Trailer Hitch Recommendations

[chickey]

Folks,

Can anyone recommend a brand for an after-market trailer hitch? I’ve been shopping on etrailer.com for a Class 2 trailer hitch so I can attach my bike rack. There are hitches available on the site from both Curt and Draw-Tite. Does anyone have experience (good or bad) with these brands or others? What would you recommend?

Thanks in advance,
Colin

 

[wineslob]

Either brand is fine, though I think Draw-Tite is a little over priced. I bought one for my F-150 from U-Haul, not sure of the brand, and it fit like a glove, plus it was just over $100, not nearly $200 that Draw-Tite wanted.

 

[930dreamer]

If you're only using to attach a bike rack I would think any of those hitches would do fine. Uhaul sells and installs also.

 

[dmeadow]

Can't opine on those brands, but I've always had good service and very good prices from etrailer.com.

 

[terabyte]

I really really like my hidden hitch.

 

[BigE]

I can't vouch for either brand as I haven't used either. However, I spoke with one of the guys from Curt at a conference several months ago. When testing their products, he said they will see failure of the support material (body, frame, etc.) before they see hitch failure. If it's true, that's a pretty good sign.

 

[billspit]

I've always been partial to Reece hitches. U-Haul does sell and install hitches and they may be a Reece hitch with their name on it.

I've seen some Hidden Hitches I like too.

 

[MScott]

+1 on the Reese. I have one on my Explorer and have hauled far more than I probably should have.....never a worry.

 

[Keith_MN]

I do not think that you can go wrong with any of the popular commercially available hitches. I would compare based on paint finish, cosmetics, and cost.

Living in Minnesota, I see a lot of really nice trucks with ugly rusted hitches. If you live in an area where salt is dropped from trucks or is blown in off the water I recommend inquiring on the durability of the finish. Galvanized would be the best, second is if they used a zinc rich coating, third is powder coating.

The second criteria would be how the hitch looks under the vehicle. Some hitches really looked tacked on under the vehicle while others look much more integrated. I purchased a Hidden Hitch for my minivan because it had nicely bent frame that tucked under the vehicle better than the straight structural members.

By the way, Hidden Hitch, Reese and Draw-Tite, are all part of a company called Cequent (www.cequentgroup.com). I think they may even sell the same product under the different brand names. Maybe someone here can confirm that though.

-Keith

 

[d33pt]

i had a valley hitch that was really stout. but like the others said, i don't think you can go wrong. just make sure it's rated for what you're going to use it for.

 

[Lhorn]

My Curt hitch has been great. I think they are all of high quality. I got the Curt because for my car, the main tube is round instead of square which I thinks looks better. functionally, I think they all would work equally well.

 

[IndyGarage]

a bike rack isn't going to be tough duty for any of them, so I would go for the one which tucks under your vehicle the best. All of them are pretty similar - until you get into a heavy duty hitch.

About 3-4 years ago, my parents were towing their Saturn car behind their motorhome - with a name-brand factory hitch, when the hitch broke loose and the car went into the ditch. Fortunately they were near home, going very slowly around a corner at the time, and no other traffic was nearby. The car suffered some scratches and some minor damage, but it was nothing compared to what could have been. In the previous 5 years or so they had towed that car more than 50,000 miles behind that motorhome.

I was at their house the next day and took one look at the hitch and was flabberghasted. The receiver tube was welded to the hitch frame with tack welds only - Somebody forgot to put in the structural welds!

So my stepfather finally tracks down the manufacturer, and they were pretty skeptical of the story; they wanted him to send pictures of the failure. When he got the pictures emailed, the head welding instructor and QC guy in the factory called in just a few hours. The guy was apologetic and angry that this thing got out the door of their factory. The hitch company immediately agreed to pay for the damage to the car and replace the hitch and the tow bar from the car that had bent.

They welded up a new "heavy duty hitch" to replace the broken one - the QC guy said he welded it himself and "it won't break" . The new hitch was probably twice as heavy as the old one, the metal was significantly thicker. Not only that, but the fabrication was a work of art, and they had it powder coated. The only thing they asked in return was for my Stepfather to send them the old hitch, for "training purposes", which he did - the guy said he was going to use this as an example of "mistakes that get people hurt" to train all the welders and QC folks.

Anyway, I won't mention the manufacturer - because even though they made a pretty egregious mistake, once it was brought to their attention they did everything they could to make it right.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I was at their house the next day and took one look at the hitch and was flabberghasted. The receiver tube was welded to the hitch frame with tack welds only - Somebody forgot to put in the structural welds!

So my stepfather finally tracks down the manufacturer, and they were pretty skeptical of the story; they wanted him to send pictures of the failure. When he got the pictures emailed, the head welding instructor and QC guy in the factory called in just a few hours. The guy was apologetic and angry that this thing got out the door of their factory. The hitch company immediately agreed to pay for the damage to the car and replace the hitch and the tow bar from the car that had bent.

They welded up a new "heavy duty hitch" to replace the broken one - the QC guy said he welded it himself and "it won't break" . The new hitch was probably twice as heavy as the old one, the metal was significantly thicker. Not only that, but the fabrication was a work of art, and they had it powder coated. The only thing they asked in return was for my Stepfather to send them the old hitch, for "training purposes", which he did - the guy said he was going to use this as an example of "mistakes that get people hurt" to train all the welders and QC folks.

Anyway, I won't mention the manufacturer - because even though they made a pretty egregious mistake, once it was brought to their attention they did everything they could to make it right.

Every manufacturer can make a mistake, honestly, it does happen. Luckily on this one, nodody got hurt. They clearly made it right and the customer was happy inthe end. Kudos to that manufacturer.

