Your cart is empty.
Your cart is empty.CURT 12231 Class 2 Trailer Hitch, 1-1/4-Inch Receiver, Fits Select Lexus LS430
Glenn B
2025-09-03 10:13:28
This hitch is shocking given its $288 price tag (it's only 25 pounds of steel, after all), appalling alignment of the mounting holes, cheap zinc-plated bolts, Mao Zedong era instruction sheet, and overall poor design quality.Starting with the alignment, the reader must believe what everyone else is saying about how poorly aligned these mounting holes are. If you want to make this work don't even bother trying to install it when it does ship; just take it out of its box and find some means to bend one of the two plates the mounting holes are in. Continue to bend the steel until holes have moved by 10mm or so. You will need a metal press capable of bending quarter-inch steel. You will not get this installed otherwise.The second issue is the supplied mounting bolts. First of all, the bolts do not accept a 17mm socket like the factory bolts do, but rather a 3/4" socket. Don't ask me why, other than they were the only bolt lying around their shop. An alternate explanation is because since this item has such poorly aligned holes, they were expecting the hapless purchaser to take out his drill and drill out larger holes to accommodate the misalignment; thus they supply a larger bolt head than the factory size to cover the larger holes size drilled by the frustrated and victimized consumer. Secondly, these bolts are not tapered at the base as the factory bolts are. This makes it all the more difficult to install with an irregularly fitting trailer hitch. Third issue is the cheap zinc plating, just like cheap bolts are plated.Third issue with this failboat is the ridiculous install sheet. They list the supplied bolts as 12mm when they're 3/4†bolts. And the factory bolts are 17mm. Instructions are 1970s-era Chinese instructions, with inaccurate dimensions, broken English and overly cursory instructions (eg, "step 1: remove exhaust bracket temporarily. Step 2: install trailer hitch. Step 3: using the supplied 12mm bolts, bolt the brackets to the hitch to the frame. Step 4: torque to 84 lbs/ft. Install complete."). Now this poorly executed product that is worth scrap value for steel yet set me back around $300 actually cost me much more than that. I'm trying to clear out my storage but I can't as I can't move my property due to not being able to move it. I also rented a U-Haul for $200 that I can't use for to there being no hitch.I hope this review helps someone. I know who it won't help, however. It won't help the company because if they haven't fixed the issue by now then they never will. Only class legal action will resuscitate this company into changing their lazy ways.
Marc Cook
2025-04-03 10:56:23
It was a little difficult to install on my 2005 Lexus LS 430. The support brackets for both mufflers had to be removed and then replaced below the mounting brackets for the hitch. The holes were tough to match up given two brackets stacked together. Possible as a DIY'er, but not easy.
Kang
2025-03-04 15:30:31
Bought this hitch along with a CURT 56187 (wiring 4pin) so that I can tow a small uhaul trailer on my LS430 2004. Hitch itself was pretty difficult to install. Unscrewing the six screws were pretty easy but lining up the holes of the muffler bracket, plus the hitch itself does not leave much room for the screw to find the hole and screw in. Hitch itself probably took ~2+ hours from start to finish (raising the car to lowering the car). If you know your way around a car, you can probably do it in an hour or less with the right tools. The hitch itself didnt come bent like the other review. Though there wasnt much padding in the box it came in, it looked brand new and free from defects.
RussellB
2025-02-24 13:00:54
This is not an easy installation! I ended up using jacks under the mufflers to support the weight of the exhaust and the hitch which made things a lot easier. My plan was to install one bolt on each side and then install the remaining bolts, since then everything would be aligned. The problem is that once I got the bolt in on one side, the other side was 1/2 inch off and the holes would not line up. I was not fighting gravity since I was using jacks, so my only conclusion is the hitch is bent. After 4 hours, defeated, I decided this is a job for pros.
Matt K.
2025-02-11 15:13:28
Fit great, fairly easy to install and strong. Holds 2 bikes very solid.
AC
2025-01-31 20:41:31
You need to know the following when buying hitches from CURT:* They presently ship them without packing material, loose in a large box.* The lack of packing material and the way shipping companies treat parcels means you will likely get a bent hitch. (Where the holes don't align with your vehicle.)* CURT is well aware of this problem and can help you if you call them.I've rated this three stars because although the hitch is well made, I believe that curt could have done a better job in getting this item to me and with the instructions, specifically:* If you know people are buying your hitch and it's getting bent in shipping frequently, why not improve your packaging materials?* Failing that, why not incorporate an update to your instructions telling customers to check if the hitch is bent using a square angle and center-to-center measurements? (At least this way you'll know if you are wasting your time trying to install before realigning the hitch mounts to the car's holes.)* Why not update the instructions to show appropriate ways to unbend the hitch and align it? (I ended up finding a review on Amazon from someone who bought a CURT 114683 that provided CURT's alignment instructions in their review--pictures would have made this even more awesome).In the end it took me a number of hours to install after using a jack and a 2x4 to unbend the hitch and align it to my vehicle. Once that was done, installation was relatively easy (doing it on your own, you'll probably want to use some items to support the hitch to help you in getting it installed initially).The hitch is well made and arrives with hardware to install it. Sadly, the current instructions do not keep pace with the product and hardware, but that would be cheap and easy for CURT to improve.
parker
2024-11-15 11:20:39
as advertised
Recommended Products
$165.11
$ 79 .99 $79.99