Customer Reviews

Curt Manufacturing 13561 Class III Receiver

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I concur with all the points Geoffrey Brown made.

I also did not undo the tail pipe. I was able to torque 5 of the 6 mounting bolts, but the tailpipe prevented getting my torque wrench to the last one. I tightened the snot out of it & it should be close enough.

I bought this hitch after some research. Honda has six nuts welded into the frame for mounting their very expensive hitch to & this was one of two aftermarket hitchs I found that uses those six mounting nuts. The other one is Curt Mfg's 12261 class ii hitch. The rest use four of them & expect the installer to fish two nuts into the frame rails. While I enjoy catching fish, I don't enjoy fishing nuts...

Hitch was received ahead of scheduled delivery and except for a few paint scratches, was in excellent shape.
Installation was easy, about half an hour.

Bought this online, but called them first to answer questions. In one of the descriptions it says hidden or invisible or somethng like that, and I wanted to understand what that means. It doesn't mean anything, nothing is hidden, but besides that point, this was great.

1. Delivered on time in protective packaging that prevented any scratches.

2. It actually installed easier than the directions, I didn't have to loosen the tailpipe(there actually wasn't a way to loosen it anyway on my vehicle) as it says, just slide the hitch over the top of the tailpipe from the back.

3. It looks good installed.

First impressions: The hitch arrived wrapped in plastic film with no carton to protect the product. As a result, there were a couple of minor scuffs and scratches on the finish. The hitch is pretty heavy and seems very well made, with good welds and a good-quality powdercoat finish.

Instructions: Could be a lot better, but gave enough information to get the job done if you know your way around tools and working on cars.

Installation:
I was able to do the installation without lifting the vehicle. I simply backed it into my garage with the front wheels still in the driveway to tilt the vehicle and give me a slight bit of additional clearance. If you have access to a vehicle lift, it will make the installation a lot easier.

On the 2011 Odyssey, the first step is to remove the driver's side plastic trim piece that covers the underside of the rear overhang on the vehicle (behind the wheel well). This required a stubby Philips #2 screwdriver to remove a screw behind the tire, a 10 mm socket on a six-inch extension with a ratchet handle to remove a single bolt in a recessed area and a panel-puller tool to release three plastic push-pins. The instructions imply that this plastic piece should be set aside and not re-installed after bolting the hitch in place. I found this alarming, being that this plastic trim protects the rear of the wheel well from getting all full of sand and road-junk. More on this in a bit.

Once the plastic trim is out of the way, you will need to slide the hitch under the vehicle (lay some cardboard down to avoid scratching it) in preparation for lifting it into place. To lift it into place, you can enlist the help of a friend or two while you get the first few bolts started into the threaded holes Honda has generously provided, or you can use a pair of jack stands to support the hitch at close to the right height. The hitch is heavy enough that it will definitely hurt you if it falls on your head, so be very careful!

Using the jack stands for support I was able to get two of the six bolts with washers started on the driver's side, then I did the same on the passenger side, gently pulling the exhaust pipe to the outside to get clearance for the socket and extension. Then I started the remaining two bolts and snugged all the bolts into place with an air ratchet. I then followed the instructions to torque the bolts to 68 lbs/ft. torque using a 1/2-inch drive torque wrench.

Now that the hitch was in place, I could look at the plastic trim piece that was removed and figure out how to trim it to fit around the hitch. I marked the corner to be trimmed with a Sharpie and then cut the plastic with a jigsaw. Fortunately, the cut did not affect any of the plastic trim's mounting points, so it could be reinstalled just like the factory did it, restoring the protection of that area of the wheel well and rear of the vehicle.

That's about it... total time, including cussing and everything: 2 hours

Tools I used:
1/2-inch drive torque wrench with 3/4-inch socket and 6-inch extension
3/8-inch drive air ratchet with 3/4-inch socket and 6-inch extension << not necessary, but very convenient
3/8-inch drive hand ratchet with 3/4-inch socket and 6-inch extension
1/4-inch drive hand ratchet with 10 mm socket and 6-inch extension
Stubby #2 Philips screwdriver
Panel-puller tool (to pop plastic push pins out)... you can use a flat screwdriver in a pinch
Two jack stands
Sharpie marker
Jigsaw

UPDATE: I uploaded some photos of the hitch receiver installed on my Odyssey.

This hitch was very easy to install. It came fast and was well packaged. I thought it was worth mentioning that it is made in the USA and the quality certainly reflects that.

I ordered this hitch for my Honda Odyssey to carry 5 bikes on outings. The hitch arrived before the projected delivery date, looked good, installed easily (with a little help from a 7 year old), and carries the bike rack with no problems.

Did not need to remove the muffler in order to install any of the bolts, despite instructions which said it would be necessary. If you are nervous about DIY installation, don't let a mechanic charge you more than $20.00. It's that easy.

Looked at several other hitches (online) and got an estimate from a local bike shop before choosing this one. Very happy with my choice.

This item fit right into place. However, one of the bolt holes was off, so I was not able to put that bolt in. My only plan for the hitch is to haul my kid's bikes around on a bike rack, so I'm not too worried about the one missing bolt.

This hitch seemed easy to put on when I read the reviews...and yes, it was easy when it got here. I put it on by myself with the help of a floor jack. Even if you had two people, I think you would still want a floor jack or jack stands to manage the hitch while you're putting bolts on.

Put it on a 2007 Odyssey. I sat on the garage floor indian style, with the hitch on my lap. Then I scooted forward and scooted the hitch where it needed to go. I didn't have to loosen the exhaust as it said I may have to. It just goes over the top. When I got it in position, it did rest on the exhaust a bit as I slid my jack underneath the heaviest part of hitch. Then hitch was able to sit on jack and exhaust.

I quickly placed a bolt into threads on exhaust sides, to take a little pressure of the exhaust. My threads on frame seemed in pretty good shape. It is tough to get around the exhaust w/ a ratchet, but the hangers for exhaust have a rubber connection, so there is room to push it out of the way a bit to get your ratchet on the bolts.

Drivers side bolts were easy, I didnt have to move anything on that side of the frame to get bolts in. Those went in real easy compared to exhaust side.

One bolt (front on exhaust side) didnt want to go in. I started it and then thought I may break it, so I took it to trailer shop. They put it on hoist and then used their air ratchet and on she went, w/ no problem. No charge by them. Then went and borrowed a buddies torque wrench and life is good.

This was easy and I would recommend it to everyone. Only hard part would be if your threads are shot and don't want to accept the bolt. Luckily, I didn't come across that

The Curt Manufacturing 13561 Class III Receiver is supposed to fit a 2003 Honda Odyssey. However, 2 of the holes did not line up with the holes on the vehicle. I had to have a professional make it fit by drilling out 2 of the holes on the receiver. In addition, the holes on the vehicle had to be re-tapped. He also recommended that this receiver NOT be used to tow anything heavy (i.e. a trailer). Lucky for us we are just using it for a bike rack. The price is good. But, you get what you pay for.

I purchased this hitch for our 2004 Odyssey. It did not bolt directly up. First I had issues with 6 years worth of dirt and rust built up in the nuts that are to receive the hitch, not the hitch manufacturers fault but a pain none the less. Then the hole locations in the hitch did not quite match up the the holes and nuts in the frame on my van. So on day two of the install I had to use a burr tool in a die grinder to ream out the holes enough to fit the van frame. Not too happy. But the end result is good none the less.