custom receiver hitch for lite ace

[aswanson]

I wanted a receiver hitch for my 1992 lite ace 4x4 diesel, but none are commercially available so I made my own. Sharing here in case somebody else is in the same boat. Guessing this would fit the US vanwagons but have no way to check. My design replaces the brackets for mounting the bumper, so it leaves the stock bumper intact except for a cut-out where the receiver tube protrudes. The only other permanent modification is I cut out some sheet metal so the receiver tube can penetrate the body, and I had to trim a little metal inside the stock bumper. The lateral piece is 1.5" square tubular steel with a 3/16" wall thickness and the end pieces are from a scrap of 4" angle iron with 1/4" thickness. It's bolted to the tow hook mounts, with 2 additional bolts attaching it to the body. The additional bolts were handy for holding things in place while getting everything sized but don't add a lot of strength. It's a 2" receiver tube but I'm not planning on towing much with it - mostly using it for a bike rack.