Honda CRV Trailer Hitch Page

We’ll keep you posted about other products and vehicles as we add the pages to the site.  Now Honda CR-V owners can purchase accessories that are known to be compatible with the CRV.

Torklift tie downs look a lot like a receiver trailer hitch.  They have a receiver portion and a tie-down portion.  This allows you to attach the mounts once and to only use the tie downs when you need them.  When you’re not using them, the tie downs are removed and the receiver portion is virtually invisible on your truck.

How do they fit such a wide range of trucks?  Well as the guy who added them to the site, I can tell you that there are A LOT of models of these suckers.  They’ve custom fitted them to each application, so you can be assured that they will fit like a glove (not like OJ’s…).  We’ve linked in the installation instructions for each bracket so you can see what you’re getting yourself into before you start.  The camper tie down brackets are designed to mount to existing holes on the frame where possible and, do not affect the ground clearance of your truck.

We’ve taken our normal philosophy of providing product selectors and have developed a Torklift Tie Down Selector to help customers find the models right for your truck rather than having them dig through pages and pages of listings.  In addition to the Make, Model, and Bed length of your truck, the type of hitch and the running board configuration is important in selecting the right brackets.  Let us know what you think of the selector.

We’re excited about our new relationship with Torklift and are looking forward to working with them on their quality camper products.

My iPhone dropped out of my pocket onto some rocks the other day. It only fell about 2 feet, but it smashed the screen to smithereens. The screen still worked and I put packing tape over it to protect my face while I considered my options for fixing it. There were some vague tutorials out there on this subject, and I was a little apprehensive, but decided to give it a go. Apple wants almost $300 to fix the screen, which seems steep for a $400 phone. I ordered a replacement glass face off of eBay for about $25 and it arrived in about 10 days.

This morning I did a run to the local hardware store and Radio Shack to pick up the required tools. I bought an X-Acto knife with a flat, stub-nosed blade for prying the glass off the LCD, some Goo-Gone for helping to loosen the glue holding the glass to the LCD, some cotton swabs for applying the Goo-Gone, some Windex for cleaning the LCD, and some Elmer’s rubber cement for glueing the glass on.

In the image above you can see how I’m using the blade to gently lift the glass shards while using the q-tip to apply Goo-Gone to loosen the adhesive. It takes a long time… Set aside 2-3 hours if you want to do it right. I recommend applying the Goo-Gone liberally before lifting the glass so that any air pockets created will be filled with the solvent. Be very slow and deliberate and let the glass lift itself as much as possible. If your screen is not shattered as badly as mine, it will be more difficult or nearly impossible, as the larger chunks are very hard to remove. I thought about trying a hair dryer to soften the glue, but didn’t have one handy.

Once the glass has been largely removed, I used the same blade to scrape off the adhesive. I think I went a little overboard with the Goo-Gone. More on that later… You can also see some O-ring sticking out of the sides of the phone. That o-ring was damaged pretty badly getting this apart since it was glued into the adhesive in places. I’m not sure how important it is, but I’m not going to worry about it.

Above you can see the pile of debris I’ve created and the tools I was using. The replacement glass is shown, too. The LCD is now ready to be cleaned with Windex.

I applied a little rubber cement to each of the four corners under the black portion of the glass and stuck the face on. I decided not to try putting glue between the LCD and the glass, as it would be almost impossible to do without bubbles. I cannot tell the difference between a phone with glue and a phone without glue, so other than sealing it up, there is no visible need for it.

Pressing the button and watching the phone come on was a great relief. However, when I tried the touch panel, it didn’t work at first. OMG, I destroyed my phone!!! Fortunately after waiting a few more minutes it was working just fine. It must have been the windex evaporating off. The touchscreen now works just like new. However, there is some strange shadowing on the screen that is new. I think I must have applied a little too much goo-gone and had it go behind the LCD. It doesn’t affect the performance, but you can definitely see a slight shadow. That said, it is 50X better now than it was before and I saved $250, so I can live with the shadow. Maybe it will go away, too over time.

This was a difficult and time consuming process, but I’m happy with the result. If I had destroyed the phone in the process, I was planning to buy an LCD/Glass unit for $165 as my backup plan. Fortunately plan A did the trick.

**** UPDATE 06/23 ****

The shadowing that appeared on the screen seems to be slowly healing itself.  I think the adhesive remover is slowly evaporating out from between the backlight and the LCD.  The pattern has changed substantially and is getting lighter and lighter.  Hopefully it will disappear all together.  I’m thinking about leaving it in the sun for a while to see if it speeds the evaporation.

Also, the lack of the o-ring is noticeable.  Some lint has already made it behind the screen.  At some point, I’ll remove the glass again and do a better job of sealing it.  I think a large gauge syringe could be used to squirt a small bead of rubber cement all the way around the screen to take the place of the original o-ring without getting it under the visible part of the screen.

