Trailer Hitch Selection

[5S Dude]

Originally Posted by squatritomj

Hey 5S Dude what brand of Hitch Step do you have? I'll contend with the CURT Brand - I am one of those unlucky people that have a hitch with bad mounting brackets. I just got it the other day and the vendor won't take it back and I also spoke with CURT and they told me that they didn't see a problem with it either. They gave me the measurements for between the brackets and also the mounting holes and when I measured mine they were the exact measurement - I told them of this and the answer I got was that their Hitches were meant to be installed by a trained person so I'm left in the cold. The brackets really don't look bent I think the hitch is just made the wrong size. Any ideas on what to do? I'm thinking about enlarging the mounting holes on both sides by 1/4 inch.

Thanks

Hi squatritomj, I used a floor jack and started the two bumper bolts first and then the three bolts on each frame rail. Once started, I torqued them down evenly. I’m guessing I was one of the lucky few that had no mounting issues. It simply bolted directly into place. The stainless steel hitch step was a pre production prototype from a company that has since gone under. I’m totally bummed for everyone who has had problems with their CURT hitch but more over I am really sorry this company has such a great looking product but fails to offer any kind of customer service to the folks who have layed down their hard earned cash. As I've stated before "I do not recommend this hitch to our members any longer"

[Rick Walker]

Originally Posted by 5S Dude

Sorry I just got back from riding so it's pretty nasty down there but here are the photos for you VRidgeline.

Dude!

How did you attach the bracket for the harness connectors to the outside of the trunk? Did you just use sheet metal screws? Does the trunk have double walls?
Thanks!

[5S Dude]

Originally Posted by Rick Walker

Dude!

How did you attach the bracket for the harness connectors to the outside of the trunk? Did you just use sheet metal screws? Does the trunk have double walls?
Thanks!

The trunk is single walled composite. I drilled two 3/16-diameter holes using the bracket as a template towards the bottom and used 10-32 stainless steel button head Allen bolts with stainless flat washers and Nylok nuts to secure the four & seven pin bracket to the outside wall of the trunk. I don't trust sheet metal screws for long term use.

[firefighter3666]

So I opted to go with an aftermarket hitch from Drawtite. The only real complaint I have is that Drawtite ships it's hitches to vendors without any packaging. No box, no bubble wrap, nothing. The hitch had numerous scratches on it when I picked it up. Apparently this is considered normal.

During the install I found that the bolt holes didn't line up. I attribute this to a bending issue, similar to what others have reported with the Curt Hitches. When I returned the hitch to the vendor to have it replaced, they assured me that a "small" misalignment was an easy fix. I was asked for my keys, and 10 minutes later the hitch was installed on my truck free of charge.

The OEM Honda Hitch would have cost $290.06
The OEM Honda Harness cost me $150.83
The Drawtite Hitch cost me $197.34

[ChrisM]

Originally Posted by 5S Dude

Sorry I just got back from riding so it's pretty nasty down there but here are the photos for you VRidgeline.

From the archives...

I couldn't figure out how I was going to mount my OEM plugs because my hitch is kinda wierd so I would have had to mount my plugs way out to the left. I ended up copying your setup.

Thank you for solving my problem for me.

PS. I have had a hitch on my truck for over 2 years. I ended up having to pull it off to be able to pull down the OEM connector. It was a real PITA. My original setup used that harness that you plug into the tail lights. It was so corroded that I had to ditch it.

[5S Dude]

Your truck ROC’s Chris!

Those OEM connector wires were the hardest part of the hitch install for me as I ended up buying a super long needle nose plier to yank the SOB’s out from their hiding place. Don’t feel too alone as Twintym helped me install the two fogs in the lower grill eons ago and I’ve still got to mount the relay, switch and wire power to them!! We simply have way too many other more pressing projects on our plate at the present….. ROC-On!