I'm shopping for a trailer hitch with wiring harness for my 2011 Fit base w/automatic.

This is the least expensive I can find w/free shipping $167.14.

Any thoughts, ideas or suggestions greatly appreciated. I already know the manual says not to tow with the Fit. JIm 0311

2009-2011 Honda Fit Trailer Hitch + Wiring Kit | eBay

 

I bought mine from etrailer.com.

Draw-Tite Trailer Hitch for Honda Fit 2010 - 24826

Wiring is another $45 bucks but buy a little something else and get free shipping for over $150 spent.

Service is great with these guys and I'd buy from them again.

 

I bought my hitch from that same Ebay seller and got great service. I paid $126 with free shipping but no wiring kit. I bought that from another Ebay seller for $34 but see their price has increased slightly now.
CURT 4 way Trailer Hitch Wiring Light Kit plug n play | eBay

So my total was $160 which is only $7 less than your link. I was also considering etrailer.com but the Ebay combo worked out the cheapest. Note the etrailer link above does not include drawbar, hitch pin and clip. Those will cost you about $25 so if ordering from etrailer.com and you need those then cheaper to buy the Hidden Hitch (same exact hitch as DrawTite) for $127 which includes them.
Trailer Hitch by Hidden Hitch for 2009 Fit - 60218

Also I very highly recommend that wiring harness instead of cheaper harness that requires cutting and splicing. The plug and play connectors make install so easy and so easily reversable in the future if you ever want to remove your hitch. Well worth the extra cost IMO. Hitch is easily removable as well, only 4 bolts need to be removed and back to stock as no holes need to be drilled for install.

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How much do y'all tow with the fit? Or do you just use it to hold a bike rack?

 

One or two dirt bikes on a medium weight 4'x8' trailer. Typical max weight with one bike 600 lbs, with two bikes 900 lbs.

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My recommendation:

Curt Class I - 1-1/4"
Product # 11064

It's a three point mount, IMO best for the Fit.

On other small cars I've always used Draw-Tite

 

Pics!

 

Thanks for the responses, always appreciated. I will buy the combo package from Ebay vendor.

etrailer does not show the hitch as fitting the 2011, I'm sure it does. And I find their harness selection difficult to navigate.

So I'm off to order, thanks again. JIm 0311

 

Hold on! At 900lbs you will be at the top end of the GVWR{listed in your manual}. Add any passengers,gear, full tank of gas,and what have you and you exceeded that. They put the GVWR {gross vehicle weight rating}there for a purpose,as it is the capacity of the brakes,and suspension without handling and stopping issues at full weight. That is really my concern,that and the tongue weight of the trailer. Like most bike trailers it will probably exceed 150-300lbs once loaded and at the very end of the vehicle fulcrum point and will put a unbalanced load on the car GREATLY affecting handling and stopping. At best you could install a load distribution hitch,and electric brakes on the trailer,but you still may be exceeding all the ratings of the FIT making you and your trailer a hazzard to yourself and others with a car like the FIT. I have been towing trailers commercial & recreational for over 30 years. I have some idea what I am talking about. If you do this,just glad I don't live in your state. In my state if it appears you are overloaded,you will get stopped by the police,weighed,and fined. I am sorry but I don't think the FIT brakes/suspension are good enough just for the vehicle,let alone adding that much extra.

PaFitter

 

I'll post some after the long weekend. I'm trailering one bike and then picking up another for the ride back nhome.

At the top end of vehicle rating? No, not even for my absolute max trailering load. Vehicle rating also has a safety buffer built in already and I'm not even close to that rating so what is the issue? GVWR is 3512lbs (from door jamb) minus car weight of 2520lbs leaves 992 lbs for passengers, cargo and tongue weight. My tongue weight at absolute max two bike load is 100lbs, add two 200lb passengers and 50 lbs of gear equals total of only 550lbs. For my typical use of single passenger and single bike, total is only 325lbs. Add another 60lbs max to both totals for a full fuel tank. If trailer is loaded, balanced, hitch drawbar leveled and tongue weight controlled properly then pulling a trailer in this range is a non issue.

Not a hazard and not overloading if done properly. I've had zero issues or concerns with braking and handling as loaded per above. Of course I do watch my speed more closely and leave greater following distances in front as you should pulling any trailer.

I think you have a greater chance of overloading a Fit full with passengers and cargo than you do pulling a small trailer. For example: 5 average sized teenage football players plus gear and gas could easily be 960lbs or more. My 550lb trailering max load pales in comparison to that.

