[DerbyDad03]

I need to clean out the weld nuts on a 2011 CR-V to install a hitch. I need to use a tap due to the amount of rust. The driver's side was easy because full access is available. The passenger side is a different story. I removed the 2 muffler supports, but there doesn't seem to be enough room above the muffler to get my tap and handle in there.

There's lots of video's out there showing people tapping the driver's side, but none (that I found) show anyone tapping the passenger side.

Does anybody have any suggestions as to how to clean out the weld nuts above the muffler?

Thanks!

 

[crv383]

I would suggest trying a wire brush that is used to remove crud in engine block passage ways. They are cheap, flexible, get them at just about any auto parts store. Need penetrating oil as well.

 

[DerbyDad03]

Thanks for the response, but there's too much build up for a wire brush to clean the threads. I tried that method already. That's why I mentioned that I need to use a tap.

I'm mounting the hitch on 2011 now but next weekend I'll be doing the same on 2007 which I'm sure will be even worse.

 

[crv383]

Try starting a bolt maybe a thread or 2 by hand.....when it gets tight, stop. Back it out, wire brush and oil the nut. Try another thread or 2 by hand.....repeat.

 

[DerbyDad03]

Thanks again.

On the driver's side of the 2011, the bolt would not start at all. In fact, I had to be very careful to get the tap to start straight. There were no clear threads to catch in either hole. I guess I can try the bolt-only method on the '11 in the comfort of my driveway, but my major concern is (was) the '07 next week.

I'll be travelling about 350 miles to the house my daughter rents in a very rural part of Vermont. If I run into trouble with the install on the '07, there's not a lot of resources nearby and I only have the weekend to get it (and a lot of other things) done. I have however, hopefully solved the issue:

My daughter is moving and will be taking the CR-V on a 2500 mile road trip in a couple of weeks. She already has an appointment to have the car checked out/serviced on Monday. I called the shop this morning and asked them to try and clear the weld nuts for me so that I can just bolt the hitch on next weekend. If they can't do it with all their resources and the car up on a lift, I doubt I would have been able to do it lying on my back in the dirt.

So, I'm willing to pay a little bit to (hopefully) have her car ready for a quick bolt-on of the hitch. Then I can move on to installing the roof rack and the inside platform I'm building to make the packing more organized. She'll be camping along the way to her new home, so we're setting up her car for easy access to what she'll need access to.

 

[DerbyDad03]

So far, so good. I spoke to the owner of the shop and he said that he was able to clean all the required holes. My daughter had brought in a couple of M10 1.25 bolts and he said that they go in nice and easy.

Saturday's install should be a simple task.

 

[rocky]

Hopefully they are at least grade 5 bolts. That's a measure of their strength.

 

[DerbyDad03]

rocky: The bolts that Curt included with the hitch are zinc coated Class 10.9 bolts, which is essentially the equivalent of Grade 8, but in the metric space. I think they'll do.

The bolts my daughter took to the shop were standard "hardware store" bolts but they were just for testing/cleaning out the weld nuts, not for mounting the hitch. I have the Curt hitch/bolts with me, while she (and the car) are 350 miles away.

Paying to have the weld nuts cleaned and tested helped me sleep better the last few nights, knowing that I don't have to wrestle with them on Saturday. I've got too many other "Dad" things to do to get my daughter ready for her trip.

 

[crv383]

This stuff is amazing at preventing rust/corrosion, all kinds of uses. Might spray some on the new hitch bolts. Basically, it's cosmoline in a spray can.

Maxima Oils #95-02904 Chain Wax - MaximaUsa.com

Find 95-02904 Chain Wax from Maxima Oils you need and other parts at MaximaUsa.com, Santee, CA, Maxima Oils. CHAIN WAX is a parafilm bike chain lube that goes on wet. It penetrates rollers and side plates, then sets up to a soft, pliable wax. The chain will be encased in a protective layer and...

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[DerbyDad03]

Update: The hitch went on without any major issues. The only hard part was torquing the front bolt above the muffler. The length of my torque wrench meant that I had tighten the bolt one ratchet click at a time. I tightened the bolt as much as I thought was close with my shorter ratchet handle (3 clicks per cycle, which still sucked) then finished with the torque wrench. Holding the socket on the bolt while getting 1 click per cycle was getting boring and tiring. I'm glad I only needed to get to 49 ft-lbs.

My daughter and her girlfriend are all set for their 2500 mile drive/camping trip from Vermont to Colorado via West Virginia, Ozark National Forest, the Smokey Mountains, etc.

Thanks for the advice and suggestions.

 

[DerbyDad03]

This is the final configuration as the CR-V left for a 2500 mile move from rural Vermont to Denver CO. 2 passengers in the front and a whole bunch of stuff in the back. I helped them get the vehicle balanced as much as possible. Their original attempt at packing left it a little too tail heavy for my liking. All of their camping equipment is easily accessible either via the side doors or the carrier.

