perhaps once they build one for you they can build another one and ship it? I used to live in Issaquah, WA, but now I live in San Diego, so it would be a bit of a drive for me to make it out there...

 

[arne]

Oh, please post if you do make it out to TorkLift! Perhaps once they build one for you they can build another one and ship it? I used to live in Issaquah, WA, but now I live in San Diego, so it would be a bit of a drive for me to make it out there...

That would be the plan. If they get someone to volunteer their car as a test sample, then they can fine tune the design and add it to their normal offerings. But thus far, they haven't had an e-tron offered.

I'd like to do this, but realistically I don't see finding the time to get this done. We are talking a very minimum of 3 days for me counting travel. And that's assuming they can tweak an existing hitch design (like a Mk7 GTI) to fit fairly easily. If they have to design from scratch, they might need more than a single day to get it done, which means maybe a 4 day trip, 2 of them stuck in Kent with no car. This really needs to be done by someone fairly local to them, rather than one of us who live a day or more away.

 

[rossman]

...I'd like to do this, but realistically I don't see finding the time to get this done. We are talking a very minimum of 3 days for me counting travel. And that's assuming they can tweak an existing hitch design (like a Mk7 GTI) to fit fairly easily. If they have to design from scratch, they might need more than a single day to get it done, which means maybe a 4 day trip, 2 of them stuck in Kent with no car. This really needs to be done by someone fairly local to them, rather than one of us who live a day or more away.

I used to work in Kent years ago. It's mostly an industrial area, but there is a shopping center with a relatively new movie theater to help pass the time Hopefully someone will get down there.

My spouse drives a 2015 GTi. We put one of the hidden hitches from etrailer on it, and it works great for our bike rack. From my observation crawling under both cars, the etron appears to have the same frame rail positioning and the frame rail holes line up for the same hitch, but the heat shield for the battery is in the way of the hitch mounting directly to the frame rails on the drivers side (USA). I don't want to modify the heat shield to accommodate the hitch.

 

[arne]

Thanks, rossman, that is good information. It adds a bit more weight to my suspicion that the MK 7 Golf/GTI hitches should fir our e-trons.

Assuming—of course—that we are OK with tweaking the heat shield. I understand your unwillingness to do that, I would prefer that no mods be needed too. But my prior experiences with aftermarket hitches has been that requiring small bends or trim of a heat shield like this is not at all uncommon. Done carefully, I can probably live with that.

It's worth noting that the Ecohitch requires a modification that is not often mentioned. Since they normally mount to the body shell behind the bumper tubes, the foam pad that sits between the bumper bar and the outer cover is discarded. In my mind, that removes the support for the bumper cover and just leaves it hanging by its mounts. To me, that is a less than desirable mod. I would probably prefer trimming the heat shield to leaving out the foam pad.

 

[c76man]

I had just found a shop that would modify an A3 hitch and was about to pull the trigger. After seeing the recent talk about the GTI hitches having the same hole patterns, I changed my mind and am going that route. The only GTI compatible one I could find currently on etrailer was the C11412, so that's the one I odder. would rather modify the heat shield instead of drilling holes in the frame. So, if it doesn't fit, I'll just have it modified. I was expecting to have some custom welding done anyways. I will report back with pictures.

 

[arne]

Cool, keep us posted. That is the one I've been planning to try as well. The Draw-tite for Golf looks like it would interfere with the parking assist sensors. Looks like you are a bit ahead of me on this, I wouldn't have been ready to order for another week or so. Now I think I'll wait to hear from you how it goes.

 

[rossman]

I had just found a shop that would modify an A3 hitch and was about to pull the trigger. After seeing the recent talk about the GTI hitches having the same hole patterns, I changed my mind and am going that route. The only GTI compatible one I could find currently on etrailer was the C11412, so that's the one I odder. would rather modify the heat shield instead of drilling holes in the frame. So, if it doesn't fit, I'll just have it modified. I was expecting to have some custom welding done anyways. I will report back with pictures.

Cool, but just a clarification: it *looks* like the frame rail holes line up between the GTi and A3 etron, but I was just eyeballing it when crawling under both cars side-by-side. The holes might not be in perfect alignment. Either way, please let us know how it works out for you. I would be elated to have a hitch-mounted bike rack on my etron!

 

[arne]

Totally understand, rossman. No one is going to hold you responsible if it doesn't fit.

From an engineering standpoint, the whole point of a shared, modular platform is parts interchangeability and shared tooling. I wouldn't expect any more differences in the frame rail holes between a GTI and our A3s than I would between a Golf from Wolfsburg and one from Puebla. I could be wrong on this, but I have high hopes.

My concern is actually more about the things that are not shared across the platform, like the rear bumper cover and valance. Or the park assist sensors, which caused me to rule out the Draw-tite offering, even though it looks like a better engineered hitch.

 

[c76man]

I was successful with installing the GTI hitch, but there are some serious caveats.

First, the good. Frame holes are perfect as we suspected. It also clears the bumper just fine with a clean tight fit, butted right against the plastic.

Moving on to the not so good. You do have to trim the heat shield on both the passenger and driver sides. The passenger trim was minimal. The driver side required me to remove about a 2" or so square to get it to fit. I don't think that will be an issue. The exhaust is an issue, though, and that is the only part that keeps me from recommending without reservation. The clearance on the exhaust is not sufficient. On the passenger side, the hitch touches the muffler slightly. On the driver side, it looks like the clearance is probably about a 1/4" to 1/2" short. I had to bend the exhaust hanger a lot to get it to fit, but I don't think the extra 1/4" or so lower will cause any problems. The hitch is snug against the exhaust on the driver side. I had to call a friend for an extra set of hands to get the driver side exhaust back in place.

All in all, this is a viable solution for me. If it wasn't for the exhaust clearance, I would enthusiastically say this is a great solution. I think the exhaust fit is ok, and shouldn't cause any long term issues, but it is certainly not ideal. The trimming and exhaust fitting took quite a bit of time too. Definitely increases the install difficulty a lot.

Here some low quality camera phone pics.

https://i.imgur.com/WI1Rz9i.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/bDlfkGf.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/KCKyT31.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/gDh4SJX.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/0IdacmF.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/PJwtHVj.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/D1A57V3.jpg

 

[arne]

Great info, thanks for being the test case. It looks to me like the primary interference with the exhaust is the two inclined side plates, is that so?