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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: 4.1 out of 5 stars (15 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.This is an excellent high-quality hitch that fits very well, I was glad to find it since my car is rare it’s a GLK 250 blue tech diesel Mercedes. A word of warning though, don’t think that you’re going to install this hitch in your garage in an afternoon, lowering the exhaust and getting the mounting plates up on the bumper mounts requires quite a bit of access under the car. Me and a guy who restores hot rods spent about 2 hours doing it I wouldn’t even of tried in my driveway.
I was prepared for having to possibly clean out the threads of the weld-nuts on the plates, but what I had to contend with was WAY beyond just a little paint in the threads. Thank goodness I had a good tap and die set, because I had to clean out ALL of the nut's threads with a tap, and I that was after running a wire brush through each of them. The tap came out dirty with some metal in many of the holes, and that was just half of the story. The threads on ALL of the bolts were not cut very well and to make the bolts thread into the cleaned out nuts they also had to be cleaned up with a die. It boggles my mind to understand why a company would go cheap on these components when it would only cost pennies per unit to use quality nuts and bolts.
To add insult to injury, when I called the Curt Mfg. "help" line, they are only open M-F during normal business hours - well excuse me, but most consumers that I know will not be installing this M-F during normal business hours. So give them another big thumbs down for a huge fail on customer service.
As with another reviewer here, it took me about 4 hours to do the complete install of the trailer hitch, and like him, I am a very handy guy. I can tear down engines and put them back together (with no leftover parts!). Keep in mind that about an hour of that was spent fixing the threads of the cheap nuts and bolts. There is no way that any consumer could assemble this properly in an hour and a half and I seriously doubt that any professional could do it in 45 minutes as they have stated on their literature. If anyone does it in that time frame, they will have done a very poor job and not the way that I would want it done.
So, bottom line, I would look for another manufacturer's hitch if at all possible to install on your vehicle. The only way that I would put one of these hitches on your car would be if you HAVE to have a hitch and there is NO other choice.
Hitch appears to be of great quality and now that it's finnally on I am sure I will enjoy it for years to come. The installation took 4 hours rather than the 90 minute estimate and I consider myself rather handy, so be aware. The main issue was the powder coating. The bolts threaded in easily prior to hanging the hitch so I thought I was in the clear but once the hitch was in place it was nearly impossible to get the carriage bolts started by hand. Eventually you give up and start tightening them with a socket and hope and pray they are not cross threaded. The wire brush recommendation is a joke and did nothing to remove the coating. Why not insert plastic plugs in the holes to protect the threads before powder coating? Also there is a strap that connects from the main hitch to a cross member towards the front of the car. First the picture in the directions clearly show no conical washers yet the directions and common sense call for them. Next two of the bolts are too long (top two) and if fully tightened to the recommended 110lbs of torque will hit the rear differential. So now that the hitch is up I need to go back with masking tape and a sawsall and try to trim the portion of the bolt that is protruding so that I can continue tightening the bolts to 110 lbs, annoying. The directions, which are overall good, make no mention of this step. A tip is to use your phone or iPad to view the directions online so that you can zoom in closer on the pictures I found it helpful. Hitch probably deserves 4 or 5 stars but I am grumpy after laying on my back 2.5 hours longer than anticipated.
Bill
1/19/2018
Yup. Working as expected
Received this hitch promptly after placing order. Though it is supposed to be a custom hitch for the exact year and model of my vehicle (Mercedes 2014 GLK 250 BlueTec), there was a fitment issue. There's a plastic shield under the blue tec fluid tank that needed to be cut for the hitch to attach at the forward most point. There's also an ECU box for tire pressure monitoring in the way. Cudos to the installer for proceeding cautiously with these unexpected issues. The hitch itself is well made as is all Curtis products.
David E.
11/4/2018
In retrospect, Ive learned that Mercedes can occasionally make minor changes that no aftermarket company can be expected to anticipate. Ive towed a 3200 lb camper on 6-8 outings and the hitch is solid and does the job. Just be sure to choose an installer with experience and knowledge. In San Diego, the trailer rental place was a good choice.
Very well made hitch, excellent finish and is more attractive than alternative brands. Does not protrude below the rear bumper as much as other brands I considered. Easy install for DIY if willing to get under the vehicle for a couple hours. No special tools required. I have a small lake boat (less than 2000lbs) and this hitch handles the load easily. Over all I would recommend this hitch for any Mercedes GLK owner.
Mike B.
7/11/2018
Works as advertised Good sturdy unit. No problems at all.
Product works fine. Paid $300 less than the price demanded by the dealer.
Installation was costly, but I knew that would be the case. So far, the hitch is very secure, no rattle or shakes. Should not be a problem since I only use it for my bike rack.
John N.
10/12/2018
One year in, no problems whatsoever. No rattles, no vibrations. All good.
Very fast delivery. Having it professionally installed today so will update after using it.
I'am a electrician who's lucky enough to have a 4 post lift. So if i say this was difficult and took a extra pair of (reluctant) hands, I cannot say what the experience would be with a jack and horses.You have to take extra time to properly torque the weld nut plates to avoid damaging your bumper and crossmember. I don't like how low it hangs, but it's a well made hitch with zero manufacturing flaws.
The hitch itself is well made and fits nicely once installed. My experience on the installation mirrors others in that it took 4 hours from start to finish. I utilized a 1/2” x 13 tap to clean the threads on the plates but they were pretty good right out of the box. What I did not expect was the amount of sawing I would have to do to get the hitch to fit up onto the frame beams so that I could attach to the plates. I spent a good half hour on the sawzall slowly cutting back just enough of the milk crate like plastic “webbing” behind the bumper in order to get the hitch to fit in. The worst part of the job is all the debris that showers down on you while you are knocking around underneath the car. It’s my teenagers car and he is not great about keeping the car clean. I recommend the hitch just take your time and allocate enough time for the job.
A 1/2" x 13 Tap is required to chase/clean-out the threads in the bolt plates because the masking the manufacturer uses does not keep out the black powder coating from the threads. This powder coating does not completely come off the threads using the manufacturers recommended wire brushing method.
This remnant powder coating will cause erroneous torque readings when the bolts are (under-) tightened, and this is a known and often commented on quality issue that the manufacturer could have remedied a long time ago by either fixing the thread masking, or running a tap through them after powder coating.
Strong contruction, but it sits much lower than the factor hitch - and therefore scrapes a lot when I take dthe venicle off road.
Works well. Hard to install without dropping the exhaust.
Thank You George - My stuff arrived very quickly and in great shape. Everything I received was exactly as described. I will heartily recommend etrailer to all of my friends.
Instructions were pretty clear. Hitch seemed well built and fit the SUV(2015 Mercedes GLK250).
Very rugged, well built. The fit is very good for the Mercedes GLK Bluetec.
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Richard
8/26/2021
Very well. Pull a 5,000 lb trailer