Tiger Tail Tow System Install on Can-Am G2 Outlander ATV

By Bill "BillaVista" Ansell
Photography: Bill Ansell
Copyright 2014 - Bill Ansell
(click any pic to enlarge)

Introduction

Here's a look at how I mounted a Tiger Tail Tow System to my Can-Am G2 Outlander 1000XT.

The Tiger Tail is drum-mounted, retractable tow rope system that features a synthetic tow rope with mounted hook. The drum is spring-loaded so the rope automatically retracts for storage when not in use. It also automatically takes up the slack when you're towing something so the rope doesn't drag in the mud or get caught up around the ATV being towed.

It's a bit of an outrageous luxury, but it works really well and is really nice to have.

The Tiger Tail mounts to the factory 2" receiver on the Can-Am's. They sell a "generic" 2" receiver mount but it's a big bulky thing and requires you to give up the ability to install different receiver hitches. Because I didn't want to give up this ability and because I took my Tiger Tail off my old Yamaha Grizzly, I made a custom mount using part of the old Grizzly mount. In this way I was able to mount the Tiger Tail securely to the Outlander, get it up nice and high and tucked in tightly, and retain the ability to use different tow hitches - albeit with a 1-1/4" receiver instead of the factory 2".

The video imbedded below provides the details of how I made the custom mount. The following pics show the finished product installed.

I managed to get it mounted up nice and high, and tight to the frame so it isn't hanging out the back robbing clearance and ruining departure angle.

Normally hitches mounted in receivers are loose and rattle a lot. I didn't want this so I used a 5/8 Grade 8 bolt instead of a hitch pin, and I made an additional bracket that uses one of the factory diff bolts to prevent any chance of rattling.

The part of the Grizzly mount I re-used came with a 1-1/4" receiver so I retained that...

...and can therefore use any 1-1/4" hitch I want (for example I have one with a 1-7/8" ball I use to move my boat trailer around).

A 1-1/4" hitch is plenty strong enough for the towing capacity of the Outlander.

The part I custom-made and welded to the modified Grizzly mount was a piece of 2" receiver hitch I cut out from a cheap hitch I bought on sale from Princess Auto (Harbor Freight for my American friends).

In order to get the Tiger Tail high-and-tight (sounds like a military haircut), I had to move the license plate up.

I did this by removing the stock license plate bracket, and re-installing it the other way up. This also requires drilling a couple of new mounting holes in the license plate.

The license plate bracket needs to be modified slightly so it will go in upside-down. I trimmed the corners a little with a grinder and enlarged the holes that mount it to the aluminum frame portion of the ATV.