[Vwdiesel] TDI hitches

[Tad]

I recently had occasion to wonder why insurance co's don't yell more
about nonstandard bumper heights (raised/lowered vehicles).  I had
what would have been a minor bump with another car resulting in just a
scratch to the car I was driving (not my TDI fortunately), but because
the other car was lowered, instead of the bumper absorbing the impact,
the front grill, headlight and hood took the damage at probably 10x
the cost.

On Wed, Feb 22, 2012 at 6:44 AM, James Hansen <jhsg at sasktel.net> wrote:
> I wouldn't sweat the insurance. The only liability that a different bumper
> would cause is perhaps more damage to your own car because it isn't built to
> entirely absorb a slow speed hit, which most bumpers are built to do without
> damage.  At speed, it's all the same. Besides, they insure a truck with a 4"
> lift kit and monster tires without batting an eyelash, when non-standard
> bumper heights are known to increase accident damage significantly, and
> promote injury to the passengers of the vehicle being hit... a far cry from
> a hitch under a bumper cover at stock height.  If the  homebuilt hitch
> breaks and releases a trailer into traffic, then it would be an issue, but
> an unlikely event if you have  all the safety precautions in place (dual
> safety chains, breakaway brake system, etc).
> -james
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com [mailto:vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com] On
> Behalf Of Travis Gottschalk
> Sent: February-22-12 5:19 AM
> To: tadc at europa.com; vwdiesel at vwfans.com
> Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] TDI hitches
>
>
> I am sure they could and depending on the crash would if there was a major
> lawsuit and/or with injuries and the crash involved either the trailer or
> the rear of our cars. Which in that case they likely would go after any who
> build there own hitch. I know the 5th wheel hitch on my fathers truck was
> made by a welder (not my brother) no different then the hitches on the cars
> are made by a welder (my brother). And for that matter only the USA prefab
> hitches would get away from worrying about insurance (and likely only if
> installed by a "certified" person). The Euro hitch would have the same
> insurance battle as my hitch since it replaces it yet it is a factory made
> item just not DOT approved (and the ball is metric-but close enough to 2
> inches to call it a day). Basically-don't get rear ended and don't get into
> an accident with a trailer and there can't be an issue. Drive
> defensively-anyone can be sued for any reason anymore.
> Travis G
>
>
>> From: tadc at europa.com
>> Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:24:40 -0800
>> Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] TDI hitches
>> To: tgott at hotmail.com
>> CC: vwdiesel at vwfans.com
>>
>> Your comments make me wonder... if you got in an accident with this
>> setup ("modified safety equipment") I wonder if the insurance would
>> squawk?
>
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