DIY: Hidden Hitch Installed
 

I am having a kind of D-I-Y weekend...

I installed a trailer hitch made by Hidden Hitch on the RDX this weekend. I dont do a lot of towing, but needed a place for the bike rack and occasionally pull a trailer from the rental yard with a Ditch Wicth or Cement Mixer. There are 4 bolts to install and the whole thing takes 20 minutes - if you stop and get a cup of coffee.

You can wee the pics of the Acura hitch on the various websites and in addition there is a member here that has the factory piece installed on his RDX. After seeing it, I thought it stuck out much too far and the safety chain hooks and tab for the wiring harness was too large and obvious. I wanted something a little more discreet. Plus the best prices on line puts the factory hitch at about $250, and for that kind of money I can get a fully custom hitch made at hitchmasters.

I found the new Hidden Hitch at e.trailer.com and gave it a try. Complete hitch and drawbar was $105 - shipped w/ no tax !!! All you have to do is buy a ball for the drawbar. After installing it - I can tell you that I think it looks much better than the factory hitch because it sits farther underneath the vehicle. It was so tucked under there, that I had a hard time getting a good pic from the rear and had to shoot from the side.

Acura sells the wiring harness for the hitch separately for about $100, so if I want to I can still get the factory wiring and not have to hack into the car.

http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/6315/h1aa3.jpg

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/2986/h5vk6.jpg

http://img118.imageshack.us/img118/3056/h3rw7.jpg

http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/3930/h4bu2.jpg

It looks good! Is this the part your ordered?

http://www.etrailer.com/hitch-2007_Acura_RDX.htm

I think I will get one of these...thanks for the post.

Ya thanks for the information. Looks Good. I may end up getting one too.

I wouldn't mind getting a factory hitch installed just so those assholes who don't know how to park can have ball-shaped dents on their front bumper.

With all that DIY time, you should take your xmas lights down! lol j/k!

Thanks for yet more DIY pics. You are going to really take a dent out of my accessories budget with all these pictures and writeups! This looks like a great alternative to the Acura hitch.

Nice post w/ pics, FRizzo!

This DIY hitch will be at the top of my list when I get my RDX.

Hey!

If I want to hear that stuff, I'll ask Mrs. Rizzo !!
:wish: :tongue:

looks good

Looks good. So you did not wire the hitch to the RDX electronics? I guess no need if you are just using for a bike rack or a trailer without lights. Any recommendations for a bike rack to work with the hitch? I've never had one, so wasn't sure if they were all the same. It's hard to imagine only 4 bolts will allow you to pull stuff with the RDX! I was looking for something to haul 2-4 bikes, this just may be the best solution.

I dont know that much about the racks, I was just going to get a Yakima for a 1-1/4" receiver hitch, the 2-bike model for me (King Pin). I had one before and it worked great.

More racks:
http://yakima.com/ProductCategory.aspx?id=7

Rizzo...


Just wanted to say thanks for posting this. It will be perfect for a bike rack and any unexpected need to tow a trailer. I just ordered :)

It said:
This hitch for the Acura RDX has a difficulty level of 3 on a scale of 1 to 10
This equates to an amateur installation time of approximately 30 minutes.

meaning this should not be too difficult.

Curious, is the wiring something that can be done by a novice possessing a bit of mechanical common sense? Or does this need to be accomplished via a professional?

Thanks.

I second that question. If Acura sells the wiring harness, does it plug in to some existing port at the back of the car, or do you need to hack it somewhere?

Mike

The RDX is already wired for the trailer hitch harness. You just need to purchase the harness. $87 from Hondacuraworld.com...

http://www.hondacuraworld.com/Mercha...gory_Code=ARDX

Installation instructions can be found in the Trailer hitch install instruction sheets.

30 mins vs 6 hours
 

There must be a major difference in the Acura factory hitch vs the Hidden Hitch as Acura has a labor allowance of 6 hours for the factory hitch. The Acura hitch install intstructions are 12 pages long.

It can't be because the Acura techs work slower than an amateur!

FWIW: I took down my Xmas lights last weekend!


One of these days I'm going to order the wiring kit and install it myself, but I'm pretty handy. It's really plug-and-play like the autodim mirror. If you read the instruction link from sasair, you can see that the car is pre-wired.

FWIW2: The factory hitch receiver sticks out much further than the Hidden Hitch. I like the look of the HH better, IMHO.

The acura install also includes the wiring which I believe takes longer than the hitch. The Acura hitch install also invloves cutting inside and out of the vehicle. Most of the Acura instructions are the wiring portion...

I PURCHASED SAME HITCH LAST YEAR. NOT INSTALLED AS OF YET. WILL USE IT FOR BIKES.

DID U HAVE TO CUT OUR SOME MOLDING/PLASTIC UNDERNEATH REAR BUMBER? THANKS U IN ADVANCE FOR YOU RESPONSE. CBF

PLEASE EM RESPONSE TO EJD1943@YAHOO.COM


THANK U.

Sorry - I reply on the message board so everyone get the benefit of the answer. :thumbsup:

No, you do not have to cut any plastic or make any body modifications for the hidden hitch.

I have the factory hitch, and you are right. The hidden hitch looks alot better! I may switch mine!

