zippyh

I ordered the RL hitch receiver from etrailers.com. It was $128 plus $24 shipping.
However they've got 99 cent shipping on orders over $150 so I found some crap that I didn't really need to add to the order to get it $150. The pickings are slim though. I got a couple hitch stabilizers.

Install was pretty simple. There's a plastic cover that you have to remove to get at the holes in the trunk floor. You have to cut holes in the plastic cover. The cuts aren't visible at all. I used a dremel tool thingie.

No drilling or cutting of metal is required. It just bolts on to pre-existing points.

The receiver is a bit more visible than I'd like but it's not bad. At least it's black so it matches my car. I only intend to use it for my bike rack, not to tow anything.

synth19

pretty sweet.

gkorsgard

It looks great. I just bought my 07 RL today in Seattle. I need to do the same thing to move my bikes. Thanks for the pics!

neuronbob

Awesome. I was looking into something like this until we bought our Pilot.

Digit

My First Post

Thanks for posting pictures of the installed hitch (very useful). I know I'm a little late to this post/thread but I just bought my RL a few weeks ago. I also have a hitch mounted bike carrier and have been looking for a trailer hitch for the RL. I wish the hitch didn’t stick out and down so far, but I am sure glad someone manufactures one for our cars!


I find these types of bike racks very easy to use and not a single part of the bikes ever touch the cars paint job (compared to roof/trunk racks). I see you have a Thule bike rack; I use to have one very similar to yours. A year ago I grew tired of having to attach the bikes at the top and then securing the bikes wheels on the bottom. This isn’t a plug for this rack, but fellow bike riders should check out this rack. http://www.performancebike.com/shop/...tegory_ID=4411


• Bikes don’t sway while driving from the wind
• Easy loading and unloading
• Rack collapse when not in use
• Inexpensive


I've installed hitches on the following cars and have never had a problem.
1993 Acura Integra GS
1998 Honda Prelude SH (pulled my 2000 SeaDoo XP 200+ miles to the Mississippi river many times a year)
2000 Acura TL


I also have a aluminum trailer I have pulled with my last two cars to haul lumber for my other Hobby – woodworking.


Thanks again for posting the pictures!!


Also thanks to other members for providing much needed valuable information.

SPUDMTN

For what it's worth, I just picked up a trunk mount rack for my G1 RL. Now, I know everyone associates trunk mounts with "cheap", "tacky", and "damaging"; but this was a long and hard decision between a roof-mount rack system.

I found my rack over on Club Lexus--there are a few G3 GS owners who are using it. I got the Saris Bones RS. I know that the regular Bones is junk, and that the vast majority of the other trunk mounts are, but after a lot of research I decided this was the best option for me. It's got only two ratcheting straps that attach to the leading edge of the trunk lid; it's an incredibly slick setup. Check it out at http://www.saris.com/p-301-bones-rs.aspx.

I'm going to get a couple strips of clear-bra installed where the straps attach just for extra piece of mind.
As far as I know, this is the nicest, highest quality (and highest priced ) trunk rack on the market.

I'll post some pictures of the rack on my RL when I get the chance.

miner

If I did not want a hitch but need a rack what would you savy bikers recommend? The above link did not work.

zippyh

I'm the guy who put the hitch on the RL.

I haven't really used the hitch rack that much in the past year since I installed it.
I've also got a roof rack for my other car (BMW 5 series) which I end up using a lot instead.

The roof rack with fork mounts just seem to hold the bikes a lot more securely.
I originally got the Thule rack with two fork mount racks.

The Thule fork mounts were garbage. The fork tension adjuster is plastic and is
prone to stripping. So one bent dropout and a new carbon fork on my wife's bike
later, I returned the Thule mounts for the Yakima equivalents. The tension is a bit
of a PITA to adjust compared to the Thule but the tension screw is metal so
hopefully no more trashed fork.

One especially nice thing about the BMW is that it has rack mounting points so the
rack doesn't touch paint. I wish Honda did something like that.

zippyh

He meant to link to the "XPORT Flatbed 2-Bike Hitch Rack". It's still hitch mounted.
For some reason the cfm gets stripped out of the url.

neuronbob

That's because of the admins' decision to disallow all links to, and links including the initials to, a certain forum.

adamb113

Anybody found a trailer wiring harness for the 2nd gen RL???

stevesrl

Looking at the pictures the hitch does not allow access to the lifting rear point. Moreover it appears the hitch is mounted to it. I presume the hitch is strong enough to apply a jack to it and lift. If not this could be a pain to remove just to jack up the rear end.
please clarify. Does the hitch have to be removed to jack up the rear? If so does it have quick disconnects?

neuronbob

Glad to see this thread back. It's Garage-worthy and will be added shortly.

zippyh

The hitch doesn't mount anywhere near the jacking points unless you're talking about something else. I think that loop thingie is just meant to be a tie down.

It would be simple enough to unbolt the hitch to remove though. Not a major PITA.