1st Gen Taco Trailer Hitches: BEWARE of Curt (Model 13013)!!!

Hello Fellow 1st Gen Taco Fans!

I have a 1998 Tacoma DLX, and wanted to share some recent challenges I've had with trying to get a trailer hitch for this truck. This is a longer thread, sorry. Pictures I took at end speak tons.

My first hitch I went with was the Curt (Model 13013). I installed it, very straightforward. They provide two 1/2" carriage bolts, you're expected to use the OEM bolts for the side wings. This is OK, but my OEM bolts were showing some age, and they were a touch short, so I replaced with M12x1.25x35 (I think the 35mm long).

Lets start with the Curt (Model 13013), since that's what I bought, installed, all torqued in (although I never could get confirmation on the torque for the M12 bolts that attach the "wings" of the hitch to the side of the C-channels under the truck, I guessed at about 55-ft lbs or so).

The Curt (Model 13013), hmmm, where should I start. Well, it is, overall, an extremely nice hitch. The welds are all solid, and plenty of them. The paint, really solid as well. The side wings, nice.

The issue, and this is a gnarly and sinister issue, the flat plate the hitch uses to attach to the bottom section of C-channel on your truck, is welded out of plane of the two side mounting holes. Like, way off plane. So far off plane, my whole C-channel warped down when I tightened. So off-plane, I needed a friend and a six foot digging bar stuck into the 2" receiver, their weight on the six foot digging bar to pry down on it while I attached the wing bolts.

This is the first hitch I've ever installed. Being as old as the truck is, and proven Curt hitches are, I didn't know what to expect. I torqued it all down, and I tell you, the amount that C-channel bent down to respond to the out of plane surface of the Curt (Model 13013) hitch, was impressive to say the least.

The C-channel the Tacoma frame is made out of is a bit thin (in my opinion). Not something you want to put a lot of induced forces on when you're not towing.

None the less, I reached out to Curt, spoke to two pretty nasty gentlemen. When I described the problem to the first, he said I installed the hitch wrong, I need to take a tap to the weld nut. I asked, what will tapping the weld nut do for my bent C-channel. He kept saying I need to tap it, clean out the threads. Then he went on to say, I need to take it to a trailer hitch installer to verify my install. I asked if U-haul was OK, he said it was, so off I went.

U-haul was awesome. They took a look, and was like, yup, it's bent down, maybe an 1/8". The install was fine, it was the way the hitch was fabricated. I called Curt back, spoke to another nasty gentlemen, who said my truck was rear ended. I said, no it wasn't. I pointed out my truck didn't have a weld nut as shown on their diagrams. (side note: An early diagram of theirs shows a weld nut only in the front, a later shows two weld nuts. In place of a rear weld nut, I have an oval.). When I mentioned that, he said my weld nuts were sheared off, said their diagram is correlated with the factory, my truck is an anomaly (even though, as I mentioned, the earlier sketch of theirs shows just one weld nut like mine). He basically refused to listen to me. He said Curt couldn't do anything, this is an old hitch model, and they've never had issues like this. The only thing, Curt would support my return. I bought it from AutoZone, so instead of returning, I exchanged it for another.

Low and behold, the other one came in, and still, that flat surface is out of plane with the side bolt holes. The interesting thing, it wasn't as out of plane as my original hitch I bought, but out of plane enough. I returned it on the spot.

I went ahead and then bought a Draw-Tite (Model 75078). I ordered through Amazon. Horribly made hitch, overall. The welds were sloppy, the pieces not fitted together squarely and symmetrically, paint peeling off when you were just looking at it, in sheets. It was bad. The one plus, that surface was in plane with the two side holes of the wings (I unfortunately did not take photos of that). The major oddity with the Draw-Tite, the side wings are not symmetrical. For some reason, one is "fatter" than the other. I'm not sure why. I sent that back to Amazon.

So I reached out to Husky Towing, asking about their hitch (Model Husky 69553c). I shared with them the challenges I had with Curt, sending them photos. It turns out, they get their hitches from Curt. The one I corresponded with confirmed, their hitch was the same, with the angled flat plate. So that's out.

I also reached out to Armordillo (Model 7168060). I explained the situation. They have their hitches made by a third party, independent of Curt. They were really nice. He actually got a hold of one of his hitches from their warehouse, took a look, and confirmed, they also have that sloped flat plate (they described it as a 5-deg slope). He is going to reach out to his R&D team and look into it further, but this will take 6 months or so to realize.

I know there is eBay, as a source of random trailer hitch manufacturers, but that makes me nervous, getting a hitch not made right, then having to wade through a scary return policy.

I went ahead and just ordered a Reese (Model 51108) from Amazon. The challenge is, it's basically the Draw-Tite model. I'm kind of taking a chance, hoping this one is fabricated better? The reviews on Amazon seemed pretty solid, well see.

Pictures below show some of the challenges with the Curt (Model 13013). The install is pretty clear from the clean store bought one. I used a metal ruler to help show how out of plane that surface is with the C-channel and the two wing holes. It's impressive.

The is a photo of the drivers side wing of the second Curt (Model 13013) hitch I bought, with that flat plate out of plane of the two side holes. I took this photo in AutoZone. I just returend the hitch on the spot.​

The is a photo of the passenger side wing of the second Curt (Model 13013) hitch I bought, with that flat plate out of plane of the two side holes.​

This is a photo of the passenger side wing of the first Curt (Model 13013) hitch I bought. Note the flat surface, out of plane of the two mounting holes in the wing.