Very nice. I'll prolly pick up one of these myself for the same reasons. Got a Tundra for towing bigger stuff, but the Yak bike rack should plug right in!

Draw-tite vs Hidden
 

Why did you not pick the Draw-tite hitch wich is listed for $88.95 vis the hidden hitch for $105. It looks to be about the same?

Did yours come with the draw bar or was that extra?

From the pic, it looked like the Draw Tite did not tuck up against the body as well as the hidden hitch does, and I've had a good experience with HH's before. It also came with the drawbar in the pic, but no ball. I dont think the DT came with the drawbar.

Has anyone used a bike rack with the hidden hitch yet? I am thinking about getting the HH and the Yakima Hookup 1-1/4 http://yakima.com/Product.aspx?id=102

I just want to make sure the bikes are far enough out as to not touch the vehicle.

I got my G/F the Draw Tite hitch for X-mas, it's pretty much the came as the Hidden, 10-20 minutes to install and no cutting. :)

Her bike rack from the previous car (Accord) fits perfect.

I was looking at the dealer installed hitch, I did not like the look. Just purchased my RDX at the beginning of the month. I had seen the thread before and this one looks really nice. I ordered the HH today, I think I can handle the install looks pretty straight forward. Thanks for all the info

Anyone verify if the Yakima hitch mounted racks clear the vehicle when using a hidden hitch?

Actually, this hidden hitch looks like a great solution.

Has anyone attached any bike rack to it? If so:

Do the bikes stay safely away from the car?
Can the hatch door be opened with bikes on the rack?
(If so, is the rack a tilt-down or swing-to-side design?)

TIA!

I have a DrawTite hitch (similar to Hidden Hitch) and a Performance XPORT flatbed bike rack. I cannot open the rear door with bikes on the rack, but the rack does fold down when bikes are not on the rack. I think this rack is on sale (at Performance bike shops or performancebike.com) this week for $130.

Thule and Yakima (the top bike rack companies in the USA) have similar designs (but better build quality) for around $450.

http://www.carspace.com/johnny98/Albums/rdx/xport-1.jpg

http://www.carspace.com/johnny98/Albums/rdx/xport-2.jpg

A word of warning/advice for anyone that is installing either the Hidden Hitch or the Draw Tight hitches

There are two different bolt types in the assembly kit. Two of the bolts go into the existing nuts that are welded into the frame and the other two go into the two supplied nuts on thin pieces of metal that you slide into the frame.

I ddn't realize this and messed up my installation. I put the wrong bolt into the existing nut and ended up first crushing the threads in the nut from manhandling of it and then breaking it off from the weld inside the frame.

I've got the hitch secured with the other three bolts/nuts, but now I have to cut off loose bolt/nut and then see if I can get another bolt/nut assembly to go into that hole.

I installed mine yesterday. The hardest part was holding the hitch with one hand and gettting the first bolt threaded with the other hand... Maybe I need to hit the gym more often.

A few points of interest:

I was able to torque three of the bolts with a deep-socket torque wrench but the fourth was buried behind the exhaust system so I used best effort with a smaller wrench to torquestimate it.

It took more than 30 minutes, mostly due to unwrapping the plastic around the device and several attempts with my sore shoulders to hold the hitch in place while threading the first bolt.

The instructions are clear about there being 2 different kind of bolts, and different uses for them. RTFM. :toocool:

I also purchased a Thule Ridgeline 954 4-bike hitch-mounted bike carrier, and unfortunately there is one part of it that rubs against the car and possibly bikes will hit the car so now I need a hitch extender...

It's definitely my fault for not RTFM throughly enough, but they just looked so similar.... I still can't believe that I screwed it up so badly. I've emailed etrailer to see if I can buy another bolt/nut combo and hopefully I can cut through the dangling bolt with my Rotozip.

I put a jack under the hitch to hold it in place while bolting it in, that solved my wobbly arms problem.

won't work with Thule T2
 

I just installed an after market hitch, similar to the Hidden Hitch, but with a 2" opening that I purchased from e-trailer. The installation was a breeze, but I discovered that it won't work with an older version of the Thule T2 (made by Sportworks). The problem is that the hitch is too far under the back edge of the car, and the vertical part of the bike rack prevents the complete insertion of the rack in the hitch opening. Anyone else have experience with this? I am hoping that the newer version of this rack has a longer bar that allows a secure insertion and doesn't conflict with the bumper.

I had this problem with the Hidden Hitch and T2. I had to use an extender. See my installation here:

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1175

Although mine was for a 1.25" hitch, I'm sure you can find a 2" extender. By the way, I have the newest version of the T2.

Excellent! I was hoping they made an extender. I love the stability and versatility of this rack, and was bummed that it didn't fit initially. Thanks for the info.

Could you post a picture of the 2" hitch? I'm kicking myself that I didn't go for this as most of the bike racks are 2".

Does installing your own hitch effect the warranty of the car at all? Say it some how detaches from the car and causes damage to the car and needs to be fixed....will it still be under warranty since it was not factory installed?

Your warranty does not cover abuse, including incorrect installation or incorrect use of accessories. If you install and use the hitch correctly, it should never inadvertently detach.

What great information! I have a recumbent bike and haven't gotten a carrier yet, but will choose it based on the information in this thread. Thanks so much!!