goflyakuite
Senior Member
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- Nov 7, 2015
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- Location
- West Michigan
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- 2016 Civic Touring (MSM/BLK)
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Hitch Project: DrawTite - 1 1/4” Receiver Hitch / Yakima Ridgeback 2 Bike Rack
I purchased the DrawTite hitch (#24937) over the Curt Hitch (#C11604) for the 2016 Civic for a couple of distinct reasons. First, it does not require holes to be drilled into the Civic frame for the mounting of the hitch, rather it wedges between the frame end panel and the rear bumper assembly. This approach does require the bottom side of the bumper facia to have a section cut-out for the hitch to drop down just below the bumper facia. This approach however actually provides second reason I favor this receiver over the Curt is that the horizontal bar is also then hidden behind the bumper facia. So the visible footprint of the hitch receiver is only hitch connection.
Cutting a notch in the bottom of the bumper facia wasn’t an easy decision but in the end the facia is more easily replaced whereas issues with the frame caused by drilling new holes for the Curt hitch could have a bigger impact a few years down the road.
Hitch Installation:
The included installation instructions are pretty detailed. My neighbor next door runs a body shop so I enlisted his help as I do not own the required die cutter to trim out a small section of the bumper. This is to allow the bumper fascia to seat back into place properly when the bumper is pushed out by the wedging of the Hitch in between frame end panel and the bumper assembly.
A full copy of the Hitch Receiver installation is available at —> http://www.etrailer.com/instructions.aspx?pn=24937
Bike Rack Selection and Installation:
I chose a Yakima Ridgeback 2 Hitch rack. I have used Yakima racks in the past and I liked the look of this rack and it claims to have very little sway. I also considered the LiteRider 2 rack but in the end it is more costly for the reduced weight. There are many other quality hitch bike racks available at a lower price point.
The hitch says it has a shipping weight of 19 lbs but it feels heavier than that to me. The rack itself weighs 33 lbs. So the bike rack reduces the overall (tongue) capacity from 200 lbs down to around 170 lbs. My road bike is in the area of 22lbs., so no issues there.
Thoughts / Images:
Rather than embed a bunch of images into the post, here is a link to a flikr album full of images that show you pics along the way.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/50614328@N00/albums/72157666889427422
The combination is really solid. My road bike is very solid on the rack even at highway speeds (70-75mph) and it does not sway back and forth even at the higher speeds. The bike rack raises up 40” so the bikes are quite high compared to the low profile of the Civic. I’m very pleased with the end result!
Project costs
Hitch Receiver $125.00 - from etrailer.com
Bike Rack $209.00 - from amazon.com (prices on this one bounce around)
Installation $100.00 - local bodyshop
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Total Cost $434.00
Sponsored
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