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This fully welded trailer hitch receiver bolts onto your vehicle's frame with no welding required. Powder coated steel is sturdy and corrosion resistant.
Features:
Specs:
At etrailer.com we're committed to the products we sell, and to our customers. Our experienced and knowledgeable staff are available via both phone and email to address your questions and concerns for the lifetime of your hitch. The technicians at etrailer perform hitch installations on a daily basis, making them a valuable resource for do-it-yourselfers. The one-on-one, personal service you'll receive comes straight from an expert in the towing and automotive field. We've installed it, we've wired it and we've towed with it, so whatever your question, we can answer it.
Average Customer Rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars (452 Customer Reviews)
This fully welded trailer hitch receiver bolts onto your vehicle's frame with no welding required. Powder coated steel is sturdy and corrosion resistant.2011 Acura MDX
The hitch arrived ahead of time and was fairly simple to install. Only gave 3 stars b/c after extensive research to find a receiver hitch that accommodated a full-size spare, this one came up. After install, it in fact does not fit with a full-size spare. Probably my fault.
Josh
5/1/2023
Thanks for the follow-up. The hitch is great just user error, I suppose. Simply purchased a tire cover a used the tie-down hooks in the back for the spare. Attached are some pics that y’all are free to use if you’d like. All I ask is to make it explicit in the product description for future customers that it will not allow a full-size spare.
Jenny N.
5/1/2023
Thanks for the pictures, I will add them to the review soon. I did like your solution even though it takes up some room in the back. Your set up is a lot cleaner then mine.
Perfect fit!!! I watched the installation video and prepared everything according to the video. Installation was a breeze!!!
Quality product, great price, quick shipping. All around excellent experience.
Ronald
12/3/2023
CURT Trailer Hitch has performed amazingly! I tow a 5x10 enclosed trailer a lot with ease. I also have a car hauler trailer to haul my Acura that I pull behind my motorhome, its great to have the hitch on my Acura for repositioning or taking this trailer tofrom storage. Quality of workmanship and design provide an outstanding receiver hitch.
Absolutely no problem installing this hitch. I was going to choose the more expensive Hidden Hitch or DrawTite versions based on other reviews here. I called eTrailer and they convinced me that the Curt product was just as good and should be just as easy to install. They were absolutely right.
Main things everyone asks: Yes, the spare tire fits fine. No, the bumper cover and trim do not need to be modified or even temporarily removed.
My one negative comment: packaging is minimal. Box was damaged in shipping and my hitch had a 2 inch long scratch all the way to bare metal. I didn't feel like sending it back, so I used some car touch up paint I had to hopefully avoid rusting of the hitch.
My tips:
1. Most of us don't have a lift. Definitely want to use two jack stands to provide good working room. Will briefly need a second person when raising the hitch and starting the bolts.
2. Read all the reviews and watch all the videos you can. Each has little nuggets of helpful hints. Prep work and correct tools are key to easy install.
3. My car is only about a year old and weld nuts were full of debris, paint, and undercoating. A tap would be ideal to clean it out (worth the $10 investment from Home Depot or a good tool store. Otherwise, take the time to spray with solvent and run a bolt back an forth through each hole. You might want to get an extra bolt from the hardware store to "sacrifice" for this purpose to avoid excessive wear on your permanent bolt. Get the tap and/or bolt specification from the installation instructions online while you wait for your order to arrive (eTrailer provides a link with order status). Buy this ahead of time and have it on hand when you start. Otherwise you will be tempted to skip it and will be sorry you did.
4. Gently clean undercoating and debris from frame surface and apply a little grease to frame to make raising the hitch into place easy. I never needed the rubber mallet others describe using. Be careful not to remove paint so you don't expose raw metal.
5. Get all 8 bolts started (BY HAND TO AVOID CROSS-THREADING) before cranking any of them down. I used an impact gun to run them in closer, then a torque wrench to set them to specified torque. Impact wrench was just a luxury. A socket wrench or cordless drill would do just fine. I did like having the torque wrench for final crank on the bolts. I bought a $20 1/2" one from Harbor Freight (a cheapy, but a rare use item for me). I justified the tool purchase as a nice to have item that I could afford with all the money I saved using eTrailer and choosing the least-expensive hitch.
6. I bought the Curt harness. Worked perfectly. I elected to not run it all the way out since this hitch will be only occasionally used and then mostly for bike rack and "hitch haul" carrier. Keeping the harness in the tool area of the hatch keeps it out of the exterior elements and makes for a nice clean looking install. My MDX had a perfect "hiding place". Note that for my 2011 MDX, there are factory fuses (4) for the various trailer light functions. These fuses are not installed by ACURA and DO NOT NEED TO BE INSTALLED. They only come into play if you use the OEM harness from ACURA.
