CURT 13119 Class 3 Trailer Hitch 2-Inch Receiver fits 2012 2016 CR-V | Superior Strength & Fit | Protected by Durable High Gloss Black Powder Coat Finish

If you know how to use a socket wrench and a Dremel tool, then you will have no issue getting this hitch installed on a 2012 CRV. It took me about an hour and I had no idea what I was in for.The instructions contained a couple mistakes but I can't complain too much, because CURT did a fantastic job creating a full color custom instructions sheet with photos of a real 2012 CRV. That's impressive and is the sole reason I had complete confidence with this purchase. (I'm not a mechanic, but know my way around tools)I give this product my highest rating and for $130, it's an unbelievable deal. Honda wants over $500 for a Class I hitch! I like the 2 inch square for bike racks because they are more stable. You will never actually use the Class III towing capacity, but the 2 inch square is just way better.Here is my experience with the installation if you care to have further insight on how to do this....The issues I had with the instructions are as follows:1. The diagram of the hole to cut in the underbody panel was a mirror image of what you would expect if you just laid under the car to make the cut. I can only assume they expected you to actually take this panel off completely and then make the cut looking at it from the other side. (I do NOT recommend taking this panel off as I will explain later.)2. It didn't say anything about the white padding found on the other side of the panel. Once I made my hole in the plastic, surprise, there's a padding that I have no clue what it is even for so I just made a slice with a blade and removed the entire driver's side portion of it.3. The torque ratings for the bolts and nuts were listed out by socket size, instead of by the location of them. Meaning, the "four bolts on the frame", and the "two nuts on the tow hook" would have made more sense. I just found it a little confusing to apply MORE torque to the tow hook than the frame of the car, but that's just me.As for my experience with the install, I found this job to be way easier than I thought. I actually did this after work, at night, and with just a headlamp on my head. First, I put the hitch under the car to get a feel for the approximate location of where this thing will attach. I noticed that the underbody panel was installed using those one-way push pins, not bolts! This was annoying because I know how hard they are to get off and how easily they break. So I knew there was no way I can remove this panel. I need to cut this as is. Using a Dremel, I cut out a rectangular hole slightly smaller than what it should have been so that I can make my corrections in the direction it needed to be based on trying to put the hitch into place. I used one of those plunge bits that lets you cut in any direction. (like a roto-zip). Be careful not go too deep so you the don't hit metal. If you have the router attachment, use it with the bit protruding a half inch is plenty.Then I wrestled the muffler out of the way by detaching the hanger bars from the rubber piece. I had a hard time with this, but later learned that a little lube helps. The instructions for using an open ended wrench and a pry bar for this seems to be the only way to do it. It takes a lot of leverage.The hardest part of raising the hitch is just getting that first nut on so the weight is off of you. I started with the U-bolt on the tow hook. Hang the U-Bolt and have the two nuts ready. Raise the hitch into place and get those two nuts on just enough to hang. Now do the 4 bolts for the frame. Don't forget the special washers. They are bent in such a way that they flatten out while cranking the bolt. The bump should be up against the bolt head. You should notice threaded holes on the frame in the perfect spot. Make sure you use your FINGERS to start these bolts. Do NOT use a socket wrench because you can cross thread it (the bolt is slightly angled) and then you will ruin the threads while not realizing how much torque the socket wrench applied. Once you have spun the bolts a couple times into the threaded hole, you know it's not cross threaded and you can switch to a wrench. You need to use a couple variations of socket extensions to reach the bolts, with 9 inches being the longest extension. I doubled up a 3 and a 6 inch together. Be sure to get all 4 bolts and the 2 nuts all the way on before you start cranking the torque. How you apply the appropriate torque is up to you, but I just cranked it hard enough where I knew it was enough. This comes with experience so don't go using a 3 foot breaker bar and snapping the heads off the bolts!"Foot Pounds" or "ft-lb" of torque basically means that at a radius of one foot, a pound of force is applied. The radius is the length of your socket wrench. So if you use a one foot wrench you can do 50 ft-lb of torque by pretending you want to lift a 50 pound dumb bell (If you know what that feels like). And if you use a 2 foot wrench, then the same torque can be applied with only 25 pounds of force on the end of the handle. I'm sure every auto mechanic is furious with me for suggesting this, but real "Torque Wrenches" that actually measure this for you are pretty expensive, especially if this might be the only time you ever use it. So here is my disclaimer..."always use a torque wrench to ensure the proper torque is applied".Good luck!

I, like many, have waited for this hitch to go on sale. Once it did, I found a few like-new quality ones from the Amazon Warehouse so I saved a few more bucks and got that one instead. It came quickly and I was able to start installing it. After following the instructions, cutting the approximate hole out of the underside panel, and attempting to install I noticed the holes didn't line up. I got the two right bolts and the two center bolts installed, but the left holes were nearly half an inch off the bracket. There wasn't any way I could shift or move the bar into place to get the bolts to install. Frustrated, I took everything off and found that the left bracket was bent. Tired and annoyed that the sun was going down, I quickly grabbed my largest hammer and a clamp and figured I could bend it back into place. After about 10 seconds of trying the smarter part of my brain reminded me that I was trying to bend 1/4" steel with almost zero leverage and a 12oz harbor freight hammer.....so I gave up and went inside. I ended up returning the hitch to Amazon but only after accidentally stuffing all the hardware for the underside trim in the return box with the rest of the hardware--D'OH! (You can find the push pin style connectors on Amazon for like $10). I ordered a brand new hitch from Curt (still through Amazon) and it arrived about 5 days slower than the A. Warehouse one, but was properly packaged in the original box with spray-in form supports. around the brackets. It bolted right up first-ish try.The hardest parts about installing this hitch are trying to wiggle the 40lbs hitch up with a giant piece of automotive plastic trim hanging off it catching on everything in the known universe, and then trying to hold it there and threading bolts. Obviously, this 30-minute install will take 30 minutes if you have every tool within reach (I recommend an oscillating tool to cut the trim) AND a second pair of competent hands. I decided not to argue with my wife and used a car jack to help hold the hitch up instead. That worked...better than just trying to wrestle it up on my own.All in all, it fits now and is working. I still have to find some screws to replace the ones I sent back to Amazon accidentally. If you're buying THIS SPECIFIC MODEL HITCH, seriously, make sure it fits your car. Don't guess. It's an old design. We know if it fits your car or not. Don't buy it and send it back for others to rebuy and have to send back because it's damaged. YOU'RE the problem with consumerism. YOU ARE.It fits perfectly on my 2013 Honda CRV EX-L.

Easy installation. Was even able to keep the body under panel. Instructions were very straight forward.