Honda Car Forum

I have a 1988 Honda CRX DX that spent most ofits life in the
Northeast. A while back, when I was moving, I went to UHaul to see
if I could get a hitch installed. I was told that the hitch
attachment points on my car were too rusted out to safely hold a hitch
and a trailer. The guys who worked in the outlet i went to weren't
the brightest bunch, though. What I a wondering is whether or not the
part of the underbody that the hitch bolts to is replaceable in some
way. Is it bolted or welded to the frame or is it a part of the
frame? Thanks for any advice.

I could be wrong, but I think Honda does not recommend towing anything
with a Civic. There was a thread not too long ago about the Civic's
towing capacity, look it up on Google.

Cosmin

JPT wrote:

> I have a 1988 Honda CRX DX that spent most ofits life in the
> Northeast. A while back, when I was moving, I went to UHaul to see
> if I could get a hitch installed. I was told that the hitch
> attachment points on my car were too rusted out to safely hold a hitch
> and a trailer. The guys who worked in the outlet i went to weren't
> the brightest bunch, though. What I a wondering is whether or not the
> part of the underbody that the hitch bolts to is replaceable in some
> way. Is it bolted or welded to the frame or is it a part of the
> frame? Thanks for any advice.

On Wed, 09 Jun 2004 14:28:17 GMT, JPT <jpth0mps0n@hotmail.com> wrote:

||I have a 1988 Honda CRX DX that spent most ofits life in the
||Northeast. A while back, when I was moving, I went to UHaul to see
||if I could get a hitch installed. I was told that the hitch
||attachment points on my car were too rusted out to safely hold a hitch
||and a trailer. The guys who worked in the outlet i went to weren't
||the brightest bunch, though. What I a wondering is whether or not the
||part of the underbody that the hitch bolts to is replaceable in some
||way. Is it bolted or welded to the frame or is it a part of the
||frame? Thanks for any advice.

Just buy the hitch and install it yourself. If the mounting points look weak,
reinforce them by bolting plates over the area to spread the load.

I assume you aren't going to tow anything more than about 500# total. I
wouldn't exceed that. And check your mounting points frequently.
Texas Parts Guy

Do you mean 500Lbs in addition to the trailer? I don't have a lot of
heavy stuff to haul, its just bulky. If its 500lbs including the
trailer, then its not even worth the trouble.

On Tue, 15 Jun 2004 14:22:54 GMT, NOSPAMrex@REMOVEtxol.net (Rex B)
wrote:

>On Wed, 09 Jun 2004 14:28:17 GMT, JPT <jpth0mps0n@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>||I have a 1988 Honda CRX DX that spent most ofits life in the
>||Northeast. A while back, when I was moving, I went to UHaul to see
>||if I could get a hitch installed. I was told that the hitch
>||attachment points on my car were too rusted out to safely hold a hitch
>||and a trailer. The guys who worked in the outlet i went to weren't
>||the brightest bunch, though. What I a wondering is whether or not the
>||part of the underbody that the hitch bolts to is replaceable in some
>||way. Is it bolted or welded to the frame or is it a part of the
>||frame? Thanks for any advice.
>
>Just buy the hitch and install it yourself. If the mounting points look weak,
>reinforce them by bolting plates over the area to spread the load.
>
>I assume you aren't going to tow anything more than about 500# total. I
>wouldn't exceed that. And check your mounting points frequently.
>Texas Parts Guy

On Tue, 15 Jun 2004 18:57:41 GMT, JPT <jpth0mps0n@hotmail.com> wrote:

||Do you mean 500Lbs in addition to the trailer? I don't have a lot of
||heavy stuff to haul, its just bulky. If its 500lbs including the
||trailer, then its not even worth the trouble.

I'd say "including". Your CRX was designed for a passenger (~200#) and not much
cargo (300#). A small open trailer (HF 4x8) will weigh about 300#, leaving 200
for cargo.

But it all depends on:

How far you are going
What the route is like (hilly, rough pavement etc)
Will the car have a passenger and stuff in the hatch
How rusted are the mounting points?
How lucky do you feel?

||>On Wed, 09 Jun 2004 14:28:17 GMT, JPT <jpth0mps0n@hotmail.com> wrote:
||>
||>||I have a 1988 Honda CRX DX that spent most ofits life in the
||>||Northeast. A while back, when I was moving, I went to UHaul to see
||>||if I could get a hitch installed. I was told that the hitch
||>||attachment points on my car were too rusted out to safely hold a hitch
||>||and a trailer. The guys who worked in the outlet i went to weren't
||>||the brightest bunch, though. What I a wondering is whether or not the
||>||part of the underbody that the hitch bolts to is replaceable in some
||>||way. Is it bolted or welded to the frame or is it a part of the
||>||frame? Thanks for any advice.
||>
||>Just buy the hitch and install it yourself. If the mounting points look weak,
||>reinforce them by bolting plates over the area to spread the load.
||>
||>I assume you aren't going to tow anything more than about 500# total. I
||>wouldn't exceed that. And check your mounting points frequently.
||>Texas Parts Guy
||

Texas Parts Guy

Not that lucky :-). I'll have to go with roof rack I suppose. Thanks
for the advice.