7. That's it. Could only be easier if I had a lift. You will need an extra person for only a few minutes while raising the hitch and starting the bolts. Enjoy a sweet looking install and go out to dinner on the money you saved. In my case you can make a car payment with the savings since Acura wanted $850 for the dealer-installed OEM hitch and harness.
Jeff
3/7/2016
Do you have a donut spare of full size?
Mark C.
3/14/2016
Spare tire is Acura original. Temporary spare. So, smaller than regular tires, but it is OEM and what hitch was designed around.
Painless transaction in every way. The video made the installation on my 2008 MDX very easy. The Curt product was excellent in quality with only one problem: the hitch recommended (Curt 13354) will not allow a full size spare! I bought an extra tire and wheel to match the factory wheels and tires when I bought the vehicle and it will not come close to going in the space with the hitch installed. The 255/15 R18 Michelin tire is both too tall and wide. But, I will just start carrying the spare in the rear storage area so the bicycle rack can be used. etrailer.com was very easy to work with in every way other than bad information on it accepting a full size spare.
Laura E.
11/29/2016
Thank you for your feedback and your purchase, Delz. I have forwarded your comments to our fitguide team for further investigation.
I'm using this hitch for my bike rack and it is working great. Installation took me about 2 hours, but I had to work around my spare. I'm thrilled that I could install it myself.
Lonnie
6/2/2019
Still very happy with the hitch! Im using it for my bike rack and occasionally for a small trailer.
This is a great hitch. It is well-made and relatively easy to install. My one tip would be if you are planning to use a brake controller with your application, I would pay the extra money and buy the kit that Acura makes (which includes all of the wiring). This hitch with the tail light and brake light wiring kit is fine. But Acura includes factory wiring even if your MDX did not come with a towing package. Like I said, do yourself a favor and buy the Acura factory kit if you are going to use a brake controller. I wish somebody would've told me this before I purchased a Universal Installation Kit for the Trailer Brake Controller. What a pain that was to install! Yes, it works but I would gladly pay the extra dollars for the easy to install, very clean, factory kit. The wiring in that kit is not much more than simple, plug-in harnesses. Plus the install looks a lot more tidy. There is no mounting bracket for the 7-pin connector with this hitch.
Thank you you guys for an excellent product. I ordered this hitch system and was able to install it to my Acura Mdx 2015. A similar system from the trailer rental place including installation would have cost $800. It took a while for me since I had never done this type of work before. And besides, the car undercarriage and those 8 threaded holes on the car frame were covered with rust. So I had to de-rust first which took the most time. I didn't have a lift system so I parked the car in my garage with the tail end over the slanted driveway to give me some extra room to work under the car. Other than that, things went really well. I rented a 12-foot trailer and loaded it with stuff from my house. I hauled it all the way from St. Charles, MO to Arizona, 1400+ miles. Everything was fine. I should have taken photos of the car before and after, and during the trip. But I didn't do all of that. I only have some photos of the car after everything was said and done. I am still kicking myself for that. It was a nice experience and I didn't have any photos to cherish the moment. Anyway, great product, great customer service, including very quick shipping and packaging, also the follow ups... all good. Thank you!
Thank you you guys for an excellent product. I ordered this hitch system and was able to install it to my Acura Mdx 2015. A side note: a similar system from [trailer rental company] with installation would have cost near $800. It took a while for me since I had never done this type of work before. And besides, the car undercarriage and those 8 threaded holes on the car frame were covered with rust. So I had to de-rust first. Other than that, things went really well. I rented a 12-foot trailer from [rental location] and loaded it with stuff from my house. I hauled it all the way from St. Charles, MO to Arizona, 1400+ miles. Everything was fine. I should have taken photos of the car before and after, and during the trip. But I didn't do all of that. I only have some photos of the car after everything was said and done. I am still kicking myself for that. It was a nice experience and I didn't have any photos to cherish the moment. Anyway, great product, great customer service, including very quick shipping and packaging, also the follow ups... all good. Thank you!
Just wanted to say that I appreciate the "personal touch" of eTrailer’s communications regarding orders.
Yesterday I finally got around to install the hitch and wiring on my 2011 Acura MX. I'm in pretty good shape, but I don't have a lift and I'm almost 63 years old. That hitch is pretty hefty and awkward, so trying to hold it in place under that car while starting those 14mm bolts was a bit daunting. My wife volunteered to help, but there just isn't much room for both of us to slide around on our backs under the car.
But I'm also an engineer, so I thought about the problem. I do have a receiver adapter (2" to 1.25"), a floor jack, and I have assorted nuts & bolts. I bolted the small end of the adapter to the jack and then inserted the big end into the hitch’s receiver. Voila!
So I'd like to introduce you and your colleagues to my "Assistant." He was easy to communicate with, had solid fine motor skills to adjust the position of the hitch, and he never got tired.
Up/down with the jack, enough slop so I could tilt the hitch from side to side, and easy to rotate. Having cleared and lubed all 8 bolt holes (45,000 mile of dirt) all the bolts started easily.
