trailer prep of brunnhilde - part 4

To prepare for the new car trailer I went and found my one and only trailer ball hitch that I bought very long ago. I was hoping that I can use it without buying a new one. For my use up to now the height of the trailer hitch is not as critical unless I am hauling very heavy payload like gravel or asphalt roofing. But when you are towing a car and that the payload approaching the limits of the tow weight as well as the tongue weight of Brunnhilde you want to specify just the right ball hitch.

I had to read up on the convention of trailer hitch rise and drop. The Trailex trailer that I order has a nominal hitch height of 21 inch, and its measurement is rather unconventional as it show the mid point of the coupler. Unfortunately it would either be too low (when configured as drop) or just way too high (when configured as rise).

So off shopping online I did. I want to keep things simple so I don't want an adjustable height ones. With some research what are out there I found this one which I think is the right one. It is amazing how cheap these things are when produced in mass quantity. Just $26 shipped right to my door.

configured as drop

it might be just a hair on the low side but I don't know how much the trailer will drop when loaded with circa 3000 lb of a vehicle

this is the height configured as rise - it is just at the limit without interferes with the opening of the rear doors

this photo taken at this perspective suggests that the trailer hitch should clear the rear doors

It has been many years since I repaired the driver side power window failure that was a design defect on the Sprinter. I decided I want to perform similar corrective action on the passenger side even though it has not yet fail. I was shocked to find out this manual window regulator that I bought then has risen in price by more than double is just merely 4 years. So you would think I would just order the passenger side since it is for the passenger side.

No. To minimize risks I order the same driver side because I know if I order using the same part number, I will have a better chance of getting the same one with the same soft metal rivet end that I felt corrected for the design defect.

this is the soft metal rivet that I am referring to

While I order the same part number there is no guarantee that MB not to change the design, or have different design batches under the same part number. It finally arrived, and to my relief it is the one that I am expecting, albeit costing twice as much.

To understand why I order the driver side regulator for the passenger side you have to read my old post.