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Always good to bring up the safety aspect. There seems to be an appalling lack of good judgment and common sense today. Of course much good judgment comes from lessons learned from bad judgment.

The owners manual states that the Fit is not designed for towing!! Unless of course you purchased it in any country but the USA.

On occasion I need to pick up a couple sheets of plywood from big box store, Take my little lawn tractor in for service. All well within the ratings of the Fit. I'm not going to take a 26 foot travel trailer up in the Rocky's.

Seem's like there should be a big girl joke in here, but I just can't think of one
JIm 0311

 

And Fits are built at common assembly plants to same specifications, yet one coming off the assembly line is designed to tow 1,000 lbs while the very next one coming off the line is shipping to USA so not designed to tow anything. haha

Even Honda wasn't good in editing their USA owners manual. While it clearly changed one section to "not designed for towing, can void your warranty..." look at page 210. Following is word for word from manual, explaining how to safely set trailer towing limits.

(6) If your vehicle will be towing a
trailer, load from your trailer will be
transferred to your vehicle. Consult
this manual to determine how this
reduces the available cargo and

luggage load capacity of your vehicle.

In addition, the total weight of the
vehicle, all occupants, accessories,
cargo, and trailer tongue load must
not exceed the Gross Vehicle Weight
Rating (GVWR) or the Gross Axle
Weight Rating (GAWR). Both are on

a label on the driver's doorjamb.

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My 2010 owners manual only has 146pgs??

However, your find supports the fact that a Honda acknowledges towing on the Fit.

Here's another thread currently running on the subject: https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/gene...it-handle.html

 

That was from the Honda online manual, it must include additional info. I don't think I've ever opened the printed manual in my glovebox.

Here is Honda link. The menu page numbers are all hyper links so makes navigating the manual very easy. Usually only two clicks away from the exact page you need.
http://techinfo.honda.com/rjanisis/p...TK62009OMA.pdf

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Looking at the ratings for the UK Jazz, I'm struck by first, how pricy even the car is there, but also how much extra load it can carry. The max load weight is 1555kg (~3000lb). Their fit has two different tow bar accessories, and can handle 1000 lb trailers without a problem.

 

Must be less attorneys in UK!

 

Exactly what Silverbullet printed out,you are exceeding the GVWR with a 900lb trailer attached plus your internal load and vehicle weight. But hey,go ahead,it's your vehicle,and maybe you and your passengers life,and at what price are you prepared to pay? Just don't want to hear you belly aching when you post pictures of the accident,or replacing something overtaxed and broken and they deny your warranty. Your insurance company may be denying your claim too when it clearly states "NO Towing", just saying. Don't gave a dam what european Fit's say they can tow,you live here in US and a lawyer could eat you alive if you hurt someone because you "think" you will be OK. Darwinism at it's worst. Knock yourself out,just stay out of Pa.

PaFitter

 

Actually the salesman told me I can tow with it, I have a witness!

If you can't tow with it, why did that company sell me a towbar?

It's in the manual? Nobody told me to read the manual!

Only girlymen read manuals!

Who said anything about a 900 lb trailer? JIm 0311

 

1555kg is not max load weight it is GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating). That includes weight of car, occupants, cargo and gas. 1555kg equals 3421lbs so 92lbs less than a North American Fit rating of 3512lbs.

You still don't get it do you? Did you really read what I posted? 900lbs of trailer weight DOES NOT add into GVWR. It is only the trailer tongue weight that adds to GVWR. I have a 442lb safety margin under GVWR in my worse case scenario and typical case is 667lbs under GVWR. How is that unsafe? Stop trying to scare people here with your nonsense. If you don't want to pull a trailer with your Fit that is your choice so don't do it. But stop making stories with distorted facts and bad information trying to scare others.

Side bar info: I have rented a trailer multiple times at U-Haul and declared my vehicle as the Fit. No issue for them whatsoever and they do have some vehicles flagged. Try to rent any trailer from them with a Ford Explorer and it will be a no go. Imagine a 2 ton SUV is denied renting the same trailer that U-Haul deems safe pulled by my Fit. My point is it is all about the lawyers and lawsuits not about capabilities or common sense.

Only valid point PaFitter makes is about your warranty. Honda can and probably would deny all warranty claims that could be linked to trailer pulling. My warranty is already over so not an issue for me but if my car was brand new with 3 yrs/36 months warranty remaining I would think hard.

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FWIW, they do call it Maximum Load Weight, though I agree it's more likely that's the equivalent of what we would call GVWR.