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Perfect for light-duty towing, this custom, vehicle trailer hitch receiver features fully welded, gloss powder coated steel construction. Drawbar sold separately.
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 (36 Customer Reviews)
Perfect for light-duty towing, this custom, vehicle trailer hitch receiver features fully welded, gloss powder coated steel construction. Drawbar sold separately.Installed on a 2009 Mazdaspeed 3. No difference in chassis design but bumper cover clearance is very tight. Frame rail mounting points were pushed in on the hitch but, considering the condition UPS delivered it in, I’ll assume it happened in transport.
Bought this for my 2008 Mazda3 Hatchback and combined it with the Curt cargo box that fits the 1-1/4" size. I fit several bags back there as part of a cross-country move. It was so helpful still being able to access the trunk while also getting more capacity out of my car. Zero issues with the hitch! My mechanic installed it for me so I can't speak to the ease of installation.
The hitch receiver came with everything I needed to install it except for the socket in the ratchet. Took about 30 minutes to install it. Great product.
Hitch is awesome! No Issues after one y ear!
This worked on my 2007 Mazda 3 Sedan.
A few notes.
I was able to install it without bumper cover removal. But I can appreciate how removing the bumper cover would make it a little easier.
The drilling of existing holes was the typical metal drilling situation. If you drill too fast and do not use cutting oil, you may overheat and damage the bit. Drilling metal is not the same as drilling wood. (Over) heating is the enemy of metal drilling. It's not super difficult if you follow the rules. Drilling was the most physically demanding part of the job. Holding a drill over your head for a long time gets old.
Drilling can also be a "knuckle breaker" if/when the drill gets hung up on the metal. Especially right before it finally "breaks through" to the other side.
If you intend to install alone:
I would personally recommend getting THREE guide "fish" wires. 2 for upper bolts and one for lower bolts (but you can start the lowers one at a time).
If you have a friend, I recommend 2 or 3 fish wires.
I would also recommend having a tool used to remove plastic panel holders, like used to remove door panels.
One, there are plastic holders that hold the bumper cover to the bottom of the car, under the trunk. Two, this same tool is a good way (I guess you could try needle nose pliers at this step too) to hold the bolt in place (the bolt(s) that come with the hitch to secure the hitch to the car frame)
What I mean is ~~~the trickiest part~~~ of the install is the moment you've fished the bolt through the frame and (right after) you remove the fish wire from the bolt.. to start the nut on the bolt. This is where you can "lose" the bolt back inside the bumper. Dropping the bolt back inside the bumper means a very bad day.
So after I fished the bolt thru the bumper and through the hole of the hitch .. right before I unscrewed the fish-wire, I used the (plastic nut removal tool) to hold the metal bolt in place as I removed the fish-wire and started the nut. Those precious moments between the fish-wire-off-the-bolt and before you've started the nut is where you can drop the bolt inside the bumper.
Ok. So I suggest STARTING the nut install with 2 or 3 turns on each bolt, and get all 4 nuts started before tightening completely the nuts. This is especially important on the upper bolts/nuts.
Fyi, the receiver is purposely about 3/8 inch to a 1/2 inch narrower than the space it is occupying. This is to allow some wiggle room to get it into place. As you tighten the nuts on the bolts, this tightening will pull the walls of the bumper (slightly) towards the receiver for a tight fit.
This "width wiggle room" is also why you should only START the nuts before final tightening especially on the upper bolts/ nuts. If you tighten the first upper bolt/nut combo too much, you'll have a much harder time starting the nut on the second upper bolt/nut. I think this is why some other reviews are saying "the receiver is too narrow". Those reviews are not considering the small movement of the bumper support rail walls.
I used blue lock tite. Remember that stuff makes things a tad slippery.
Overall it was a straight forward install.
There is a video online about the install. Makers of the video, please consider adding a "slow down some" portion on pushing the fish-wire through the bumper and screwing the bolt (and metal tab with the square hole) into/into the fish-wire. I know the makers of the video have done it a thousand times. Most of us are first time fish wire users.
We purchased the hitch for a 2007 Mazda 3 to mount a bicycle rack. The instructions were clear. The hitch fit perfectly. The installation took about an hour with minimal tools. The hitch has performed as expected for the last year and we are happy with the purchase. We recently decided to use the hitch to tow a small trailer for camping so we purchased the Curt 4-poll vehicle wiring harness kit for the Mazda from etrailer as well.
