There is a receiver hitch on my 1973 25'. Does anyone know if that would be a stock item or an after-market addition. Also, other than trial and error how can I determine if what I have will handle towing a vehicle on a car dolly.

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Bill & Diane
1973 25'
454 CID P-30 Chassis
German Shepard Dog

Dave might be able to tell you if receivers were factory, or after market.

I'd suggest having a welder experienced in hitch installations take a look at it and estimate its capacity.

Odds are, if it's welded solid, and anchored onto husky frame members, it should be capable of handling most any reasonable toad. My gut tells me that tongue weight, rather than draw weight, is a bigger problem for receivers.

By all means, have it checked by a pro.

Hi Bill, on the first page of the Tech Talk forum on the top left is a memo on hitch weights. Most Barths were supplied with a class II hitch. This has a weight of 3500 lbs. If you weigh your coach and what you are pulling you will probably find that 3500 is right at the limit. However, I recognize that many people pull 5000 lb cars. I strongly suggest that you take Olroy's advice and visit a "certified" welder and have him upgrade your hitch to a Class III. Max cost should be $250.00 or so. Now they may not do anything but if your hitch doesn't extend to your actual chassis rather than an extention, they may add a member back to the original frame. I know that all coaches but maybe 19 footers had extentions.I would suspect that people who should be most concerned are the 32-33 foot coach owners. Some have said in the past; Nah, don't worry about it, and you probably will never have a problem but if you are pulling a 5000 vehicle or trailer full of atv's and you hit a major pothole and your extension cracks you may be crying in your room temp cabernet.

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Thanks guys, I will get it checked out before I do any towing.

Bill, you must have an error in your signature. It says that beautiful coach is a 73.

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Dan & Suzy Z
'81 Euro 28

Hi Bill,
We have a 1973 25 foot, and we do not have a receiver hitch. Also, the structure under the bustle has been weakened by corrosion. Our structure would definitely have to be replaced before it would support a receiver hitch. We think it would be a good idea to have your hitch and the steel it's attached to carefully examined.

Jim and Mary

My coach came with a hitch with the worst welding I have ever seen. On my worst day learning, I was never that bad.

I like to think that it was not done by Barth.