I have had my 2023 Touring about a month now. A tow hitch is a must for me so I started buying the 4 component parts needed. Bought all my parts from College Hills @ a cost of $763 which includes MA sales tax and shipping. Today I dropped my car off at my local Honda Dealer for the install. Approximately 4 hrs latter they told me to come pick it up. Labor cost $369. So guys and gals if you want a hitch it aint cheep. The Touring and elite cost even more because of the hands free tailgate, you need one extra part for your install. As for transmission cooler its 1 big question mark, nobody carry's one. General consensus is if you have AWD 5000lb is fine without one. Anybody else out there have an answer?
Tow Hitch Install after Delivery
pthomas72
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So, just letting everyone know - on one of the Facebook groups a guy has demonstrated that you can install the hitch and harness without removing the entire rear bumper and taillights all the other trim pieces. You can apparently do it by only removing the hitch cover trim piece (that you're replacing anyway) by "knowing" where 2 hidden bolts are that you can remove with a stubby socket wrench. This is huge news for me personally, as I was dreading taking all that other stuff off. Now, I envision I should be able to get this thing slapped on by myself in an hour or so. I will report back when I get around to doing the project!
here's a link to the post (sorry you have to be a member of the group to see it)
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here's a link to the post (sorry you have to be a member of the group to see it)
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here's a screenshot of the post:here's a link to the post (sorry you have to be a member of the group to see it)
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I'm very interested in this! I was also dreading the self install. I've done several over the years but never had to dig into the vehicle as much as the Pilot required. Definitely post when you get it installed. ThanksSo, just letting everyone know - on one of the Facebook groups a guy has demonstrated that you can install the hitch and harness without removing the entire rear bumper and taillights all the other trim pieces. You can apparently do it by only removing the hitch cover trim piece (that you're replacing anyway) by "knowing" where 2 hidden bolts are that you can remove with a stubby socket wrench. This is huge news for me personally, as I was dreading taking all that other stuff off. Now, I envision I should be able to get this thing slapped on by myself in an hour or so. I will report back when I get around to doing the project!
here's a link to the post (sorry you have to be a member of the group to see it)
Log into Facebook
Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.
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I spotted another post on Facebook of another guy successfully installing the tow-hitch DIY without removing the bumper. He also mentioned the 2 difficult-to-get-to 10mm bolts but still managed to get them off. Said it took him 1.5 hrs total for the job. Nothing new here, but hearing that more folks are doing it this way gives me more confidence for when I try.
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Do the posts describe the harness installation as well? I don't tow trailers often but want the capability. I use it more for bikes.
How long is it taking them to do these hidden 10mm bolts? If they are spending 45 mins futzing around with those then it is prob faster to just take off the bumper cover. But I agree if I were doing the job I would want to try first to just get that trim panel swapped without pulling the whole bumper. Removing things from plastic clips always scares me that I am gonna snap things
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not really, but that's pretty well covered in the standard installation instructions. Which involves pulling the sill-plate inside your cargo area and the storage cover on the left (not hard) The wires go from the plug to the cargo area via a pre-existing hole in the car, and it filled by a rubber grommet.
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I believe the last post I saw the guy said 10 min per screw (2 of them). I disagree with your contention that removing the whole bumper is faster/easier. If you look over the standard instructions, you'll see that you need to start by pulling the trim covering the wheel-wells, then you need to masking-tape off the body panels and the tailights, remove the taillights, and a bunch of other steps. There's multiple pages of instructions covering this. Plus, that means more plastic clips to deal with and possibly break. If you can handle the 2 difficult bolts, it is a slam-dunk in my mind to NOT remove the bumper. Also I should note that both guys said that screwing these bolts back in is much easier than getting them off.
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There are all kinds of tools to facilitate the removal of hard to reach fasteners.
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absolutely. I have a 90degree socket adapter and some flex-extensions and I'm pretty sure I can rig something to my drill-driver to have that bolt off in seconds. challenge accepted
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and.... Installed! Did this in about an hour. Removed the spare to make space, but as shown from previous post the only difficulty was getting at those two hidden bolts. Which, since I knew exactly were to "feel" for them (jammed my hand in there) and apply the small socket wrench, had them off in just a few minutes. I'll do the harness later, which will be easy (already located the through-hole for the wires) but all in all, super-pleased with how easy this all turned out to be.
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Wow nicely done! I'm now a little jealous that my Elite came with the PPO hitch because you got it done way cheaper, and you got the black trim instead of the gray one, and you have the cleaner look without the wiring harness. Oh well, what's done is done.
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thanks for reminding me of the cost: my dealer wanted $1620 for hitch/harness/hfa installed. For parts and shipping, I paid under $600. (caveat: I'm didn't buy the "new" HFA because I'm going to modify the existing one and put it back in.) So, over $1000 savings, yay! (although, will the wife appreciate this? No. Which is why I have to boast about it here.)
Haha yeah! My PPO was $900 or $950 or something so not quite as bad as dealer installed, but had I done it DIY I would have skipped the wiring stuff
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Thanks ricoejk on your info.
Let me know how you are able to relocate the existing HFA and make it work.
As I have indicated I left the existing HFA in place and rerouted the black and white antennas., kept unit in place but the device does not sense the "kicking motion".
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I'm inspired!
I wonder whether the PPO installers at the Honda plant do the 2-screw trick too or whether they waste all that time removing the whole bumper? Still seems dumb that they wouldn't have a way to integrate this into the initial vehicle assembly, too....like just bolt up the hitch while the car is going down the line in the first place
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Wondering where the harness plug mounts (the part the trailer would hook up to)?
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