I ordered from the Hitch Store on Tues and it arrived on Friday. The staff was very helpful and knowledgeable. It was shipped out of Mississauga, Ont. Not only was the hitch on sale, I got a Saris bike beam to push it just over $150 to qualify for free shipping. It was actually cheaper to buy the beam than to pay for ship. I did not ramp up my car as I am thin and ramping it up would only necessitate higher supports for the hitch during this one man operation. I read the horror stories about how the holes did not line up for some folks and the flanges needed bending. I did no such thing. It lined up perfectly. Curt must have stepped up the QC after complaints. No undercarriage covers needed removal either. The hardest part was getting the passenger side flange sandwiched between the frame rail and the exhaust mount. I dropped a lot of f-bombs. Some minor bending of the aluminum muffler heat shield required. No biggie. The bolts above the muffler was hard to get to. I got the 4 bolts off ok, but once the hitch was in place, there is one particular bolt that I cannot access, unless the muffler was taken off its rubber supports. This little 3/4" swivel saved my night. The other 3 bolts can be accessed with a straight 12" ratchet extension and I was able to torque those down to 65 ft/lbs. This thing is sturdy. Unless your bike rack is 2" only, there is no need for a 2" receiver, as Toyota does not recommend towing anyway. Hope this help future buyers.
I spent 90 minutes putting mine on, including clean-up. I held everything in place with cardboard boxes (including to hold up the muffler), so there was some welcome flexibility. I lubed the bolts with grease, which is my custom. Yes, the heat shield is a minor inconvenience. I was able to use my stubby wrenches on the bolt under the muffler. After it was all together, I pulled on the muffler to move it to the side as much as possible, while my son used a 3/8" drive w/u-joint to tighten that one bolt. He probably got 35 ft-lb torque on it, which should be fine, considering the stress on that bolt will actually be towards the frame and not the bolt. I'm very happy with it. Now I get to buy the bike rack and try it out!
If for no other reason than to just install a trailer hitch... preferably some rusty ol' gnarly looking thing sticking out that'll keep the too close crowd off your rear bumper :mad2:
