crooked receiver hitch! Suspension Connection

[clemsonxplorer]

I bought this hitch Trailer Hitches - Toyota 4Runner 2003-2009 Round Tube Trailer Hitch and spent 2 hours installing it only to find out that it is crooked. This sucks! Now I have to wait until Monday to call Suspension connection to complain about it. According to their site, I am going to have to pay shipping to send it back and $38 for them to ship me a new one that may or may not be straight. A $122 dollar hitch is going to end up costing me $236. This is BS. What really sucks is I did my homework to see that people on this forum were happy with this hitch. Anybody else get a crooked one from these guys?

 

[bulldogtaxi]

not to offend you but when it comes to hitches you get what you pay for. I would have gone with a reese myself.

you should definitley fight the shipping cost. I wouldn't pay for it because it's not your fault it's a POS

 

[clemsonxplorer]

not to offend you but when it comes to hitches you get what you pay for. I would have gone with a reese myself.

you should definitley fight the shipping cost. I wouldn't pay for it because it's not your fault it's a POS

I agree on getting what you pay for, just thought that it would be a good hitch since all i saw was positive reviews for it in this forum. Yeah, I am going to fight the shipping cost for sure.

 

[Burt]

I went with the Curt hitch which looks very similiar to your hitch, minus the defect. I would not pay them a dime for an obvious manufacturing defect.
They should have better customer service and have a replacement sent to your 2-day shipping with an prepaid RMA to return the defective one. If they do not cooperate, suggest calling your CC card company and they may help you out.

 

[deedubb]

I'd be ticked off too man. Sorry to hear that.

 

[TechWrench]

You might want to consider just sending the thing back for a refund, and look elsewhere for your hitch. I got my valley hitch from ETrailer, and couldn't be happier with it and their level of customer service. Here is a link to their site, and the listing for one of the 4 different hitches they carry for the 4Runner.

http://www.etrailer.com/hitch-2003_...s!to!maHH!aw!tp!c1!c2!c3!c4!c5!c6!c7!c8!c9&h=

the Hidden hitch is even rated higher than the one you got, for not a lot more money. And, if you need to go with a weight distribution setup, you will have a better unit to work with.

I know you will probably take somewhat of a loss on the one you have now, but you will have a better hitch, and be happier in the long run.

 

[chaz]

:iagree: ive used etrailer for years & never had a problem .

 

[clemsonxplorer]

I called today and they are giving me a full refund (shipping included). They were cool about it despite the website saying I was going to have to pay shipping. I am now going with the Curt one from here: Class III Receiver Hitch [13445] - $169.63 : The Hitch Store

 

[Burt]

I called today and they are giving me a full refund (shipping included). They were cool about it despite the website saying I was going to have to pay shipping. I am now going with the Curt one from here: Class III Receiver Hitch [13445] - $169.63 : The Hitch Store

I think you'll like the Curt. I put on that exact hitch and would do it again, if needed.

 

[clemsonxplorer]

The Curt one is crooked too!

I think I can fix this one though. The arm/bracket that attaches to the frame on the drivers side is bowing in so much that the holes at the end of the arm are off by 1.5". All I have to do is find a way to flex the arm out long enough to get the bolts in. I have one of those bars that spreads wider and wider when you spin it. I'm hoping this will work when I put it between the arms and start spreading it out. For now it just has the two big bolts on the driver side and all four bolts on the passenger side.

 

[TechWrench]

The Curt one is crooked too!

I think I can fix this one though. The arm/bracket that attaches to the frame on the drivers side is bowing in so much that the holes at the end of the arm are off by 1.5". All I have to do is find a way to flex the arm out long enough to get the bolts in. I have one of those bars that spreads wider and wider when you spin it. I'm hoping this will work when I put it between the arms and start spreading it out. For now it just has the two big bolts on the driver side and all four bolts on the passenger side.

One bad hitch I can understand, but two, from different manufacturers sounds unusual. Is it possible, that you have a bent frame rail on one side, which is flexing the hitch frame when you tighten mounting bolts?

 

[clemsonxplorer]

One bad hitch I can understand, but two, from different manufacturers sounds unusual. Is it possible, that you have a bent frame rail on one side, which is flexing the hitch frame when you tighten mounting bolts?

I would agree with you, but I know it is not the case. On the first hitch the holes lined up perfectly but the receiver itself was crooked. When I took it back off and layed it upside on the floor you could see it was crooked.
On the second hitch only the drivers side arm is crooked. When you look at the hitch on the 4runner it looks straight. I just have bad luck. If I can't flex the arm enough to get the bolts in then I will be returning it. UPDATE: I succeeded in flexing the arm/bracket out with a jack and 2x4. The hitch looks great.