From: Allan Rempel <rempel@CS.cmu.edu>
To: bovik@ALBERTO.SOAR.CS.CMU.EDU
Subject: tale of 2 welding shops and a trailer hitch
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 1995 15:14:22 -0400
Message-ID: <12562.806267662@ALBERTO.SOAR.CS.CMU.EDU>
Sender: Allan_Rempel@ALBERTO.SOAR.CS.CMU.EDU


I wanted to get a trailer hitch for my Mazda 323, but it's not the kind
of car people normally put trailer hitches on, so it's hard to get one
for it.  I finally found one that was close, at U-Haul, but they couldn't
put it on because it didn't quite fit my car.  They said I had to get some
welding place to do it because it would be a custom fit, and suggested
Nichols Welding on Washington Blvd.  (U-Haul was on Washington too, so
that might have had something to do with it.)

I went to Nichols and they said they could do it for about $200.  I said
I'd get back to them.  My initial impressions of the place were not good.
There's 3 guys there and none of them seemed particularly friendly, except
Joe, one of the owners.  So I went to Robert Murray Auto Body where I had
gone before for some body work and I was impressed.  I asked if they could
install the trailer hitch and they said no, because there wasn't enough
strong metal under my car to hitch it to.  There were 2 tie-down hooks
connected directly to the frame near the rear corners of the car, within
a foot of the rear wheels.  The places where the trailer hitch was to be
connected was some sheet metal under the gas tank and a fiberglass inner
bumper, neither of which, in the opinion of the Robert Murray guy, would
be strong enough to support the 200lb tongue weight of a class 1 hitch.
So I was hosed.

Not liking that answer, I went back to Nichols.  I brought the trailer
hitch from U-Haul with me and Joe knocked something off the price.
It ended up costing me $150 in labour.  Joe only took cash, though, which
meant I had to go find a bank machine, a run-around that I found kinda
irritating.  Joe seemed conscientious about making sure he gave me a hitch
that would do the job.  He suggested I look into getting an oil cooler
and transmission fluid cooler for my car since towing a trailer would be
a significant stress on the engine.  (As it turned out, I won't be needing
them, but it was good of Joe to suggest it.)

Anyway, Joe attached the trailer hitch to the sheet metal under the fuel
tank and to the fiberglass inner bumper, and then welded cross-beams from
the hitch to the tie-downs for more strength.  I think those cross-beams
are going to be important.  This is roughly the setup that the person
from Robert Murray said wouldn't be strong enough to be a class 1 hitch,
so it's possible that Joe is cutting corners.  I also feel that $150 is
a little pricey for what was done, and think I might have been overcharged.
OTOH, at least I *have* a trailer hitch, which is more than other places
were prepared to do for me.  And $150 is a lot less than other
non-trailer-hitch alternatives would have cost me.  So I have mixed
feelings about my experience at Nichols Welding.

-Allan