I picked up one of these Curt hitches from AutumnCruzeRS at Lordstown and just installed it last night. I figured this thread is lacking in the picture dept, so here are some of mine:
****NOTE- This was taken on a test fit, and the front bolt must go in the farthest hole back, NOT the one it's shown in here:
I got it mounted up there with the bolts loose, and then made sure it was centered on the car before I tightened them up:
I do have a ball to go on this, but didn't have it handy yet. The ball mount conveniently fit in next to the spare tire, between the tire and some padding, so it shouldn't rattle. I hope it'll still fit with a ball on there.
It was convenient to get under there, but I'm generally not a fan of her booty up in the air like this.
I also finished up by spraying the bolts/nuts with a little bit of spray undercoating so they don't rust, and I broke out the black spray paint to touch up a couple of chips in the finish on the hitch.
All in all, it was about an hour job, which included getting the car out, jacked up, all parts/tools out there, getting the job done, and putting everything away.
A couple notes:
- Make sure to mount the driver's side of the hitch first, or else you won't have it clear the exhaust.
- The directions mention something about trimming a heat shield. The hitch is also compatible with the Verano, so it must have the heat shield. No shield here.
- The directions also mentioned dropping part of the exhaust. It looked like a bigger job than I wanted to get into, so I just worked around it with a universal. Still tight for a universal though.
- Having a padded floor jack underneath the center of the hitch helps to hold it up while you start the nuts.
- I'm very pleased with the fitment- required no modifications at all and the clearance with the RS bumper is perfect.
- I don't think the directions said you needed needle nose pliers, but it really helps to get the little wire out of the hole. You'd be there for hours trying to get that wire to feed out of the back hole. The pliers worked well, but there's a trick to it. The wire is bent on the end, so as you loosen up on the pliers to slide them around the bend and toward the end of the wire (to be able to pull it through the hole), it can slip out of the pliers easily. It takes a few attempts before you get it.
Now I need to order the wiring kit!