The girls completed the first 600 miles with 1 minor issue. The corner of the carrier right by the exhaust didn't handle the heat very well.

They will be moving the bungee cord to a cooler location before they begin the next segment.

 

[Wildcat]

That's odd--I had no issues chasing the threads with a tap in my '09, and the same for mounting it--the bolts were easily accessible, and I'm thinking I used a long extension to tighten them down.. All I did was drop the rear exhaust from its two hangers at the rear, but I can't remember if I dropped the next hanger towards the front. For me, the hardest part was working alone, and having to hold up the hitch while attaching it. (I used the Curt 13555....just be aware they start rusting within a year.) I attached it loosely first at the tie-down beneath the bumper, then swung the rest of it up to where I was able to get one bolt partly in each side, then the rest was just a matter of tightening them down. I might have used one of my floor jacks to keep it lifted.

If we keep our blue '09, I'm installing a hitch and a bumper bar/step since it's been run into in the rear three times already. It's way cheaper than paying an inflated insurance claim for five years, or replacing the bumper cover and lower tailgate garnish.

BTW, wish I was moving to Colorado, but we have a couple of years yet. We're looking at Colorado, Utah and Arizona to relocate. It'll take a bit more than a packed CR-V and trailer to move us though!

 

[DerbyDad03]

That's odd--I had no issues chasing the threads with a tap in my '09, and the same for mounting it--the bolts were easily accessible, and I'm thinking I used a long extension to tighten them down.. All I did was drop the rear exhaust from its two hangers at the rear, but I can't remember if I dropped the next hanger towards the front.

Obviously I can't say if you removed the next hanger towards the front. I do know that there was no way for me to use an extension on the front hole with just the 2 rear hangers removed. I chose not to remove the next hanger because I didn't want to take any chance of anything going wrong just a couple of days before their trip. They had no flex in their schedule and living in rural VT means that everything takes longer than it would elsewhere.

For me, the hardest part was working alone, and having to hold up the hitch while attaching it. (I used the Curt 13555....just be aware they start rusting within a year.) I attached it loosely first at the tie-down beneath the bumper, then swung the rest of it up to where I was able to get one bolt partly in each side, then the rest was just a matter of tightening them down. I might have used one of my floor jacks to keep it lifted.

I had help lifting it enough to hang it on the tow loop but I recall doing my Odyssey by myself and there is no tow loop use, just the frame mounting points. I used my floor jack.

BTW, wish I was moving to Colorado, but we have a couple of years yet. We're looking at Colorado, Utah and Arizona to relocate. It'll take a bit more than a packed CR-V and trailer to move us though!

Being young helps. The girls did the same thing that my son and his girlfriend did when they moved from Reno to Ohio last month:

They sold all their furniture and other non-personal stuff on Facebook and Craigslist and will buy everything they need on Facebook and Craigslist at the new location. Most of the stuff they owned was obtained that way anyway. My son did need a small trailer, but the girls were more aggressive because they didn't want to tow.

2 more days and the girls will be in Denver. That's when I can finally relax a bit.

 

[Wildcat]

Obviously I can't say if you removed the next hanger towards the front. I do know that there was no way for me to use an extension on the front hole with just the 2 rear hangers removed.

I may be doing the same 13555 hitch on our blue '09 if we decide to keep it much longer--I will have to take better notes next time. ? I would only do it to add a bumper/step to the rear since it's been hit two or three times back there already. (And I have to wait until the body shop can pull out the crease in the spare tire bin, since whoever hit it in the parking lot nailed that tie-down hook, and it's pushed further back than it should be.) We're just waiting for the new insurance laws to go into effect so our rate won't be so outrageous when we decide to get it fixed. This is the Rhino 360T bumper I'm looking at:

Being young helps. The girls did the same thing that my son and his girlfriend did when they moved from Reno to Ohio last month:

They sold all their furniture and other non-personal stuff on Facebook and Craigslist and will buy everything they need on Facebook and Craigslist at the new location. Most of the stuff they owned was obtained that way anyway. My son did need a small trailer, but the girls were more aggressive because they didn't want to tow.

2 more days and the girls will be in Denver. That's when I can finally relax a bit.

I'm lucky that the Denver area is just over a 1½ day drive from here. 20 hours, actually. I can relate to the part about being young. We still have boxes from our own two prior households, and I still have boxes from when I cleaned out my parents' house around 2005. We'll be doing a lot of downsizing so we don't have so much to move. My youngest, on the other hand, could probably fit her favorite belongings into a smaller trailer and have enough room for everything.

 

[Wildcat]

BTW, for occasional tap use, I picked up a metric tap and die set from Harbor Freight. I had to use it when I removed the rear seats in my '09, as I was hauling a pair of boxes that were 62 inches long. A few of the eight bolts would not go back in, so I cleared the weld nuts out with the appropriate tap, and cleaned up the bolts with the matching die.