Trailer hitch advice

"DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back" (karsonkinja)
09/05/2019 at 14:17 • Filed to: None

Good afternoon oppo. The time has come to install a trailer hitch on my wife’s civic hatch. There are two different styles offered, each with their own tradeoffs.

Curt Hitch

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

To install this one, you need to:

Drop the exhaust

remove and trim heat shields

Drill a hole into the frame rail and enlarge an existing hole.

Pros:

seems really beefy and well made

no modification to the exterior of the car

Cons:

install will be more difficult/awkward

!!!drilling into frame required!!!

slightly less clean look (not really an issue)

Draw-tite Hitch

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

To install this one, you need to:

Remove bumper cover and impact bar

sandwich hitch between impact bar and frame

trim the corners of the impact bar

trim the underside of the bumper cover to allow room for the receiver to poke out

Pros:

no drilling holes in the frame

slightly cleaner look

Cons:

modification to the impact bar

modifying exterior plastic

unsure of the strength of its design. I’m sure the hitch is good for it, but I’m not really jazzed about the thought of putting ~100lbs + the extra forces from the movement of the bikes on the rack while driving on the highway through an area that is really only supposed to keep the impact bar on.

They both have the same capacity, so it really comes down to preferences in the install method & manner of fitment. So I’m turning to you, oh wise denizens of oppo...which would you choose and why?

Quick note: no roof rack suggestions please. my wife is 5'-0" tall and I seriously doubt she’d be able to reach anything on the roof, not to mention the added cost...

DISCUSSION (23)

vicali > DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back
09/05/2019 at 14:25

What kind of weights are you planning? Either of those would be great for bikes, I would do the bumper one before the body mount..

OPPOsaurus WRX > DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back
09/05/2019 at 14:26

drilling into the frame is nothing. I used to do it all the time at a place that installed that sort of stuff. just hit it with paint to prevent rust. that wire snake bullshit is going to be the toughest part.

ShrimpHappens, née WJalopy > DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back
09/05/2019 at 14:27

On our Outback, I went with an EcoHitch that’s made the same as that Draw- Tite. Same as you, I really didn’t want the whole bar hanging down like most aftermarket hitches.

The install, at least on mine, wasn’t bad at all. I didn’t have to trim the impact bar, though. As far as weight, that Draw- Tite is rated for 200lbs of trailer tongue weight, but how are you getting 100lbs of bike and rack?

DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back > vicali
09/05/2019 at 14:27

Rack is ~40lbs and each bike is ~30lbs ea. So a little over 100 all in.

Mercedes Streeter > DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back
09/05/2019 at 14:30

I have a Curt hitch on my smart. Been there since 2014 and it was installed by U-Haul. Same installation method of drilling into the frame.

Big pro for me: It’s exceptionally strong. It has even taken hard impacts while offroading and has towed vehicles three times as heavy as its 200lb tongue, 2k trailer limits . No deformation whatsoever.

Big con for me: It’s extremely susceptible to rust. If you don’t cover the thing in POR-15, expect to battle rust throughout most of its lifespan. I’ve never seen ANY aftermarket hitch rust as fast as a Curt.

With the application of rust-preventative measures, Curt would be my choice. That said, I really haven’t heard anything catastrophic about a Draw-Tite hitch, either.

DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back > ShrimpHappens, née WJalopy
09/05/2019 at 14:30

I have the eco hitch invisi hitch on my WRX The receiver is hidden behind the fog light cover. It’s been more of a PITA than I thought it would be though. I have a one up rack now though so it’s not too bad anymore.

~30lbs each bike and just over 40 for the rack = about 100lbs

HammerheadFistpunch > DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back
09/05/2019 at 14:31

curt. drilling into the frame is much better an idea that modifying the crash structure.

DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back > HammerheadFistpunch
09/05/2019 at 14:38

This is kind of where my head is at as well, but I didn’t know if drilling into the frame was a worse idea for reasons unknown to me.

Pich, with Z32 now featuring Civic [Si] / No > DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back
09/05/2019 at 15:01

If you don’ t want to cut anything up, just put it ON the hatchback.