On Tue, 15 Jun 2004 21:54:18 GMT, NOSPAMrex@REMOVEtxol.net (Rex B)
wrote:

>On Tue, 15 Jun 2004 18:57:41 GMT, JPT <jpth0mps0n@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>||Do you mean 500Lbs in addition to the trailer? I don't have a lot of
>||heavy stuff to haul, its just bulky. If its 500lbs including the
>||trailer, then its not even worth the trouble.
>
>I'd say "including". Your CRX was designed for a passenger (~200#) and not much
>cargo (300#). A small open trailer (HF 4x8) will weigh about 300#, leaving 200
>for cargo.
>
>But it all depends on:
>
>How far you are going
>What the route is like (hilly, rough pavement etc)
>Will the car have a passenger and stuff in the hatch
>How rusted are the mounting points?
>How lucky do you feel?
>
>||>On Wed, 09 Jun 2004 14:28:17 GMT, JPT <jpth0mps0n@hotmail.com> wrote:
>||>
>||>||I have a 1988 Honda CRX DX that spent most ofits life in the
>||>||Northeast. A while back, when I was moving, I went to UHaul to see
>||>||if I could get a hitch installed. I was told that the hitch
>||>||attachment points on my car were too rusted out to safely hold a hitch
>||>||and a trailer. The guys who worked in the outlet i went to weren't
>||>||the brightest bunch, though. What I a wondering is whether or not the
>||>||part of the underbody that the hitch bolts to is replaceable in some
>||>||way. Is it bolted or welded to the frame or is it a part of the
>||>||frame? Thanks for any advice.
>||>
>||>Just buy the hitch and install it yourself. If the mounting points look weak,
>||>reinforce them by bolting plates over the area to spread the load.
>||>
>||>I assume you aren't going to tow anything more than about 500# total. I
>||>wouldn't exceed that. And check your mounting points frequently.
>||>Texas Parts Guy
>||
>
>Texas Parts Guy

Since I'm originally from RI and now live in Texas, I can speak with
some credibility regarding east coast rust. If your '88 Honda was
driven in all winters up to now, you're lucky that it is still on the
road. Hondas are notorious for rusting being almost as bad as the old Datsuns.

My advice is to get a CRX from outside the rust belt, use your
mechanicals as spares and put the trailer hitch on the "southern" unit.
Otherwise, you're dealing with Swiss cheese for structural integrity...

JT




JPT wrote:
>
> Not that lucky :-). I'll have to go with roof rack I suppose. Thanks
> for the advice.
>
> On Tue, 15 Jun 2004 21:54:18 GMT, NOSPAMrex@REMOVEtxol.net (Rex B)
> wrote:
>
> >On Tue, 15 Jun 2004 18:57:41 GMT, JPT <jpth0mps0n@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >||Do you mean 500Lbs in addition to the trailer? I don't have a lot of
> >||heavy stuff to haul, its just bulky. If its 500lbs including the
> >||trailer, then its not even worth the trouble.
> >
> >I'd say "including". Your CRX was designed for a passenger (~200#) and not much
> >cargo (300#). A small open trailer (HF 4x8) will weigh about 300#, leaving 200
> >for cargo.
> >
> >But it all depends on:
> >
> >How far you are going
> >What the route is like (hilly, rough pavement etc)
> >Will the car have a passenger and stuff in the hatch
> >How rusted are the mounting points?
> >How lucky do you feel?
> >
> >||>On Wed, 09 Jun 2004 14:28:17 GMT, JPT <jpth0mps0n@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >||>
> >||>||I have a 1988 Honda CRX DX that spent most ofits life in the
> >||>||Northeast. A while back, when I was moving, I went to UHaul to see
> >||>||if I could get a hitch installed. I was told that the hitch
> >||>||attachment points on my car were too rusted out to safely hold a hitch
> >||>||and a trailer. The guys who worked in the outlet i went to weren't
> >||>||the brightest bunch, though. What I a wondering is whether or not the
> >||>||part of the underbody that the hitch bolts to is replaceable in some
> >||>||way. Is it bolted or welded to the frame or is it a part of the
> >||>||frame? Thanks for any advice.
> >||>
> >||>Just buy the hitch and install it yourself. If the mounting points look weak,
> >||>reinforce them by bolting plates over the area to spread the load.
> >||>
> >||>I assume you aren't going to tow anything more than about 500# total. I
> >||>wouldn't exceed that. And check your mounting points frequently.
> >||>Texas Parts Guy
> >||
> >
> >Texas Parts Guy

--
JT

Just tooling through cyberspace in my ancient G4