Draw-Tite Max-Frame Trailer Hitch Receiver - Custom Fit - Class III - 2"

This is the third trailer hitch that I've purchased from etrailer and I must say that the quality, shipping and customer service is excellent. I did install the hitch by myself and while I was successful, it took me nearly three hours to finish it. I strongly suggest that if you're installing the hitch on a Honda CRV (mine is a 2016), that you purchase a tap-threader to clear the weld nuts on your Honda. I was unable to start any of the supplied bolts, even after inserting a wire brush into the weld nuts on the frame. I'm not questioning the other reviewers, but just relating my own experience. I'd suggest that you try to thread one of the bolts on the exhaust side and if you can't thread the bolt, buy a tap for the correct size bolt. The rubber exhaust mounts can be difficult too, but I did get them removed and reinstalled. I'm enclosing a photo of my bike rack on the hitch. Again, a great product and I've saved hundreds over a dealer install. A satisfied customer.1545643

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Barry

3/30/2024

A year later and my hitch is still holding up very well. No complaints whatsoever !

Very well built and fit great. I worry about the mounting points on the car failing before this product. The box was damaged with a large hole in it and it had a few scuffs on it and I worried that the hardware was missing but because of the way they packed it in the hitch all the hardware was there. Other people said they had trouble getting the bolts to thread but I had no trouble- installation couldn't have been easier. The instructions were great and I appreciate the torque specs for the fasteners, I have a tendency to overtighten. Overall great quality at a good price.I would definitely recommend.1573559

Ben

5/9/2024

Still just fine. Sometimes you get what you pay for.

Shipping - is usually very quick. The one knock is that the last 2 hitch receivers I received both arrived with cosmetic paint damage. They slide around inside the box and eventually poked a hole through the cardboard and got scratched up. It was easier to just hit the exposed areas with some matching spray paint than hassle with a return. They should put something inside to prevent the unit from sliding so much or devise a was to fasten it in place. Installation - in a perfect environment, with the proper tools and some basic experience it is pretty easy. Things that will make it a bit more difficult than what the video shows are most likely you will be working on your back with the rear end of the vehicle on ramps or a similar system, depending on the age of your car and the part of the country you live in those frame bolt holes may be you biggest hurdle and the nylon brush they sell may not be enough to clean out the threads, not every DIY'er has torque wrenches so you may need to borrow/rent/buy one. I have installed these on 3 of 4 vehicles over the years and the easiest one was the vehicle I bought new. The 4th vehicle I eventually gave up on and had a body shop do it for me after I snapped off a thread cutter in the frame hole. End result - great hitch receiver, solid, never had any issues with any of the welds. Next car, yeah I will buy another.1626652

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The customer service was freaking awesome!!!! The package was actually boxed, shipped and on the road in an hour or so. I was stoked! Quick shipping, clear install instructions and a seemingly great product. Not to mention that this company saved me $xxx over any local provider. I definitely have been bragging about this purchase and will push everyone their direction with each opportunity I hear of.1286782

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Dj

4/17/2023

Perfectly. Looks as well as it performs, thanks team!

I received a hitch yesterday via UPS . The box looked like a pack of German Shepards attempted to open it . I thought it would be a good idea to check that the hardware was contained in the box . I was surprised by the thoughfulness of your shipping Dept. the hardware & instructions were in a sealed plastic bag & the bag was pushed into the hitch receiver & shrink wrapped so it couldn’t fall out & become lost .
Great job,
There are some people still out there that do their best on the job .3142119

by: Andrew 05/28/2024

It has been a great year. I only use it to haul bikes around, but it has worked like a charm and allowed us to do so much more mountain biking than we'd been doing before we had a good rack to carry our bikes.3146143

The product arrived on time in excellent condition. Packaging was great as were the online installation videos. Very happy with the process and the product.1513542

Bob

2/7/2024

The product has worked out great for us. Still looks like it is new. It fits the car so well that I dont even realize it is there.

by: Alexis03/28/2024

This hitch was very easy to install and has been a great addition to my CRV. I always order my hitches from etrailer and have not been disappointed.1755283

by: Julie04/10/2023

Very happy with this hitch for my old CRV. Easy installation and perfect for our bike rack. While I no longer own the vehicle this was attached to, it was enough for me to buy another one that fits our new passport.1553584

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This trailer hitch fit my 2014 Honda CRV perfectly. At 79 years old, I self installed the hitch with no assistance. The video on the etrailer web site made the installation simple. It is explicit and includes many time saving tips. The completed installation looks like a factory accessory. I am 100% satisfied from order placement to towing. Thanks etrailer.1190804

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Donald

10/30/2022

I could not ask for anything more out of this hitch.

by: AC02/13/2024

Very solid and stable hitch. Works very well for our heavy 2 bicycle rack. Installation was easy although the hitch is pretty heavy so it was good to have two people to lift it into place.1730973