2006 Mazda 3 sedan. Works great. Went on fairly easy.
etrailer was spot-on about the fit for our car and gave great advice when we called. We had our mechanic install the hitch receiver and we found that to be a good deal when we added it on to an oil change visit (he said it went smoothly; he found it easer to remove the bumper of the car to avoid having to thread the bolts, but that's not necessary if you're doing this at home). Good results after 5,000 miles of use.
2008 Mazdaspeed 3: Make sure to have a 1/2" drill bit ready to enlarge the existing holes in the cars frame. As much of a pain as it is, I HIGHLY recommend removing the rear bumper, it makes visualization and access A LOT easier. Mazdaspeed 3 has a different shaped rear skirt which makes it tough to get access to everything. Once the bumper is off installation is nice and easy. Work slowly with the provided wire to run the bolts, pulling too hard causes it to stretch out and makes installing the other bolts a bit more difficult. Installed hitch feels extremely sturdy and fits perfectly. Nice and hidden, you can barely see it.
I installed this hitch on a Mazda 3 for a bike rack. It's amazing! Great product!
Hitch fit well and video instructions were very helpful.
Removed one star because the installation would have been much easier if 2 7/16-14 fish-wires were included with the hitch (only one is included). The video recommends having two, and provides the P/N to order an additional...I didn't watch the video until I went to install so I had to make do with one.
Do yourself a favor and order a 2nd fish-wire if you order this hitch. The few dollars will save much installation headache.
A plastic pin body fastener tool would also be handy to have to remove the bumper support fasteners without damaging them.
The people at etrailer.com we’re very helpful and knowledgeable. The hitch worked out very well but as DIY project was a bit over my head hence the 4 instead of 5 stars. I needed to drill out some excising holes which my drill was unable to do. A local shop did the work for $75 which was a deal! etrailer also honored their lowest cost policy offering the difference plus 10%. This hitch was required for a bike rack. I would recommend this company to everyone!! Thank you
Fit great. Price was great. Was delivered on the date that they said it would be.
The hitch is well constructed, and the fit was spot on. etrailer's instruction video was well produced and made the install process easy. In practice, the "3X" rule applies here - the estimate was 40 minutes, but in typical DIY fashion, it actually took about 2 hours. This was mostly because we were making do with less than ideal tools for some of the steps. Even with the extra time, it was an easy install - you don't have to move the tailpipe, and I'd much rather drill out a few holes like this process required than attempt to deal with rusted/seized weld nuts.
I've bought several hitches over the years from etrailer - you all are a great company to work with. Only suggestion I'd have is on your packaging. Every one of the hitches I've bought ended up with at least one piece that punched through the outside of the cardboard box. Maybe it's a non issue, since in every case there was no discernible damage to the protruding bit. Still, you probably could avoid this by taping some reinforcement over the likely penetration points.
Fits perfectly on our 2008 Mazda 3 and tucks away nicely under the bumper. Could have used a 2nd wire to recess both end bolts simultaneously as the kit only came with 1 wire, but with 2 sets of hands and a big set of tools it was doable at home. Can't wait to throw the bike rack on it!
This was an easy transaction. All the information was there and easy to understand. The videos that they had for the hitch and wiring harness I purchased were very helpful. Everything arrived right on time and just as it was supposed to be. Everything was spot on with my parts and experience!!
The service and product is great! This is the second hitch I purchased from etrailer and the experience has always been great! The prices are equal or better than [online store] and the service is as good or even better. With etrailer, I know I am getting the correct product every time.
Ordered product on Sunday parts arrived on Wednesday. Installed in less than 25 Min.
Very easy task anyone could install this hitch. And best price on the internet. Will definitely order all my towing accessories from etrailer.com . If I could give a 10 I would very satisfied customer.
The hitch was put on my Mazda 3 on Friday. It looks great. I should receive my new bike rack this week to test it out.
Great hitch, easy to install. Slight rust around the insertion point but that's to be expected
Everything was great . Ordering, Shipping, the fit, accessories for hook up, the diagram and not to mention the price was right! and free shipping. Wow! I'll sure pass the word. Thanks: Charles , Cypress Texas P.S. If you want to do any better , you'll need to send someone to hook it up.
Havnt had a chance to install. But fast shipping And product looks great.
John B.
3/14/2015
Excellent. The installation was easy and fast.
Great product and at the right price. Thank you!
The product fit exactly as described. Be sure to only thread in the downward facing bolts first before fishing in the upper side bolts.
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Mark
7/18/2022
Still happy after a year.