The job too me about 2.5 hours since I was being careful and I have no power tools. Your video was a godsend; I kept running back into the house to check the details (like removing the exhaust system hangars.)
Installed as specified. Also, I was surprised that installing the wiring harness only took about 10 minutes. No jack required!
Absolutely great product and precise engineering all bolt and screws lined up perfectly and very sturdy 10/10
as always, etrailer shipping was fast. hitch fits and looks great, tucked underneath and up against the plastic bumper. used it immediately for its intended use for a hitch mounted bike rack. removing the spare tie is a must for clearance and work room. install took more time due to cleaning the welded nuts and dry fitting the bolts. otherwise only had to lower one side of the exhaust and bolt it to the frame.
Installation was easy since I had access to a lift and took an hour at a leisurely pace to install the hitch and wiring for lights. I used a rachet strap to hold up the exhaust once I dropped it and the hitch slipped easily into place. I used the Curt wiring for the lights, which was plug n play after feeding it through. Easy install with a lift and someone to help out holding the hitch in place and good quality parts. My wife was concerned it might be obtrusive, but it’s inset enough that she barely notices it’s there.
Installation was a breeze once the spare tire was lowered and the muffler mounts were removed. Having an extra set of hands definitely makes lifting the hitch a lot easier but I've also been able to use a floor jack as well. I also installed the C56038 which only took a few steps and it remains out of the way when not in use. All in all it's a solid hitch and it tucks nicely under the bumper.
The hitch works flawlessly. The issue that I had was with the installation because there are a couple of the screws that needed an extension on your drive ratchet in order to complete the installation, despite lowering the heat shields and the exhaust. I did not have the extension so I went to a local store where they tightened the two screws for me. It took me (not counting the trip to the rack store) 1 1/2 hours to install the hitch. Make sure to have a second person to help keep the hitch in place while mounting it. I did not need a jack to get under the car. Overall, good purchase.
Easy to install. Loved the plug-and-play wiring.
That was so easy!!! I had to remove only one side exhaust shield and muscle the hitch all by myself! Started one side with one bolt and same with the other side to prevent it from falling. Put all bolts in place per instruction and I used an impact wrench to get some speed but left them snug until the final touch. I don't have a high enough torque wrench so I just decided to do it by feel without stripping the bolts. I was done in about an hour due to I took some time each step to make sure I'm doing it correctly.
The product arrived promptly after completing the order. My father-in-law helped with installing the hitch on my 2010 Acura MDX. For the most it, it was straight forward and thank goodness for his tools. It took us a little over an hour to complete. Having read some of the feedback and watching the installation video on the site, we had a good idea what we're facing. We were concerned the bolts would be difficult to put in being a 7 year ago vehicle (and having this happen during a prior experience), but we had lubricated them well in advance and during the installation. Looking forward to using it now.
Easy installation by following the video.
Two recommendations:
1. Make note there are two hangers per tail pipe. And three screws per heat shield.
2. Spare tire needs to be reinstalled by tilting the rear portion of the tire over the hitch first.
VERY satisfied with the entire process and the factory installed appearance!
Product quality and delivery process was great. Only issue holes 2 holes don't align. Went from an easy DYI project to ending up going to a shop to finish the job I already started.
Received the tow hitch in 3 days! Had an email waiting for me with instructions and video tutorial. I was able to complete the installation in about 2 hours. Perfect fit. Awesome product! Will definitely recommend your tow hitches to everyone! Thank you so much.
Installation was straightforward as the videos indicated. Trailer hitch looks and works great. I am very happy with this purchase.
Like to match my color of vehicle. Third hitch from Curt. 2nd from etrailer. Their Videos always are the reason I came back
Once again simple online order, same day processing and received in good condition, packed very good. I watched YouTube instructional video for my vehicle and it made the job so much easier. (It is still work cleaning up rusty threaded holes to get the bolts started but they addressed that issue also so plan on getting small wire brush that fits in a drill)
Easy install and looks good. It ticks under the back of the car nice so you won’t catch your knee on it loading stuff in the back.
I only took the drivers side heat shield off, but removed all four exhaust hangers. It took about an hour to install. This was in an ‘08 so the bolt holes needed some cleaning. I also used anti seize on all the hardware.
I want to thank you so much for the hitch. After ordering one and after hours spent trying to install and finding out it was too long. Then going to a moving company and ordering one and not receiving it after 15 days I ordered with you. I got the hitch in 5 days. Today when I got home it was on my porch. That was about an hit ago. It is now on the vehicle ready for a trip my wife and I are taking on Thursday. Thanks so much for caring about your customers through building a product that fits.
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Jenny N.
5/1/2023
Hmmm... that is a tough one. I did take a look and for all the hitches that are a fit for the 2011 Acura MDX, they only fit with a mini spare tire and not a full sized spare tire. It is an easy thing to overlook.