**** UPDATE 07/12 ****

The dark spots on the screen continue to disappear, albeit slowly.  I still have not sealed the glass up, thinking that the goo gone needs a way for the vapors to escape.  Compare the picture below to the original image.  You’ll see it is much, much better.  Maybe a few more weeks and it will be clear…  Be careful not to use too much solvent so this doesn’t happen to you.

**** UPDATE 09/25 ****

Well, the display stopped healing itself about where the last image shows. Overall I’d say the project was a success. Some weird things that resulted from this project… The screen worked great with two exceptions. First, the display calibration seems to wander more than before. When you play a game, or use an application for an extended period of time (~>5 min), the screen sometimes stops recognizing your finger. To fix, you simply lock the phone and unlock it again. This seems to reset the calibration. The second thing is that the auto-dim feature when you hold the phone to your face is sporadic. That means you sometimes will mute the phone with your face.

The first problem is probably due to the lack of adhesive between the LCD and the glass. It means there is more variation in the capacitance between the touch panel and the user’s finger. Finding a way to glue it would probably solve this problem.

I’m stumped about the second problem. I’ve since verified that my light sensor works, so it must be related to the new glass somehow.

Tinkering is a hobby of mine, so I decided to buy and install a new LCD/touchpanel/glass assembly to see what that process is like as well. Found one on ebay for ~$175 delivered. Being an electrical engineer by training and having pretty good motor skills, I have to say it was much more difficult than I expected… At one point, I thought the phone was dead for good.

My notes from the job:
1) Getting the antenna cover off was a big challenge. Both “disassembly tools” that came with the LCD broke before I got the antenna cover off. I ended up using a chisel to pry the cover off and that seems to have worked pretty well.
2) Getting the aluminum backing off made the antenna cover look easy! With both disassembly tools already broken, I used a small jeweler’s screw driver to pry and pry until I finally got it to come loose. In the process I scraped and bent the case pretty badly. I was able to bend it back into shape, but it’s definitely a little dog-eared. All the videos on youtube made it look easy and it was anything but easy for me. Maybe my phone was unique…
3) Getting the rest of the phone apart is not very difficult, but putting it back together is. There is a ribbon cable with no connector that slides into a connector on the motherboard. It is very difficult to reseat properly. Don’t forget to reconnect it when you reassemble. There are a total of 5 connectors that need to be seated with great precision in a very tight space. It took me about five attempts before all the connectors were finally seated properly.

The phone works like new now, but it was a big job. Having done both repairs, it’s a tough call which way I’d go in the future. Both have pros and cons. The prospect of paying $175 for a new screen and still risking that the phone won’t work when you’re done is a tough one…

Brian Johnson drives a 2006 Toyota Prius and was looking for a solution for carrying two bikes. He started with a roof rack and measured the resulting impact on mileage. The empty bike racks on his roof caused his mileage to drop between 1-2 mpg. When driving with his bikes on the rack he found that the mileage dropped by nearly 10 mpg!

He does a lot of driving and decided to try a hitch rack to see what the impact would be. He bought the Toyota Prius Trailer Hitch and a Softride Versa hitch bike rack and started tracking the mileage. The impact of the rack without bikes on it was not measurable, as it is in the wind shadow of the car. When the bikes were on the hitch bike rack, the mileage only dropped by about 4 mpg, a savings of 6 mpg!

Now, it’s not as if you’re going to retire on the savings, but at $4 per gallon, every mpg matters! We decided to calculate a scenario to put into perspective. Let’s say you go on three 250 mile family biking trips per year. Plus, you drive your car 15k miles a year and get 45 mpg on average.

That give 750 miles driven with bikes for a savings of 3.1 gallons of gas by using a hitch bike rack. The extra roof rack drag adds an additional 15.5 gallons of gas over the 15k miles. At $4 a gallon, having the hitch rack would save $75 per year, or $375 over five years of ownership. Not bad! Who knows what it would be with a car that is less efficient than a Prius?

If anyone else out there has a knack for science and wants to log some miles, let us know what you come up with.

This hitch fit our CR-V perfectly and looks great. When you start to lower the muffler, a little dishsoap and water makes the temporary removal of the muffler mounting pins from the rubber bushings much easier! Just wipe the solution on the pin tips and they slip right out.
Also, prior to positioning the hitch, be sure to clean the mounting holes on the frame and test fit the bolts … a little grit or a small blob of undercoating in the threads isn’t something you want to discover later!

You’ll also notice a great picture of the hitch installed on the Honda CR-V. That picture was submitted by one of our customers.

With hundreds of reviews coming in, we want to take this chance to say thank you! As you look through our site, look for customer reviews at the bottom of each product page for a more personalized experience.

