Thread: Towing with an Accord

I had a hitch on my 96' Civic and towed my Jetski's with no issues. I had the hitch professionally installed though, because it appeared to be a bitch of an install.

Everything I've seen so far says that there is no drilling required, it mounts up to existing holes. Maybe it is that easy and I'm just too paranoid about it.

I found a trailer locally that's already set up with a wheel chock to haul a motorcycle at a pretty good price so I need to get this together pretty quickly.

We'd discussed this before but I got a hitch online and it claimed to be 'bolt on'. It was interesting to get on (have a friend or a jack and some 2x4's) but not difficult. I towed 1500# with it a couple times. It wasn't supposed to tow more than 1000#. The car itself was fine, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

In an accord? no question I'd try it.


btw I put over 80k on my civic in the timeframe of my ownership and crazy towing methods, and most of the time it was 500-600# of trailer and YZ450F , but occasionally the KLR got on there too. I never experienced any problems with the car/trans/hitch/etc. as a result of this.

The Hidden Hitch I'm looking at is rated for 2,000 lbs trailer weight and 200 lbs tongue weight. Way more than I'd attempt towing with a 4 banger. I might install a tranny oil cooler just for piece of mind down the road.

Check the owners manual, Im pretty sure the Accord 4 banger says it will tow up to 1k without the need for additional coolers/etc. I figure with the price of their ATF, I'll just change it a little more often.

Also, that sounds exactly like the hidden hitch ##'s for my Civic one.

Used to tow all the time with the prelude. never had an issue with it. 2 bikes with out problem.

p.s. Mine did not require drilling either, and in all honesty - putting the hitch on my ridgeline was more of a PITA. I actually had to run out to Wal-Mart and buy some of those crappy Chinese jackstands to help me hold it while I bolted it in.

I had to drill my prelude, but it was pretty simple once we got a good drill bit.

the ridgeline was easier than that. I had the dealer include it in the cost of the truck... hahaha perfect.

Saw an Audi TT towing a Kendon folding trailer at one of the trackdays at Barber.

October's Barber trip, there was a Camry towing a two bike trailer with so much stuff in the back seat it didn't look like it would make it up the paddock hill.

You should be just fine.

My Hondas tow the world population of blue sheep

Originally Posted by ND4SPD

Yeah, I know - it's not optimal - but it's the only option I have at this point.

Anyway, anybody ever install a hitch on one? I've looked at a few kits and they say that it just bolts on, but it's never that simple...

There are some Uhaul locations where they'll install it while you wait, and they have very good prices. You just need to get an appointment.
When considering the price, keep in mind you might have to buy a separate cable harness. Some are over $100.00

Originally Posted by ND4SPD

Yeah, I know - it's not optimal - but it's the only option I have at this point.

Anyway, anybody ever install a hitch on one? I've looked at a few kits and they say that it just bolts on, but it's never that simple...

I can't say I've done one on an Accord per say, but in the body shop occasionally I change hitches on small cars due to wrecks. They aren't bad if you have a hoist. Kind of a pain to crawl around, and try to hold it in place while you get bolts started. They usually use existing holes in the unibody rails. I'd say you at least need someone to help you if you don’t have access to a hoist. I'd also stick with the name brand ones.

Thanks for the feedback. I ended up ordering a Hidden Hitch. I've had one in the past and was pleased with it. The harness plugs in by the tail light, it doesn't have far to go. It was only $25 and there is no splicing required according to the online description.

just buy a roof rack and install a 5thwheel hitch on it

Originally Posted by ND4SPD

The harness plugs in by the tail light, it doesn't have far to go. It was only $25 and there is no splicing required according to the online description.

I want to hear more about this when you get it done. I've thought about installing a hitch on my car a few times and always talked myself out of it because I was afraid of the wiring.

Originally Posted by slickwill

I want to hear more about this when you get it done. I've thought about installing a hitch on my car a few times and always talked myself out of it because I was afraid of the wiring.

Can you plug in a blender to a wall socket? if so you can do trailer wiring, most of them have connectors ready made to do all the hard shit for you. Plug and play.

Originally Posted by Hammer

Can you plug in a blender to a wall socket? if so you can do trailer wiring, most of them have connectors ready made to do all the hard shit for you. Plug and play.

All of them that I've seen required tapping into the car's wiring in one way or another.

Originally Posted by slickwill

All of them that I've seen required tapping into the car's wiring in one way or another.

It should be as simple as unbolting the tail light and plugging in a "t".

Originally Posted by slickwill

All of them that I've seen required tapping into the car's wiring in one way or another.

I will wire it up for you at Grattan.

Originally Posted by slickwill

All of them that I've seen required tapping into the car's wiring in one way or another.

Then you should get out more, or consider going to stores other than the dollar store when you do

In all seriousness, I had one on my Civic and the harness was the dreamy part of the install. A few clicks later and I was done with that, 5 seconds tops.

The one I installed on my old Ranger... I actually didn't realize it didn't have wiring so I stopped at a Wal Mart en route to buy the trailer and put it on in the guys yard, piece of pie man!

The mechanic at the U-haul where I had mine installed told me the biggest problem for most "doityourselfers" was to be able to get the car high enough to remove the exhaust on those models where dropping the pipes is necessary. Other than that, and/or if your car does not require the exhaust to be dropped, it's a plug and play install.

Got the Hidden Hitch installed tonight. The hardest part was getting the square peg to fit in the round hole - literally. Outside of that it was a piece of cake, the whole thing took me maybe an hour starting from the time I backed the car into the garage to the time I pulled it back out. My only gripe is with the wiring harness and the fact that unless I missed a hidden grommet somewhere, I have to dangle it out of the trunk if I'm pulling a trailer.

I get to go get the trailer on Monday.

Originally Posted by ND4SPD

...My only gripe is with the wiring harness and the fact that unless I missed a hidden grommet somewhere, I have to dangle it out of the trunk if I'm pulling a trailer...

That's pretty much standard unless you're comfortable with wiring. You can disassemble to connector and find, or drill, a spot to pass through under the car then reassemble the connector.

Congrats on the install.

Youknow you done it right if you had extra bolts left over.

Originally Posted by ND4SPD

My only gripe is with the wiring harness and the fact that unless I missed a hidden grommet somewhere, I have to dangle it out of the trunk if I'm pulling a trailer.

Sometimes you can unbolt the tail light and run it through the hole of the tail panel along with the tail light wires. Then drop it down behind the bumper cover.

Yeah I just did the dangling thing with my civic too. I mean I was already a dude in a 4 door civic towing a KLR...there was no grommet-hole wiring gonna save me there.


Glad to hear you got it installed In regards to pegs and holes, are you talking about the spring you attach to a screw and then thread down through your unibody chassis holes? That was fun. It's more fun if you kick over an oil change container while trapped under your car with a bigass hitch resting on you.