Friends,
Thought I'd post a summary of the install of all the gear, wiring etc. to setup to to our 2008 Honda CRV as a toad. I've asked a number of questions on this forum and thought I'd provide an update on what I installed and how it all went.
First I have to thank my great next door neighbor who helped me with the install. I could not have done this without his expertise. He is a car guy (I'm an accountant) and he restores old trucks and has a pristine '69 Malibu, a 3 car garage with a lift and every tool you can imagine. I can't thank him enough.
Here's a list of what we installed.
-- Roadmaster Baseplate http://www.hitchsource.com/roadmaster-ez5-tow-bar-brackets-07-11-honda-crv-p-37478.html - $415.00
-- Ready Brute Tow bar - http://www.hitchsource.com/nsa-ready-brake-ready-brute-elite-tow-bar-p-32823.html -- $1,100.00 (Incl Clevises)
-- Tow Bar Cover - http://www.hitchsource.com/nsa-ready-brute-tow-bar-cover-p-32959.html - $65.00
-- Break Away Kit - http://www.hitchsource.com/nsa-ready-brute-tow-bar-vehicle-break-away-kit-p-32973.html#tab_reviews - $97.00
-- Roadmaster Tail Light Wiring Kit - http://www.hitchsource.com/roadmaster-diode-wire-to-wire-flexo-coil-wiring-kit-p-36643.html - $125.95
Baseplate install was a breeze. Instructions that came with it were great. Only minor adjustment we needed to make was to file one of the bolt holes on the baseplate little, was just off the hole on the frame a tad. Other than that, it fit perfectly.
Ready Brake braking system install was probably the toughest, not because of the equipment but because you have to drill a hole through the firewall to attach a cable to the brake peddle, determining the spot to drill the hole was the toughest (scariest) part. The firewall from inside the car looks quite different than the engine side because of bends and double walled portions of the frame. But after an hour of measuring and contemplating the best spot, you just take a shot, drill it and hope you don't hit anything. We got lucky and hit the best spot possible. If anyone else has an '08 CRV and wants to do this, I'd be glad to send a pic of where we put it.
Once the hole was in for the Ready Brake, the hole for the Break-away cable & install was easy.
Only thing that took a bunch of time was the tail light kit. Instructions were really good but you really had to plan out what kit wire went to what car wire because the car used 3 different lights for running, turn-signal and brake lights, the RV used only the tail lights, what they called a combined to separate install. While the actual placement of the wires (avoiding hot spots & moving parts) was a challenge, the thing that really made it tough was that once we got all of the wires & diodes installed, as careful as we were it wasn't working right and we were sure we installed it right. Long story short... two lights on the car burned out during the install. A quick trip to the Auto parts store... all worked!
The Ready Brute Towbar was easy but once all was installed and we tested and checked everything, we hooked up the car and took it out for a short test drive. Everything worked great. But once back at the house, I noticed there was a big gouge in one of the tow bar parts that would pivot as you turned, a part right up near the receiver end. Looked like one of the parts on the Tow bar was not manufactured correctly and the spacing was out of tolerance. It made a 1/16 inch gouge out of the aluminum. While I don't think it impacted the function or integrity of the tow bar, it just wasn't right. I called NSA Products, the manufacture of the tow bar, sent them some pictures and they put two new parts in the mail that day. Really responsive to my call and was great in understanding what was wrong. I was really impressed with their customer service.
Any case... that's my story. While I've worked on a bunch of cars 40 years ago, this is not something I've done much of recently but thanks to my neighbor, it went really well and quite frankly, I really enjoyed doing it.
Now, we're all set to hit the road!
.\Mark
Thought I'd post a summary of the install of all the gear, wiring etc. to setup to to our 2008 Honda CRV as a toad. I've asked a number of questions on this forum and thought I'd provide an update on what I installed and how it all went.
First I have to thank my great next door neighbor who helped me with the install. I could not have done this without his expertise. He is a car guy (I'm an accountant) and he restores old trucks and has a pristine '69 Malibu, a 3 car garage with a lift and every tool you can imagine. I can't thank him enough.
Here's a list of what we installed.
-- Roadmaster Baseplate http://www.hitchsource.com/roadmaster-ez5-tow-bar-brackets-07-11-honda-crv-p-37478.html - $415.00
-- Ready Brute Tow bar - http://www.hitchsource.com/nsa-ready-brake-ready-brute-elite-tow-bar-p-32823.html -- $1,100.00 (Incl Clevises)
-- Tow Bar Cover - http://www.hitchsource.com/nsa-ready-brute-tow-bar-cover-p-32959.html - $65.00
-- Break Away Kit - http://www.hitchsource.com/nsa-ready-brute-tow-bar-vehicle-break-away-kit-p-32973.html#tab_reviews - $97.00
-- Roadmaster Tail Light Wiring Kit - http://www.hitchsource.com/roadmaster-diode-wire-to-wire-flexo-coil-wiring-kit-p-36643.html - $125.95
Baseplate install was a breeze. Instructions that came with it were great. Only minor adjustment we needed to make was to file one of the bolt holes on the baseplate little, was just off the hole on the frame a tad. Other than that, it fit perfectly.
Ready Brake braking system install was probably the toughest, not because of the equipment but because you have to drill a hole through the firewall to attach a cable to the brake peddle, determining the spot to drill the hole was the toughest (scariest) part. The firewall from inside the car looks quite different than the engine side because of bends and double walled portions of the frame. But after an hour of measuring and contemplating the best spot, you just take a shot, drill it and hope you don't hit anything. We got lucky and hit the best spot possible. If anyone else has an '08 CRV and wants to do this, I'd be glad to send a pic of where we put it.
Once the hole was in for the Ready Brake, the hole for the Break-away cable & install was easy.
Only thing that took a bunch of time was the tail light kit. Instructions were really good but you really had to plan out what kit wire went to what car wire because the car used 3 different lights for running, turn-signal and brake lights, the RV used only the tail lights, what they called a combined to separate install. While the actual placement of the wires (avoiding hot spots & moving parts) was a challenge, the thing that really made it tough was that once we got all of the wires & diodes installed, as careful as we were it wasn't working right and we were sure we installed it right. Long story short... two lights on the car burned out during the install. A quick trip to the Auto parts store... all worked!
The Ready Brute Towbar was easy but once all was installed and we tested and checked everything, we hooked up the car and took it out for a short test drive. Everything worked great. But once back at the house, I noticed there was a big gouge in one of the tow bar parts that would pivot as you turned, a part right up near the receiver end. Looked like one of the parts on the Tow bar was not manufactured correctly and the spacing was out of tolerance. It made a 1/16 inch gouge out of the aluminum. While I don't think it impacted the function or integrity of the tow bar, it just wasn't right. I called NSA Products, the manufacture of the tow bar, sent them some pictures and they put two new parts in the mail that day. Really responsive to my call and was great in understanding what was wrong. I was really impressed with their customer service.
Any case... that's my story. While I've worked on a bunch of cars 40 years ago, this is not something I've done much of recently but thanks to my neighbor, it went really well and quite frankly, I really enjoyed doing it.
Now, we're all set to hit the road!
.\Mark