Wow, what a great hitch. My wife and I plan on towing our bikes with this hitch. We already had a Thule bike carrier that fit onto the 2 inch hitch we have on our Chevy Silverado but sometimes we don't always want to take the truck. We looked at bike carriers to place on the CRV but they all seemed flimsy compared to what we had. As such, we chose to install the hitch. To start things off the price was excellent and I received the item within 2 days of ordering. I also received an email from the company indicating that if I had any issues, to please contact them immediately. A friend and I reviewed the online video (make sure you do this!!!) to install the hitch and moved forward with the process. Following the video and the instructions included with the hitch. we had everything installed within 90 minutes. Just some tips we would include: 1) make the cut into the underside CRV plastic larger than is shown, especially the width. This will allow you to easily place the trailer hitch into position. 2) You do not need to cut a 4 sided hole. Cut 3 sides and bend the plastic toward the driver so that it can be patched very easily with duct tape. I chose to spray paint the plastic and duct tape black but this is not necessary as it is not seen. 3) It was a little difficult to get the muffler hangar back into position once the bolts were tight. We had to loosen the bolts and push the hangar bracket through the hole in the hitch to get this accomplished. 4) We backed the CRV onto 2 small car ramps to allow us the ability to crawl around under the CRV much more easily. I highly recommend this. Overall, I am very satisfied with this product and would highly recommend it to anyone contemplating attaching a hitch to their CRV. I am not a "handy" person but was able to do this without any issues and no one getting hurt!! You can do it!!!335021

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John W.

1/26/2018

My wife and I used it to carry our bikes on a trip from St. Louis to Palm Springs last summer. It worked great and we plan to use it for the same bikes on our trip to Colorado. Thanks for the excellent product!!

by: Brad11/29/2022

2016 Volvo Cross Country

I've been using this receiver for a year now to haul bikes. I use it with a one up bike rack. It has held up great on two cross country road trips and has not given me any cause for concern. I installed myself and found that to be very straightforward. I ended up building some wooden ramps to lift the rear end of the car up to give me more room for the install. Just some 2xs screwed together with an angle cut into one end. Other than that I found the comments to have some great tips for install in addition to the helpful videos provided by etrailer. I really appreciate the low profile nature of this receiver.1475580

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This hitch was very easy to install on my 2014 Honda CRV. It fits great under the back and is nicely hidden. The instructions provided were clear and easy to follow. My only comment with regards to the instructions is that It is critical to actually measure the area to be trimmed on the Appearance Panel as the diagram provided on the instructions could be misleading based on the holes and ridges in the appearance panel. Measure twice (or 3 or 4 times in my case) and cut once! Based on some other reviews, I also cut only 3 sides on the trim area so I could close it up by drilling a couple of holes and using zip ties. The removal and trimming of the Appearance Panel took the most amount of time for me as I did not want to make a mistake and wanted to end up with a good looking installation which I think I have accomplished.

I installed this hitch so I can use a hitch mounted bicycle rack to haul our bicycles to nearby bike paths in our state.

I highly recommend etrailer.com! The site is easy to navigate and has so much helpful product information and videos, both installation and product reviews! This is a great and valuable resource that I can't say enough good about. My order was processed promptly and I received my hitch sooner than I expected. It was well packaged and arrived in great condition.399382

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Bruce V.

6/26/2018

1 year later and the hitch has been working great! It is so nice to have the hitch on my CR-V to carry our bicycles on. The hitch still looks like new on my CR-V. This was a great purchase!

Haven't used the hitch receiver yet, however, it was pretty easy to install. The instructions were easy to read. All parts came as described. The installation instructions that come in the product package are more detailed than online. The online instruction video has no sound on my computer, which is probably why they include the script. Customer service is ver good. The answered my questions the day of asking them. Good transaction overall.
Like I said, I haven't used the hitch receiver yet (I need to buy a trailer first), but it is heavy and sturdy. I figure the pic will help give you an idea of what to do when cutting through the plastic undercover to install the unit and leave the cover on.
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Jim P.

11/1/2014

Ive had and used a trailer for about 2 months on my CRV. No issues what so ever. Everything is working well. Customer service is still excellent-I recently called to check what I ordered and what the hitch could tow, and got immediate response. Great purchase. One suggestion: perhaps some instruction on how to properly attach and load a trailer to such a hitch, as it would help prevent any mishaps from misuse of the hitch itself. Heightweight/and positioning of trailer load on the trailer is important so as not to overload the tongue weight on the hitch. thanks.

Rachael H.

11/3/2014

Thanks for the feedback and reply. Happy to hear you are pleased with your hitch on your CR-V. Please keep in mind that you will need to check the tow rating of your CR-V, and it is rated lower than the tow rating of the hitch you will need to abide by the lowest rated component of your towing system. I have included links to several of our helpful articles that you might find helpful regarding loading your trailer, the tongue weight, and choosing the correct height ball mount for your trailer.

