[Montster]

THe tilt bike carrier is also available for the hidden hitch. "class I"
How much was the Class II - III at Uhaul?
What do most people preffer? I heard that the Class II is 50LBS compared to half that weight of the Hidden hitch... which by the way is in supply and demand for the EL. Nationwide backorder.
What do you guys think? Any Ideas?

 

[fhaxton]

The Valley class III-IV lists at 27 pounds. The other 1-1/4 inch hitches
list at about 20 pounds. Not much difference. This is from
www.hitch-web.com Cheers

 

[daroy]

U-Haul hitch rocks, got mine installed this week! :grin:

 

[sydeshowbob]

I just got teh uhaul class III hitch and installed it. took me a couple hours (kept getting interupted). In my case i had to widen the holes on the inside of the frame as well. Used a craftsmand 3amp drill with a dremel grinding stone (burnt my dremel up a few months ago and have not replaced it since). I few minutes per hole is all it took and a wittled down stone. The rest was cake. Had to unhook the exhaust and attach the hitch with the ubolt. Then with a rubber malet, i just banged the hitch in place and fished the hardware thru. then used some rust o' spray paint to cover the nicked and scratched bare metal, and good to go. Also did the home depot grill on the same day.. that was real easy after i got the bumper off. about 1 hour for that. :grin:

 

[hammersmn]

35 minutes start to finish

I've never had a project go so easily (and I'm going to tell you why):
Normally, a project like this means that I'm holding something heavy in a precise location while fishing through the toolbox blindly for a specific socket or wrench.
Tried something different this time - Spent 5 minutes in the house fitting all of the nuts with their respective sockets and open ended wrenches. Brought everything out that I needed. Didn't spend any useless time searching for other stuff!

Sounds simple, but how do you do projects?

I used a corded Dremmel to expand the holes (no notches, just opened up the holes a bit). Ran into a bit of a problem when my deep well socket was too wide to squeeze in at the rearward bolt location - easy enough, I'd brought my open ended wrench at that point.

No ramps, at 8 o'clock at night, with just a flashlight. And I'm 6'4", 300 lbs. I'm sure the neighbors thought that my Ebox had fallen and flattened me, as much as I was jammed under there. Still easy, tho.

 

[trickyvick]

Re: 35 minutes start to finish

I used a corded Dremmel to expand the holes (no notches, just opened up the holes a bit). Ran into a bit of a problem when my deep well socket was too wide to squeeze in at the rearward bolt location - easy enough, I'd brought my open ended wrench at that point.

No ramps, at 8 o'clock at night, with just a flashlight. And I'm 6'4", 300 lbs. I'm sure the neighbors thought that my Ebox had fallen and flattened me, as much as I was jammed under there. Still easy, tho.

I have a cordless dremmel that I used to create a slot just large enough to fit the bolt through. I also used my ramps and did the install under the carport at night.

 

[ElementPilot]

Anybody have any photos of a class III/IV installed?

 

[trickyvick]

tell me what kind of pictures you would like...are we talking a picture form the back or the underside. I will try to get a shot or two tomorrow as I am on VACATION!!!

 

[ElementPilot]

Back and underside would be great. Thanks.

 

[E-NOVA]

Folks, glad to see it is possible to DIY re: the hitch. I only need a receiver hitch so I can use a bike rack I already own from my old Ford Exlporer. I think it can be the small or large size. I figure I can skip the wiring harnass beceause I don't need power. Any idea what brand I should look for? Is this something it's just easier and smarter to pay someone to do? PS, be forewarned, this will be the first of many questions. My wife bought a 2005 Magnesium EX 4Wd, 5 Speed last night with only fog lights, alarm and rear air deflector. The hitch is my first project but I plan on following up with center console, side steps, rear bumber guard, rocker panel guards, front bumper guard and roof rack. I also hear the stock headlight elements are weak, so I was going to replace those as well. Maybe I should post this as question in the main chat too?

 

[biocube]

welcome.

as for the hitch, i strongly suspect that if your rack came off an exploder, it is a 2" rack.

just go to your local u-haul. they'll do it for $111 plus $20 for the install.

 

[trickyvick]

Folks, glad to see it is possible to DIY re: the hitch. I only need a receiver hitch so I can use a bike rack I already own from my old Ford Exlporer. I think it can be the small or large size. I figure I can skip the wiring harnass beceause I don't need power. Any idea what brand I should look for? Is this something it's just easier and smarter to pay someone to do? PS, be forewarned, this will be the first of many questions. My wife bought a 2005 Magnesium EX 4Wd, 5 Speed last night with only fog lights, alarm and rear air deflector. The hitch is my first project but I plan on following up with center console, side steps, rear bumber guard, rocker panel guards, front bumper guard and roof rack. I also hear the stock headlight elements are weak, so I was going to replace those as well. Maybe I should post this as question in the main chat too?

Hi E-NOVA! Welcome....I had a Hidden Hitch for 4 months...and bought a U-HAUL hitch....I would not go back for any reason......

