BUILDING A HONDA ACCORD TRAILER HITCH 3


Having recently gotten rid of my pickup truck, I had an issue… I still have to haul stuff!!

Solution? Put a receiver hitch on my new to me Honda!

Receiver Bike Rack

Being a frugal person at heart, I had to figure out how to Do MORE with less. The only logical thing to do was to figure out how to be able to haul stuff with what I currently have.

Now that I have identified the need, next step is the research.

Turns out they do make trailer hitches for Honda Accords, but most of them are 1 1/4″ receiver tube mounts like this one. 1 1/4″ receiver hitches only have weak accessories which are unacceptable in this situation because we want to “HAUL STUFF!!!!!!!”. On top of that, they are around $160 + Shipping. This is where the beauty of fabrication comes in. Instead of settling for what is offered, I can make exactly what I want.

Now that I had an image of what it would look like in my head from the research above, I could start acquiring parts. The first thing I bought is a bare 2″ receiver tube similar to this one at Tractor Supply. I also had to acquire two rings to hook safety chains to. It turns out that I had an axle strap laying around the garage already, so in this case I just cut the strap off and used the metal ends. I already have miscellaneous tubing, bolts, and supplies in my garage from previous fabrication projects.

Having looked at many pictures of Honda Accord receiver hitches and at the underside of mine. I realized that they simply used the tow strap loop and two pre-existing holes in the floor of the trunk that I believe were for drainage.

The first step was to take the receiver tube and add two tabs to it to connect to the towing loop on the Accord. Measuring for these tabs are an important step because you need to determine how far out you want the tubing to stick out. Not far enough and you won’t be able to use standard receiver hitches and accessories, too far out and it will just look silly. Notice I put two tabs that attach to the tow loop (double shear), most store bought receivers only have one tab (single shear, weak sauce).

Welded up but missing safety chain loops

Welded up but missing safety chain loops.

Complete assembly with safety chain loops welded on

Complete assembly with safety chain loops welded on

Completed and bolted on, showing attachment points.

Completed and bolted on, showing attachment points.

Completed and bolted on, showing attachment points.

Completed and bolted on, showing attachment points.

Reinforcing plates and bolts inside bottom of trunk, the two top bolts with reinforcing plates actually bolt through pre-existing drain holes in the floor of the trunk. The two bottom bolt holes I drilled.

Reinforcing plates and bolts inside bottom of trunk (don’t diss on my plates, they were straight out of the metal junk to be recycled pile), the two top bolts with reinforcing plates actually bolt through pre-existing drain holes in the floor of the trunk. The two bottom bolt holes I drilled.

With Ball installed, notice I made sure there was enough room to hook up to a trailer without hitting the bumper.

What it looks like with Ball installed, notice I made sure there was enough room to hook up to a trailer without hitting the bumper.

Trailer Light Converter - wired in to factory trailer light plug. These are sold in kits available at any auto parts store.

Trailer Light Converter – wired in to factory trailer light plug. These are sold in kits available at any auto parts store.

So now I have a receiver hitch that is better quality and stronger than one off the shelf. I have already used it to “HAUL STUFF!!!!!”.

My bike—> How To Build: Receiver Hitch Bike Rack
Receiver Hitch Bike Rack

The start of –> “THE OOBER SMOKER”
IMG_1539

The –> OOBER Receiver Hitch Grill and HaulerThe OOBER Receiver Hitch Grill 16

Hauling Hot Tubs!?
Honda HotTub Hauler

Now YOU, go outside and build something!!


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