At first glance, the Superhitch appears a little odd. Instead of one 2″ receiver opening, it has two of them. The design serves two main purposes… First, if you just want one of the toughest, highest capacity trailer hitches in the industry, it offers two positions to place your ball mount. This gives you a little more flexibility with different trailer tongue heights and varying drops on your ball mounts. Second, and more importantly, the Torklift Superhitch has an accessory called the Supertruss, that is basically an extension that allows the trailer hitch to be extended back from your truck up to a whopping 48 inches. The two receiver design is what gives it the strength it needs to position the ball mount that far back from your truck.

Many of today’s campers are as long as 12 feet. At 12 feet, you’ve got about four feet of camper hanging off the back of your truck. If you want to tow a boat, a car, or any other toys you might think of towing, the Torklift Superhitch and Torklift Supertruss are your ticket.

The Superhitch provides strong vertical support by using the two receiver design. In fact the Superhitch is the highest rated hitch that we’re aware of. With a weight distribution system, it can tow an amazing 17,000 lbs of trailer weight! The Supertruss extensions come with a chain system that provides good lateral stability and overcomes the massive torque that is generated when leveraged out at that distance. Even with the maximum extension, the Superhitch can tow 6,000 lbs of trailer weight without a weight distribution system.

With a weight rating of up to 17,000 lbs, the Torklift Superhitch is not for everyone. It is only available for trucks that can take that kind of abuse. You can use our Torklift Superhitch Finder to find the hitch for your truck.

We’ll have more on Torklift’s product line soon. Happy towing!

Luckily I survived this unexpectedly large jump without a scratch. If you could see my face, you’d see the fear of imminent death in my eyes. After a controlled crash landing, I was checking to make sure all my body parts were in tact when an other guy came screaming through and made it look easy. It gives me a lot of respect for the guys we see jumping some of the other obstacles up there.

Does anyone else have some biking or towing pictures they’d like to share? Shoot us an email!

We hope you find the new selector useful.  Let us know what you think!

• Autolok- which allows the tow bar arms to be free for easy connect and disconnect the arms self center and automatically lock as you drive away
• Freedom Latch- allows the tow bar arm to release first time every time, even when it is in a bind
• Easy Storage- the tow bar folds up and locks into a stored position when not in use
• Quick Disconnect- easy one person tow bar mounting and removal
• Built in Cable Guide- keeps safety cables and and wiring out of the way and protected
• The Sterling All Terrain includes 6,000 lb. EZ hook safety cables and 4 or 6 wire electric cables.

By the time you ad up everything the Sterling All Terrain tow bar comes with you can easily see the value. If you add the safety cables and wiring to one of the other Roadmaster tow bars, you’ll find that the package price for the Sterling is the most attractive. And, coming from a company like Roadmaster who cares about their customer and delivers unsurpassed quality the choice is easy. If you are looking for the easiest to use, lightest, and most innovative tow bar available, the Sterling All Terrain non-binding tow bar is for you. See the video below for more details on how the All Terrain tow bars work.

I followed Jerry A. Edwards, the founder of Roadmaster. He started by showing me some of the machines that make the parts used in their tow bars. From huge presses stamping out steel washers for the tow bar arms to the programable machines that make the smallest brass fittings for the proportionate braking systems. Attention to detail is important at Roadmaster, I saw the machine that cleans up the rough edges for a finer finish and the powder coat booth where the parts get their protective layer. Roadmaster even has a machine that makes their packing materials. Where can you buy tools that make tow bar parts, I wondered.

You can’t just go and buy these tools. The talented team at Roadmaster makes the tools they use too. The shelves where full of things fabricated on site in order to allow Roadmaster to create the parts they need to meet their exacting standards. As if that is not enough, the machines used to test their products built and operated on site as well.

I have never seen quality assurance testing like this. Roadmaster tests and re-tests to assure that the tow bar, braking system, or towing accessory that you buy will withstand real world. It starts with FEA, Finite Element Analysis. FEA is a computer testing system that will show stress points, fatigue levels and failing points. Before it is ever built the tolerances have been tested. The parts are tested again through out the production phase to ensure that there are no variances. During the assembly process the parts are tested again to verify that everything is working properly together. A final test is done to ensure that the product will withstand the forces that come with daily use. The Roadmaster rating system is like no other in the industry. Their products are designed to exceed the ratings. I watched a Sterling All Terrain 6,000 lb. aluminum tow bar being tested at 8,000 lb. of pressure, it would take 350,000 pushes and pulls before the tow bare even showed any sign of fatigue.

Tow bars are not the only thing being tested. Testing is going on everywhere, circuit boards, fire wires, compressors, and hoses for the braking systems; safety cables, crimped ends, electrical diodes, the list goes on and on. Roadmaster takes towing systems and product quality seriously so you can relax.

Like I said in the beginning, I was impressed and we are proud to offer the full line of Roadmaster towing systems, braking systems, suspension systems and RV accessories. Come to the site and see the innovative products available. Thank you for visiting and I look forward to your feedback.

Joe
www.hitchsource.com