Helpful Links

article-categories.aspx

faq-ballmount.aspx

faq-trailertowtips.aspx

by: Keith J.01/13/2024

Perfect fit. Works great. Looks good. Better than I expected for the price. What else should a hitch receiver do?
Note that as some have mentioned in their reviews, I did have to chase the threads on my Honda CR-V with a tap (not the fault of the receiver) but after that, install went smoothly.1710085

by: Mark06/25/2018

2014 HondaCR-V

I purchased this last year for my wife's 2014 CR-V to attach a Thule bike rack so she didn't have to put the seat up/down and lug her bike in/ out of the back every time she went to the bike trail. It is very much as expected, very sturdy with solid attachment. Getting the muffler hangars on/off was a chore that took up most of the installation time, but other than that, installation was fairly simple. I used a Dremel to make quick, relatively clean cuts, then snipped the cut a bit wider where the bracket fit through, and finished it by drilling holes and putting in cable ties to keep it closed (pictures attached). 526463

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Mark

6/25/2019

Absolutely no complaints. Hitch still looks like new and hasnt required any adjustment/tightening since I put it on. Very, very pleased. So nice to be able to buy a quality product that performs as expected.

Easy install. Took me about one hour. Cut the plastic in place. Videos on website was very helpful! Alex in Customer service was excellent as well.2002099

It took about an hour to install this on our '14 Honda CR-V. Installation was straightforward. I watched the installation video first. I opted to cut an access hole in the bottom plastic cover instead of just removing it as this is a permanent installation. The measurements were about 1/2" off. In my case, I had to trim an additional 1/2" from the side of the cut-out that is toward the center of the hitch. After that, the holes lined up fine.122095

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Sid L.

4/6/2015

Still works great.

Excellent transaction, excellent product. Received exactly as expected, installation was a snap. Have not yet used but do not anticipate any issues. Highly recommend.1749054

I just finished installing the hitch on our 2014 Honda CR-V. Now we can use our bike platform with our new vehicle on road trips. The installation was simple enough, though a little daunting without having help to hold it up in place. (Used a floor jack!) Looking forward to lots of use. 640846

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Ted

5/12/2020

It works as its supposed to. No problems, no issues. Nice and stable.

My third hitch from eTrailer and the service is still superb. I installed the hitch in less than two hours thanks to the online videos. Shipping was fast. 171378

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Tom J.

2/6/2016

Thanks for your follow up. The hitch has performed as expected if I remember correctly it is the third hitch I have purchased from eTrailer.

Shipped very quickly. Received in two days. Item was in excellent condition. Instalation instructions were very good.1761571

The weather and my schedule finally cooperated enough for me to in stall my Trailer Hitch this weekend. I actually installed mine and also I mentioned a week ago to a friend of mine about your trailer hitches and we installed one on his Honda Odyssey at the same time. We started in the morning and had both completed by noon (his van was a 2008 so we had to use a tap to clean out the treads and that took a long time).

The following is what I ordered:
1 T-one Vehicle Wiring Harness
1 Curt Led 4-way Flat Connector Tester
1 Draw-Tite Max-frame Trailer Hitch Receiver - Class III - 2

First let me thank you for your quick links to the YouTube videos. They were extremely helpful.

Draw-tite Max-frame Trailer Hitch Receiver - Class III Installation:
The YouTube video was again extremely helpful and the technician's suggestion of leaving the plastic under body panel in place was an excellent idea. The only deviation from the instructions/video I made was to not remove the cut out section of the under body panel but to only cut it along the rear and side edges. I then folded it forward and taped it, and the insulation in place to keep them out of the way while I installed the hitch receiver. Once the hitch receiver was in place I bent the small piece back into place (triming a small piece away from the edge that contacts the hitch receiver and then drilled two small holes and zip tied it into place.

I took it on a test run with my motorcycle trailer and it worked like a CHAMP!!

My wife was a bit concerned at first about having a hitch sticking out at the rear of her car but was VERY pleased at not only how it looked but also how the receiver is recessed such that it does not protrude past the bumper.

Thanks again
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I made this into an afternoon project that my 5 year old son could help me with. Easy to do (on my 2014 CR-V) Very happy with the versatility a receiver hitch now provides us with. 441407

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Peter H.

10/20/2018

Sorry I did not write back sooner, it’s has been a busy October. I really like everything that I bought. So far I have only used the hitch for my bike rack. But I am planning on using a friends trailer for some yard work and home project jobs. I am a welder by trade and everything is well built and as expected, no issues with anything. I especially like how easy the electrical was to connect to the factory harness. My friend who owns the trailer recently bought another truck and with my recommendation he also purchased a trailer hitch and the other parts he needed from etrailer.com. I have recommended etrailer.com to literally everyone I know. I really like the products and will be a return customer.