First off, this is going to look very similar to Committedtobefit08's
diy. Thanks to him for the original, as I used it to install my hitch. I am most pleased with the results.
I contacted Honda USA before purchasing the hitch, and they told me that there is no specific prohibition against installing a hitch, but there is a prohibition against towing. It's in the manual, as well. I told them I would be installing a hitch for use with a bike rack exclusively, and they said that the warranty is good as long as there is no damage as a direct result of the hitch installation. My hitch/rack/bikes combo is reasonably light, so I don't foresee a warranty-voiding problem.
Interestingly, my contact at the Honda dealer where I purchased it told me that Honda is developing a Fit-specific hitch and that aftermarket ones do not exist. I wonder what I installed, then?
On to the install:
I bought the hitch and rack from etrailer.com. I got the
Draw-Tite hitch and the
Thule DoubleTrack 2 rack. I also got the hitch lock and lock cylinders for the rack, to be safe.
Here is the hitch, pre-install.
Here are the naughty bits that are needed to attach the hitch.
And a better picture of them, for obvious reasons:
As you can see from this picture, a slight groove needs to be cut into the rear hole to allow the mounting hardware through. I used a Dremel tool to grind some away, but a file the width of the bracket would
probably have worked better.
This is what the driver's side rear hole looked like when I was done grinding.
Next, attach the guide wires to the bolts and thread the bracket onto the wire. Thread that through the rear hole to the front hole, then pull the wire until the bolt drops through the front hole. Make sure the bracket is flush with the inside of the frame.
I found that the wires attached to the bolts quite well, and there was not really a concern about losing the bolt or bracket inside the frame.
Now for the difficult part - attaching the hitch. I didn't get many pics of this part, since I was busy holding the hitch in place while my wife with very small hands attached the nuts to the bolts.
Instead of removing the passenger wheel, which I didn't want to do since I was using ramps, I maneuvered the right side of the hitch in from the back. As you can see from this pic, there is a bit of a gap between the tailpipe and the bumper.
I was able to slide the hitch in between the tailpipe and bumper, and there was very little contact between the hitch and anything else. No removing of wheels required.
As Committedtobefit08 suggested, using jacks to keep it in place during this process would greatly simplify things. I did not do this, and it probably would not have been possible to attach the hitch successfully without another person assisting.
Get the nuts on the bolts, after removing the guide wires. I recommend leaving the wire attached until you absolutely need to remove it, so the bolt doesn't jump up into the frame and you lose it. The plastic tab on the driver's side wheel well does need to be moved out of the way. I removed the entire piece for the install, but that probably wasn't necessary. Once the hitch is on, reattach the plastic part and either cut off the bit that overlaps the hitch or just leave it. I chose to leave it alone, since it doesn't stick up that far.
Driver's side, before reattaching plastic wheel well.
This one is from under the muffler, after install.
Closeup of the driver's side.
I used a torque wrench on the driver's side, to get it to the specified range (I think it was 50-60 ft lbs). On the passenger side, I couldn't easily fit the torque wrench, so I just gave it as much muscle as I could.
Here's the result:
Here it is, with the rack and some bikes attached. I know, the bikes need to be cleaned. Apologies.
Profile:
I've taken it on two two-hour trips so far, fully loaded, and checked the nuts after each. There has been no slippage, and it has performed admirably. I will continue to check the nuts after the next few rides, and will report if I see any slippage or warping of the frame or hitch.
Side note: When I am going to mount up the rack and bikes, I park in the street before attaching the rack. I didn't the first time we went for a ride, and I scraped the joint of the rack on the transition between the driveway and street. If you mount this rack, test it before driving away.
All in all, the install was pretty easy and it is working perfectly. I like it much better than a roof mounted rack, which I had on my old car. I can't open the hatch with the bikes on, but I can if I fold down the riser on the rack with the bikes off.
Linear Mode