This is a photo of the drivers side wing of the first Curt (Model 13013) hitch I bought. Note the flat surface, out of plane of the two mounting holes in the wing.


The Curt (Model 13013) is installed on my truck, all torqued and ready to go. Note the C-channel pulled down due to poor fabrication of the hitch.


Another photo of that passenger side, with ruler on face of plate, clearly out of plane with rest of C-channel


Drivers side of the same installed hitch. Note the angle out of plane the surface that mounts on the bottom of the C-channel


This is the drivers side again, note how much the C-channel is bent down from the surface on the hitch being out of plane with the side holes and rest of C-channel.​

The drivers side, clear view of C-channel bent down due to poor hitch fabrication.​

The Curt (Model 13013) hitch.

​

End view of drivers side, note the C-channel bent down. It even appears the thick washer the carriage bolt is also warped under the strain.

Note the passenger side C-channel, bent down due to the mis-fabrication of Curt (Model 13013).


When I took the carriage bolt out, the C-channel relaxed some, but was still bent on driver side. Note, the two wing bolts were still installed.
​

When I took the carriage bolt out, the C-channel relaxed some, but was still bent on passenger side. Note, the two wing bolts were still installed.​

 

Welcome to TW! Very interesting topic. I was thinking of adding a tow hitch to my truck, so I’m interested to see how the Reese hitch looks. The pictures you posted clearly allowed me to see what you were talking about. Thanks for taking the time to write about what you found, and please report back with pics of the Reese

 

Quality control on quite a few parts has gone down hill.

Your is one of the better ones I have seen the last 2 years .

I would have had no problem using it. Then That is me.

Just curious did you put all the bolts in finger tight then slowly go around and tighten them?? Any other way tends to pull things making it harder.

Good luck finding a better one !! I will be watching.

 

Geez. Too bad I scrapped my oem one.

I wonder why so many have the incorrect angle across manufacturers.

 

They might all be made in the same shed sold under different manufactures labels .

Someone built the Jig wrong hit or miss quality control .

 

Yeah, seems about right. Sigh.

 

Odd. I bought the same hitch from Amazon last year and had no issues with it. Your post made me go out in the garage to check and everything lines up. I did have to lift the hitch and bumper up to align them before tightening the fasteners.

 

I have this one from Hidden Hitch on my truck, not sure if it's still available or manufactured by a different company. It's a very solid unit and mounted up perfectly.

Hidden Hitch 87579 Class III Trailer Hitch

https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Hitch-87579-Class-Trailer/dp/B000CO8SCG

 

Yeah, QC on hitches doesn't seem great. I bought a Curt 11204 (to put a bike rack on my Civic) a while back that was so far out of spec I couldn't even install it. It was missing hardware on top of it.

That was from Amazon, so I just asked for a replacement.

The replacement was fine but I felt silly carrying the original to the Amazon returns counter in the back of the local Kohl's.

 

I used to install hitches for a job about 15 years ago. We used mostly draw tite hitches which were always top notch. We decided to try out curt hitches here and there bc they were a bit cheaper. They often came a little bent and needed some bending to get them fit correctly. Never had the problem once with draw tite though.

 

I wanted to order one of these, but no one had it in stock, and one site said this was 'discontinued'...

Ebay had an open box Draw Tite 75078 for $60 off the price of new, so I ordered that to give it a try. Fingers crossed.

 

I have this one. Came with the truck. Never towed anything but the previous owner towed his fishing boat all the time with it. Looks to be good quality.

 

found one on sale... cant remember which brand. piss poor fit, so i had a friend weld it on. it was a business truck at one time so ive towed my fair share with it. not worth the liability jerry riggin shit when towing

 

Yeah I bought it probably 10 years ago. Does a great job towing my little trailer. I also like that it has a spot for the 4-pin connector.

 

This came in a while back. The box was sort of beat up, and the hitch had a few edge spots where the powder coat had come off. Also one of the side flanges had a slight bend in it. A big hammer later and a few coats of touch-up paint, back to good. It went on without an issue, and is quite solid. I am quite pleased with the open box Ebay Draw Tite 75078 hitch.

 

I am surprised no one has mentioned https://www.etrailer.com/fitguide.htm.
etrailer.com states it is:

"... the #1 online retailer of aftermarket trailer hitches – the best place to research and shop for hitches.
Just tell us your year, make, and model, and we’ll show you everything we know about the custom-fit hitches available for your vehicle: how they look, how they install, towing capacity, and customer reviews. We'll even show you related products that will help you get the most out of your new hitch.
We carry hitches from the leading brands including Curt, Draw-Tite, B&W, Tork-Lift, and Eco-Hitch. We offer hitches for nearly every vehicle on the road, including the most popular makes and models from Ford, Chevy, GMC, Cadillac, Dodge, Jeep, and Toyota."​

Besides a wide selection of products from many manufacturers, they provide EXCELLENT customer support: Live Chat (not a bot), Installation videos, Help Articles, and Expert Q&A.

If you liked the support you found at Crutchfield you will like dealing with etrailer.com.

Take a look at their info for your Curt 13013. Also, their video Best 1998 Toyota Tacoma Trailer Hitches .