Swiss Van Euro Trailer Hitch!

[saabman]

Trailer hitch passed the Swiss official testing on my Chevy Van:

Line up before the test (note an Euro-RV waiting alongside):


Driving into the hangar, I had to be switched to the right as height clearance was an issue :


Over the inspection pit (I was not allowed to take a picture with state employees in them...):


I am happy now I can tow a trailer up-to 1814 Kg (3 999 lbs). Not much but enough for what I need.

I will now be doing some modifications to my trailer for camping activities

[LenS]

They are well organized!!!!!!!

[WVvan]

Things couldn't be more different over here. I'm amazed some state don't even require periodic vehicle inspections.

[dmeade0]

Originally Posted by WVvan

Things couldn't be more different over here. I'm amazed some state don't even require periodic vehicle inspections.

New Jersey used to require yearly inspections when I lived there (1960's).

[saabman]

Originally Posted by LenS

They are well organized!!!!!!!

They sure are not Swiss for nothing...

[Ford_6L_E350]

The Germans also have those inspection pits. I got a 'tour' of the inspection facility once. It was amazing! They have pads under each wheel, and can move the pads. They move the front ones closer and further and observe the suspension. They do the same on the rears. Then the move the fronts and rears closer and further. The car had a broken spring and it only showed up under one specific motion. Then the car was 'Red Tagged' and could not be driven. The owner had to call a tow and a taxi.

Not many cars over 10 would pass that kind of a test here. I guess if you want to drive 150+ on the Autobahn you had better have safe cars.

Oh, and their roads are better than ours also.

Mike

[saabman]

Yeah they check ball joint play and any other suspension defects...

[Aldercrest]

Another interesting thing is that the Swiss police can sit on the side of the road and randomly pull vehicles over to do on the spot inspections. We passed one group of 'inspectors' a couple of times. They seemed to zero in on the 'tuners' and didn't pay much attention to my buddy's brand new (and stock) BMW.

While I'm on Switzerland, while we were over there in September, we put the car on a train and cut a couple of hours of driving time by going straight through a mountain. While in the tunnel, we broke out the cell phone called my 90 year old grandmother back here in Oregon to say hello. We can't call her from 30 miles away in the middle of the coast range here.

I know it's not all roses - for example, Switzerland is very expensive, and good luck buying groceries on Sunday - but it's also organized, beautiful, and nice roads and phones that work everywhere are a plus.

[saabman]

All quite true
You would probably get pulled over in a 4x4 SMB on oversized tires
The Swiss hate anything modified... you see even a simple hitch needs approvals and loads of paperwork...

On the other hand the beautiful countryside, mountains, lakes and chalets make the charm of the place...