 

[mrsilly]

Hey trickyvic. Why do you prefer the u-haul hitch? I have a hidden hitch, and I was a little bit dissatisfied with it on a recent trip. Seems like it doesn't have the right angle or something. Without having anything to compare it to, I don't really know. Also, what did you do with the hidden hitch? Sell it on Ebay?

thanks!

 

[trickyvick]

HI:

I also have a Toyota Pickup with a 2" receiver.....so now I only have things that work with a 2" in stead of having stuff for my 1 1/4" and a seperate set of things for the 2"......I sold the 1 1/4" to a friend that has a 1 1/4" on his jeep also....so it worked out well all the way around.

G

 

[aEsop]

No tools needed except a trusty tire iron. ALL of our holes (2005)were too small :-( ....wedged a tire iron (a "real manly american tire iron"..not the whimpy Honda spec one made in Canada that comes with the E)....applied leverage in 2 directions....holes now large enough :-D

 

[tabbott]

My U-Haul installer used a different mothod for the installation of the trailerhitch.

Instead of enlarging the holes or cutting a notch hole for the bolts, he filed down one side of each of the 4 bolts just enough to put the bolt through the hole so he could fish it through and then tighten it. He explained to me that he always tries to avoid doing any structural changes to any of the vehicles he works on. Hope this helps any self installers.

 

[LeadFoot]

Re: My U-Haul installer used a different mothod for the installation of the trailerhitch.

Instead of enlarging the holes or cutting a notch hole for the bolts, he filed down one side of each of the 4 bolts just enough to put the bolt through the hole so he could fish it through and then tighten it. He explained to me that he always tries to avoid doing any structural changes to any of the vehicles he works on. Hope this helps any self installers.

Sounds good. Dremel fans can turn the tool on the bolts and away from the undercarriage holes on the E. I think I will use this method once I get to the "install hitch" on my list of to do's.

LeadFoot

Edit: Got it installed this past weekend. :grin:

After looking at the undercarriage and the bolts - I decided it would be an easier and quicker route by grinding a notch in the undercarriage and leaving the bolts as they were. Based on other posts with installation tips, I only notched 2 of the 4 holes (one on each side) and was able to easily thread all 4 bolts through the undercarriage with the supplied lead. I had my son push down on the tailpipe to stretch the rubber hanging support enough to get the hitch in place. A little bit of extra undercoating made it a tight fit, but a whack here and there with a 2 by 4 and a hammer tapped the hitch into alignment with the bolt holes.

I didn't have the bit tightened enough on the Dremel and lost the first Dremel grinder wheel in the undercarriage of my E. It went in the hole and dropped down inside. Oh well. Other than that, the install went just fine. I didn't keep track of time, but certainly was under the car long enough staring up at the holes and grinding and wrenching away long enough to get a neck ache and get bit by a few insects.

Here she is in the after and before state....

 

[ele-MENTAL CASE]

Re: My U-Haul installer used a different mothod for the installation of the trailerhitch.

Instead of enlarging the holes or cutting a notch hole for the bolts, he filed down one side of each of the 4 bolts just enough to put the bolt through the hole so he could fish it through and then tighten it. He explained to me that he always tries to avoid doing any structural changes to any of the vehicles he works on. Hope this helps any self installers.

Definitely my kind of guy!!

I used the file on my Leatherman tool to make notches in the holes (front and back holes were the same size, no way bolts and square metal pieces would fit thru). I only enlarged one hole on each side and used that hole for both bolts.

I've put hitches on a couple of cars/trucks and this UHaul baby was the easiest by far.

Total time about an hour for me but it was a very easy hour. I saw my sockets weren't going to fit so I tightened everything with a crescent wrench and put some locktite on as well. I'll check everything again in a couple hundred miles or when the trailer falls off, whichever comes first.

The biggest pain was taking the sidewall off to get to the wiring. I bought the $16 wireset at UHaul with the wire taps and that's very easy to do.

Thanks to everyone who contributed info. I read it all before starting and it made this a very easy job. You guys are a great resource.

 

[911soccer]

Ok here we go again!!!!! Got a new boat for Xmas. 17 ft. Bayliner 2400 lbs. I have a Class 1 hitch on the Element, I know I have to upgrade the hitch to a Class 2 or Class 3. My question is does Honda make a Class 2 or 3 hitch for the Element? Does someone make a Class 2 or 3 hitch. Does U-haul make a hitch for the Element? What would be the cost for an install?

 

[Grivas]

Ok here we go again!!!!! Got a new boat for Xmas. 17 ft. Bayliner 2400 lbs. I have a Class 1 hitch on the Element, I know I have to upgrade the hitch to a Class 2 or Class 3. My question is does Honda make a Class 2 or 3 hitch for the Element? Does someone make a Class 2 or 3 hitch. Does U-haul make a hitch for the Element? What would be the cost for an install?

Interesting question. Does the element qualify for a class 3? I thought it did not... anybody?