This time it fit like a glove, and so I removed it one last time, welded it all up, and spray painted the grinds and welds. I could have widened the mounting holes, but instead cut the tack welds off one side, re-angled the end plate, and tacked it together again. Moving the assembly rearward 1/2” gives the muffler plenty of room.
But I had mis-aligned the plates a couple degrees and the bolt holes were not lined up perfectly. Then I test fit it again and found it fit quite nicely. I cut off the tack welds with an angle grinder and moved the entire hitch portion half an inch rearward. So close! The muffler just barely made contact with the hitch. I cut 3.5” out of the side mounting plates and tack welded it together, and then test fitted it. But after measuring some more, I reasoned it might actually fit if the hitch went a bove the exhaust. I had a few different ideas on how to modify the hitch, including making a new one using the existing side plates. More significantly, the hitch is also directly in the way of the muffler. When hitches are this low, they can ground out going up a driveway, and the height is generally too low most trailers with tongue jacks, and even some bike racks. There was some body putty on my frame, which I had to scrape off before the ends would go into place.īolted up as intended, the hitch sits quite low. Then I dropped the exhaust off the three rubber connectors, and test fit the hitch.įitting the tow hitch is easy by using a floor jack to raise it in position, then attaching the four supplied bolts. I thought this would make access a lot easier, and it did, but it wasn’t the easiest thing to remove. The first thing I did was remove the faux rear diffuser. Yesterday was Father’s Day, and I had the day to myself to mess around, so I went after it. I saw a post on the Veloster N forum, where someone modified the Curt hitch to fit, and so I thought I might try to do that. The tow hitch sat on the shelf for a couple months while I pondered whether to return it or modify it. I got the Curt model from eTrailer, and in my stupidity, didn’t realize it was for the non-N versions of the car. So naturally I ordered a tow hitch for my Veloster. The tow hitch also makes a convenient jacking point for the rear of the car, and I thought I might one day use it as the base for a quick-release diffuser. I’ve never towed anything with my Miata, but I have a cargo carrier I use for taking an extra set of tires to the race track. I’ve had a tow hitch on just about every car I’ve owned, even my Mini and Miata.