Kinja'd!!!

they’re called Seasucker bike racks

benjrblant > DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back
09/05/2019 at 15:11

I have no advice for the hitch, but I’m curious about which bike carrier you’re getting/have.

DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back > Pich, with Z32 now featuring Civic [Si] / No
09/05/2019 at 15:19

Appreciate the suggestion. I had (still have somewhere) the Talon set. While they did the job, I hated them. They also didn’t keep the bike far enough away from my roof and pedals would spin around and ended up scratching the roof paint. They might work for some people but I don’t think I’ll go back down that road again.

DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back > benjrblant
09/05/2019 at 15:21

One-up USA Quick-Rack with an add-on. Got it back in march. I love it so much. Wish I had bought it sooner.

Kinja'd!!!

ShrimpHappens, née WJalopy > DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back
09/05/2019 at 15:34

That’s some darn hefty bikes and rack.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back
09/05/2019 at 15:40

I’d personally go with the Draw-tite one. Sandwiching the mount to the crash structure seems like the way to go. That mount the strongest part of the back of the car. The tongue weight of an appropriate trailer and/or bikes is orders of magnitude less force than the collision forces that crash bar and mount are designed to withstand.

DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back > ShrimpHappens, née WJalopy
09/05/2019 at 15:47

Its not unusual for a mountain bike to weigh over 30lbs these days. I demoed a Tallb oy with a carbon fiber frame a couple months ago and it still weighed 28lbs.

Pich, with Z32 now featuring Civic [Si] / No > DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back
09/05/2019 at 15:57

what made you hate them? and they provide straps for the cranks

MM54 > DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back
09/05/2019 at 15:59

I helped a coworker put the second style (bolts behind the bumper bar) on his Clarity. It was pretty easy; I’d prefer that to drilling into the frame, just from a corrosion perspective. Not sure if you live somewhere that salts but I don’t like the idea of drilling holes.

ShrimpHappens, née WJalopy > DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back
09/05/2019 at 16:02

Wow. I had no idea. So you got me wondering what our bikes weigh, and Trek says my wife’s bike is ~27lbs, so I bet mine is more than that. Man, I never would’ve thought they were that much .

We have an aluminum Thule rack that is 19lbs, apparently. So we’re at 80lbs total ourselves. Well, we have had zero problems with the set up.

DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back > ShrimpHappens, née WJalopy
09/05/2019 at 16:16

I have this:

https://www.1up-usa.com/product/quik-rack-single/ + an add-on to carry an additional bike.

I think its milled aluminum, but its really really beefy, way heavier than it looks.

TheRealBicycleBuck > DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back
09/05/2019 at 16:19

EcoHitch Stealth or Invisi . They have it for your Civic.

Kinja'd!!!

Why? T he receiver is removable on the Stealth or hidden behind the plate on the Invisi. Either way, there is not visible hitch when you’re not using the hitch.

DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back > Pich, with Z32 now featuring Civic [Si] / No
09/05/2019 at 16:25

Mine didn’t come with straps I guess, or maybe I missed them in the box. This was awhile ago so I don’t remember .

Maybe I should rephrase and say that I didn’t hate the actual product so much as I hated using it. So me of these issues might be unique to me.

It would constantly pop the metal on my roof while driving, made me terrified of big bumps in the road and if it would permanently deform the roof .

Taking the front wheel off and putting it back on is annoying.

I felt there was too much to go wrong if I made a mistake when mounting it . I’m fairly error prone but I’ m sure everyone makes mistakes, case in point my bike fork slipped in my hand one day when putting the bike on the roof, the bottom the fork hit the rubber on the suction cup but still managed to make a small dent in the metal through the rubber.

putting bikes on a hitch rack >>> putting bikes on the roof. This is probably preference but its undeniably easier to load and unload.

DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back > TheRealBicycleBuck
09/05/2019 at 16:30

They don’t, if they did I wouldn’t have made this post. I have the invisi hitch for my WRX, and would totally buy from them again if they had one for the civic.

benjrblant > DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back
09/05/2019 at 16:53

great call!