Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)The Curt Manufacturing Class 1 receiver (11384) I purchased was installed on my 2007 MazdaSpeed 3. This is my first time installing, owning, and using towing equipment, so I was unsure of the results. I use it for a hitch mounted bike rake that holds 4 bikes.
Install:
The install was simple and required the drilling of four (I think) holes in the rear bumper frame assembly. It was simple and done with a battery hand drill. Next, fishing the bolts through the end-caps of the bumpers to the newly drilled holes using a guidewire took patience and an ounce of luck. After the second one they seemed to go in rather quickly. Finally torque all nuts down to spec. Overall, it took about 45 minutes with no prior experience.
Fit:
The receiver was actually too small and had some gap between the bumper frame assembly and the outer flanges of the receiver. Some reviewers recommended hammering/bending it into shape (we were unable to do this). I kept torquing down the nuts evenly and bent the flanges into shape that way. Now it's snug, but in retrospect, I probably should've used some sort of spacer or pre-bent the flanges. The receiver box shows from behind the car but nothing else. Rear ground clearance has only been reduced by a 2-3 inches from that part.
Performance:
I've used the receiver with the aforementioned hitch mount bike rack many times. The way the receiver mounts allows a certain flexibility on the rack as the weight is kept about 2.5 feet from the mounting points. This allows the bikes and rack to bounce excessively with the slightest of bumps. I'm going to drill and bolt in two more bolts closer to the receiver mount to eliminate most of this bounce. It hasn't caused and problems yet (especially on a 2000 mile road trip with some scary highway bounce), but I want to be safe. This is why I'm giving this 4 stars: the bounce, and poor fit between the frame.
Overall, it's a fantastic receiver with a few niggles. I've owned it for several months and I would buy it again had I the choice. On a clean install, I would've like to have made the above mentioned changes as well.
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Curt Manufacturing 11384 Class I Receiver
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