Mark P

I had bought a steel one from Harbor Freight for $39 (reg $99) on Black Friday, but after reading reviews, etc decided I wanted an aluminum one. I had a coupon for Harbor Freight's aluminum one for $69 (reg $129) and was headed there to exchange. On the way, I stopped at Home Depot and saw this one marked down to $44.00. I opened one up, checked the build/rigidity, and decided to give it a try. I looked it up later and found it was regularly $99, had been on sale once for $75, and my receipt reflected a $15 savings, so I guess it must have made it's way to $59-$15=$44. Sounded like it was a special buy in-store and they'd only have them until that pallet was gone. Only the steel hitch receiver needs to be bolted to the frame - it's otherwise already assembled (rivots). There is also a steel support along the aluminum front/rear for additional support (you can see it black in the photos). It claims up to 500lbs support depending on hitch (350 with Classs2, 500 with Class3). I stood in it, centered, and then waddled out to one extreme and it seemed quite stable. Consistent with my Reese tow hitch, there's some play between the Audi hitch and the receivers. I'm going to look for some shim type system to reduce that. I pounded in a wooden paint stick when I towed my Uhaul trailer to avoid hearing the constant pounding from the play - that worked great, but I want something easier to deal with. I drove around with this empty for a day and didn't hear anything. With weight though it may bounce more over bumps, but still wouldn't be as bad as a trailer that also has front to rear movement resulting in the up/down (pivoting) play. Interior dimensions are approx 48"x18".

So, looks like I'll keep this one.





Testing to see the clearance at the end of my driveway - someone advised looking into the "ATV" style ones that raise up, which I think would be more of an issue with the aftermarket hitches on Q5s that are lower down. I should measure the clearance on completely flat surface too:

Rusty_Shackleford

Looks good. Does it affect the back-up sensors?