Welding on a brand new car

So, I'd like to have a receiver hitch om our new '14 Mazda6 for my bike rack ( don't worry, no trailers.) Curt has one out for it, a simple bolt-on affair with two endplates, a crosstube, and a receiver. It's $250.

I know I could fab one up for less, but I'd prefer to bolt the plates to the chassis, then weld in the crosstube to the plates and weld on the receiver tube. That way I'm sure it fits.

In the past when welding on cars I've always unhooked the battery and grounded as close as possible to the welds, but I'm skittish about this new beast. With all the advanced keyless, radar, nav, GPS, and magic space-time-continuum equipment, I'm afraid I'll pop something even with my normal precautions. Transient voltage signals, etc,etc.

Has anyone laid a bead on something this new?

Post pictures of the 6! Do you think the dealer will have any issues with the hitch even if it's for a bike? I too plan on getting a new 6 and adding a hitch, but I'll actually be towing a boat. I figure if the dealer throws a fit I'll just say it's for a bike.

Sorry, no help on the welding side.

I posted some pics in this thread FWIW, Under towing, the owner's manual says : DO NOT TOW A TRAILER WITH THIS CAR.

As much as I like the car ( and I do. A LOT) there's no way I'd try to tow a boat with it - torque is NOT its strong point.

I would be tempted to make a couple of wooden jigs...

Bolting or welding the hitch to the vehicle? Just welding the hitch?

Since you want bolted end plates, put the ground straight on those, tack-weld the crosstube (one or two tacks should be enough), then take it off the car to finish welding.

If you are really nervous, you could put the ground on the crosstube, so no electrons would even touch the car.

With all that said, I would still recommend you buy the Curt receiver. The big difference with commercial receivers is that most of them are powder-coated these days. That makes a huge difference for rust after a few years.

fanfoy wrote: Since you want bolted end plates, put the ground straight on those, tack-weld the crosstube (one or two tacks should be enough), then take it off the car to finish welding.

This was the approach I was planning. I hadn't thought about the powder coating though, that may make a difference. I'll have to think about that....

I just measured twice and welded once on my truck's hitch. I did all the welding on the workbench. Not because I'm scared of welding to my truck, but because a properly fitted hitch is usually quite hard to finish weld when it's bolted to the car.

ultraclyde wrote: I posted some pics in this thread FWIW, Under towing, the owner's manual says : DO NOT TOW A TRAILER WITH THIS CAR. As much as I like the car ( and I do. A LOT) there's no way I'd try to tow a boat with it - torque is NOT its strong point.

I'm waiting for the diesel :)