Which trailer hitch to buy?

[Directman]

Buy the Curt hitch you can't beat the price and it is easy to install

[shamrockshooter]

Only if the holes line up. I can think of atleast 3 threads where people had to beat on curt hitches with a sledge hammer to make it fit.

[schwejo]

I have the Curt hitch and I think its the best looking one in that its the most concealed. I also like the heavy powder finish and square tube design. That being said, the muffler hanger gets moved from a situation where the muffler is hanging from above to a post on the hitch that supports muffler from below. I didnt really like that so I made a second strap with a piece of hose and suspended the muffler from above using the original muffler hanger post in addition to the using the new post on the hitch. I realise that a picture is worth a thousand words, but the Curt instru that you can download do a pretty good job of showing the situation.

Unfortunately, mine was also bent, but it was very easly to clamp about 4 feet of 2x4 to the bent side, stand the hitch on end and stand on the main cross member and move it back into place. Its soft relatively mild but heavy plate and will bend very easily with just a little bit of leverage. Perhaps sounds a little more of a pain than it is, but really only takes a few min to straighten it up. Sledging really is the hard way to go about it. Diff strokes for diff folks, but if you like the concealed aspect of the curt hitch, then it cant be beat.

Not sure that exact details of how it got bent, whether its due to how Summit Racing packed it or whether it was drop shipped (no pun intended) from Curt, but its easy to see how a heavy welded up peice with extensions like that could get a little compressed from end to end. It did just come wrapped in paper in a cardboad box. Now if it came twisted, that would have been a whole new issue straightening it out, and I would have sent it back. Obviously you shouldnt have to do any straightening, but in the end, whole thing only set me back a few min. Still happy with my curt hitch for other reasons.

[Mtnman]

Go into the dealer parts dept. with the H&A print out and ask if they will match it. Thats what I do and my dealer has always matched it. They don't add the shipping to the either. Keep trying till you find one that will.

[shamrockshooter]

I tried all 3 dealers around here and none of them would match an online price for the hitch. The guy said "those aren't real Honda dealers"

[McRidgeline]

Also, keep in mind the shipping cost for the hitch. Shipping (the cheapest rate) to KY was going to be $100 for the three on-line sites I checked. That put the hitch cost above what my dealer wanted by approx. $30.

[MoosePond]

Originally Posted by shamrockshooter

I tried all 3 dealers around here and none of them would match an online price for the hitch. The guy said "those aren't real Honda dealers"

I'd love to know what their criteria are for a "real" Honda dealer . . . I've been to Bernardi Honda (New England's 2nd largest Honda dealer!) on Route 9 in Natick, MA, and if that's not a "real" Honda dealer then I don't know what is!

btw, here's their current inventory of 520 2008 Hondas:

Accord Coupe - 13
Accord Sedan - 209
Civic Coupe - 48
Civic Hybrid - 13
Civic Si Coupe - 1
Civic Si Sedan - 6
CR-V - 50
Element - 13
Fit - 16
Odyssey - 89
Pilot - 46
Ridgeline - 13
S2000 - 3

[oldcoastie]

Originally Posted by xd9x19

I would like to go with the OEM parts, but my local dealer (the one from whom I bought my Ridgeline) quoted me a price of $750 ( ) for parts and labor. I was in shock, so I didn't ask if that might also include the brake controller, which I really don't need.

I can get the OEM hitch and harness shipped to me for $491 from H&A.

May even consider a non-OEM hitch if I can't get a better deal from one of the other dealers in town.

My dealer MET the internet price, and I had their service department install it.

[xd9x19]

I may need to do some more wheelin' and dealin'. The parts guy quoted me $501 for the hitch and harness, which is $10 more than ordering it from H&A and having it shipped; however, when I talked to the service department guy, he called me back a bit later after checking on the parts and quoted $750. I'm not going to pay $250 to install something I can do myself with a little bit of work.

[Dustt1]

DCH Honda Temecula Parts Dept doesn't carry brake controllers and service advisor says Ridgeline isn't prewired for controller.
Rancho Muffler came recommended and installing quality stuff for less than $600 out the door.