I put a Curt trailer hitch on my 05 basic and I think it turned out as a clean installation. The receiver itself is the only part of it that is visible which can just barely be seen in the car shadow in this pic. I had some trouble cleaning out the rusty welded on frame rail nuts, but finally managed to get everything mounted and torqued up. I also learned that the trailer light wiring requires power directly from the battery. The Curt technical service rep. told me that there is insufficient power to the tail light circuit on Vibes to power the trailer lights. This means that a wire has to be snaked from the battery back to the wiring harness controller. There is some work involved to get it set up. Here is a pic of the Curt controller unit (the pic needs to be turned 90 degrees counterclockwise to make since). It is mounted in the taillight access bay.I pull a small Harbor Freight trailer that hauls a small motorcycle and/or a couple of recumbent bicycles. The MC here is a Yamaha XT250 dual purpose (there's a mountain bike on the other side of the MC too).
Quote, originally posted by truepath »I put a Curt trailer hitch on my 05 basic and I think it turned out as a clean installation. The receiver itself is the only part of it that is visible which can just barely be seen in the car shadow in this pic. Wow, nice fit. My son's Curt is about 2 inches lower and he's already scraped the receiver end a couple of times coming out of gas station driveways. Your curt is up much tighter against the bottom of your bumper than even my Hidden Hitch! The Curt controller is a great idea. We only use ours for bike rack duty, so no wiring back there.
'08 Manual, Sun&Sound, 17" Borbet Type CA wheels, 215/50 Summer Tires... 16" OE steel, 215/55 Snow Tires
There were two Curt hitches listed for the Vibe. The one I got appears to have been a recent modification of the earlier one and as you noted, mounted a little higher. I plan to use mine with a bike rack also, besides pulling a small trailer.
What is the part number for both? I have a Draw Tite wiring package which says it fits a 2006, yet the connectors are different (3 versus 2, inline pins versus square configuration)...Bob
I can't find the documentation on the hitch I bought, but I went to the Rock Auto website and found what I think is the hitch I bought. It carries Curt Mfg. part number 12234. I think the wiring harness number is Curt Mfg. number 55057. There are two Curt hitches for this car. Be careful that you order the one that mounts higher up since it hides almost all of the hitch structure except the receiver. I think the number I gave you is the correct one. I don't see that Rock Auto has two listed now so I'm assuming the one listed is the higher mount.
I looked it up and the 12234 is the non GT version (the ground effects don't extend as low, so Curt makes the hitch a bit higher).24880/12221 is for the GT version which is the one that U Haul sells...Thanks!Bob
It says this: 12227 CLASS 1 & 2 HITCH2003 - 2008 Toyota Matrix All, Except w/Rear Spoiler Connector(s): 55057,55522 I think it is being discontinued...http://www.curtmfg.com
One of the two Curt hitches mounts higher up and, therefore shows less of the hitch structure. I don't know which one it is though. A call to Curt could probably answer this.
I bought a receiver and 2" adapter for my 04 Vibe, both made by the same company. The adapter stem was 8" long, and the receiver was 6" deep. A cut off saw with a metal blade fixed it, but what the hell were they thinking?
How did you manage to clean out the pre-drilled holes on the frame? Did you use anything special? Or pointers on how to do it... Mines seems pretty rusty
I have been using my bike rack with the receiver hitch a lot lately. In fact, I just got back from a three day trip where I did a two days of biking in northern Minnesota. I hope it goes well for you installing the hitch. I had trouble with the threads in the frame being pretty rusted. I ended up cleaning them us with some penetrating oil and a bolt that I used as a tap by cutting a slot in the threads (of the bolt). Hopefully you won't have this trouble. Minnesota cars always have rust issues on any parts that are not painted or otherwise coated.
Ill show those bolts who is boss! lol Yeah my luck I will have a lot of trouble, it never fails! I bought the bike rack from Harbor Freight for $25 (yeah im sure its cheap). I am going to Mammoth Cave next week and plan to have the bike along for the trip.
Our posts must have just crossed each other. Let me describe the way I did it. I used a bolt with the same threads as the ones that came with the receiver. I brought one of the the receiver bolts to an auto parts store and had them match the thread. The bolt I bought was hardened. I put the sacrificial bolt in a vice and with a hacksaw, cut a slot across the threads the long way on the bolt. The idea is the slot will allow the rusted material a path to escape from as you turn the bolt in. I think that I actually cut a slot on two sides of the bolt. I soaked the frame thread areas with penetrating oil before starting and I let it sit for awhile. I started the bolt as best I could by finger turning it with a socket. After it felt like I had started the bolt into the threads I put a handle on the socket and carefully started working the bolt into the threads. After getting the bolt started I would turn it in a quarter of a turn or so at a time and then back it out. I kept turning it in a little further and backing it out some or even all the way out a couple of times to clean out the threads. I sprayed in more penetrating oil as I went. I was pretty careful to not cross thread the frame threads, or turn the bolt so hard as to break it or strip the threads in the frame. I think any of those things spell pretty deep trouble as far as ever getting the receiver hitch in without major car surgery involving welding and stuff like that. Once the threads were all cleaned out and the bolts turned in as they should, I went ahead and installed the receiver according to the instructions. I paid particular attention to getting the locking washers on properly and following the torque specifications. I did manage to get these threads cleaned out, but I don't claim to have any special expertise. This was just the way I did it. Good luck with the project.
I just got back from a canoe trip where I pulled a trailer with one canoe and two kayaks on it, 4 people and paddling gear and got 25 mpg at speeds ranging from 50 mph to 70 mph. I'm pleased with that. The Vibe handled the load very well.
I was wondering about the GT fitment. The rear bumper on my 03 GT looks no different than the one on Truepath's 05, I hate those hitches where most of the cross-member is exposed and would really prefer the 12234 as on his vibe.Anybody know of any reason why this would be a problem, are the bumpers really different. I can't see any ground affects a la the Matrix. Any GT owners installed a hitch contrary to the manufacturers recommendations?Thanks Guys.
Chris,I'd call Rock Auto (see my earlier post) and ask them which Curt hitch fits on your car. I suspect it will be the same one as on my car, but I would check before buying.
Hey guys, I’m trying to mount a U-Haul hitch on my gf’s 2005 AWD. I bought it used from a guy with an ‘05. All the listings I’ve seen don’t separate the FWD and AWD, but it is right on the muffler and I don’t think it’ll go on.
SpotTheDogg wrote: ↑Sun Mar 29, 2020 11:10 am
Hey guys, I’m trying to mount a U-Haul hitch on my gf’s 2005 AWD. I bought it used from a guy with an ‘05. All the listings I’ve seen don’t separate the FWD and AWD, but it is right on the muffler and I don’t think it’ll go on.
Well, that was silly! The U-Haul hitch is a two hole unit, and I was trying to use the front pair of the three. There was so many layers of undercoating and dirt I missed the rearmost hole entirely. I cleaned the holes out with WD-40 and a M12x1.25 tap.
SpotTheDogg wrote: ↑Sun Mar 29, 2020 2:08 pm
Well, that was silly! The U-Haul hitch is a two hole unit, and I was trying to use the front pair of the three. There was so many layers of undercoating and dirt I missed the rearmost hole entirely. I cleaned the holes out with WD-40 and a M12x1.25 tap.
Glad you got it figured out. Those holes do get filled up with all kinds of stuff