Honestly like said above, I don't think you'll have a problem with any name brand manufacturer. Just buy one made for your vehicle, not a "universal" style and mount it per their instructions.

 

[OldCarGuy]

Plus one for Etrailer.com...

Been using Reese hitches for over forty years without any problems. Reese was an early innovator in hitches. Now part of Cequent http://www.cequentgroup.com/ that produced Reese, Draw-Tite, Hidden Hitch, along with many other trailering accessories...

 

[Scotto]

I would look at the specific hitches for your car and see how they're mounted. I was looking at some for my friend's Honda CRV and the light-duty ones all required drilling into the frame a bit. The next step up was a total bolt on. I told them to spend the extra $50 to have the higher load limited and not have to worry about the drilled holes rusting later on.

 

[chickey]

Thanks folks, I am so glad I discovered this forum and the good folks who spend their time here. Appreciate all the great recommendations and insight. I need to start contributing some as well...and promise to do so.

Thanks again!
Colin

 

[travisd]

I just bought a Curt receiver for my '99 ranger via Amazon. Price was right in there with other vendors since in my case I have Prime shipping so it was "free" (well, for a yearly fee). Most surprising was that their 2-day "free" shipping got it to me in roughly 24 hours after ordering.

It seems like a nice piece - well finished, and powdercoated. Installation went smoothly (by myself, laying in the driveway). Trucks seems to be pretty good about hitches just bolting in though. When I did a hitch on my '96 Corvette (small trailer for race tires) I had to drill a few holes, including 2x1" for access. Curt at least has the instructions on-line so you can check them out to gauge difficulty. I'm sure most of the other mfgrs do as well.

 

[scrumpy]

Chickey,

I have had a number of receivers for a small trailer and the bike rack. The Curt tucks under the SUV better than others I have had and living in the northeast this one has weathered by far better than any of the others I have had. The powdercoat has lasted very well.
FYI, I just built one for my car. $40 total and $23 of that was for the lousy bolts. I will not use it for towing but it carries 4 bikes very well. Coated it in etch primer and bedliner. Waiting to see how it holds up to the salt this winter.

Da'scrump

 

[hmbemis]

Folks,

Can anyone recommend a brand for an after-market trailer hitch? I’ve been shopping on etrailer.com for a Class 2 trailer hitch so I can attach my bike rack. There are hitches available on the site from both Curt and Draw-Tite. Does anyone have experience (good or bad) with these brands or others? What would you recommend?

Thanks in advance,
Colin

I installed a Hidden-Hitch myself--the instructions were good, and they included everything I needed (except for a drill bit to ream out the rusted bumper mounting holes on my Chevy).

Have had no problems with it, I use it for one of those hitch platforms that are usually rated for 400~500lbs, I haul my ~200lb snow-blower around on it with no problems or concerns. Towed rental trailers w/ no issue either.

In terms of clearance I think it beats the versions that end up with a big bar across the back--with this hitch all you really see is the receiver sticking out the back.

 

[ket-tek]

I have a Draw-tite on my explorer and the fitment was great and it is nice and flush with the bumper.

I also have a Curt on my 2500 Express Van and it was a great fit and also snugs up nicely with the bumper. I've towed car trailers and my ford tractor with frontend loader, grader box, tiller, and auger all on the same trailer with ease.. Hasn't tweaked, bent, or loosened up at all...

 

[haggis]

I have a Curt hitch on my 2005 GTO and it has worked great, you can hardly see it when not towing. It was also designed specifically for my car, so it was a complete bolt on affair, no drilling required.

 

[crewchief888]

my '00 sierra didnt have a hitch on it from the factory.
i found a factory hitch "kit" from GM was far cheaper than anything aftermarket.
the hitch has been on since '01 no rusting.

 

[Random Guy]

a bike rack isn't going to be tough duty for any of them, so I would go for the one which tucks under your vehicle the best. All of them are pretty similar - until you get into a heavy duty hitch.

About 3-4 years ago, my parents were towing their Saturn car behind their motorhome - with a name-brand factory hitch, when the hitch broke loose and the car went into the ditch. Fortunately they were near home, going very slowly around a corner at the time, and no other traffic was nearby. The car suffered some scratches and some minor damage, but it was nothing compared to what could have been. In the previous 5 years or so they had towed that car more than 50,000 miles behind that motorhome.

I was at their house the next day and took one look at the hitch and was flabberghasted. The receiver tube was welded to the hitch frame with tack welds only - Somebody forgot to put in the structural welds!

So my stepfather finally tracks down the manufacturer, and they were pretty skeptical of the story; they wanted him to send pictures of the failure. When he got the pictures emailed, the head welding instructor and QC guy in the factory called in just a few hours. The guy was apologetic and angry that this thing got out the door of their factory. The hitch company immediately agreed to pay for the damage to the car and replace the hitch and the tow bar from the car that had bent.

They welded up a new "heavy duty hitch" to replace the broken one - the QC guy said he welded it himself and "it won't break" . The new hitch was probably twice as heavy as the old one, the metal was significantly thicker. Not only that, but the fabrication was a work of art, and they had it powder coated. The only thing they asked in return was for my Stepfather to send them the old hitch, for "training purposes", which he did - the guy said he was going to use this as an example of "mistakes that get people hurt" to train all the welders and QC folks.

Anyway, I won't mention the manufacturer - because even though they made a pretty egregious mistake, once it was brought to their attention they did everything they could to make it right.

This story would make it more likely to go with the company in question, not less. It shows that they are committed to a quality product and to taking care of their customers.

 

[IndyGarage]

This story would make it more likely to go with the company in question, not less. It shows that they are committed to a quality product and to taking care of their customers.

Possibly.

It's one of the companies already mentioned in this thread. I'll leave it at that.