Curt Manufacturing 13013 Class III Receiver

The fit was great on my Dad's 2000 Tacoma 4x4. My install instructions on 1st gen Tacoma's (I apologize if I miss a step): Tools needed or recommended: 19mm sockets, breaker bar, ratchet, WD40 or equivalent, heat gun (if you drive in heavily salted winters), impact tool (not necessary, but made things a hell of a lot easier), I forgot the size needed to remove the stock hitch ball from some Tacoma's, but if your hitch currently has that, you will need remove that or it will not clear. A floor jack and a friend, although I did it myself with just a floor jack. 1. Remove the license plate lights. Just twist them out of the bumper and tuck them out of the way. 2. Position a floor jack to catch the rear bumper so it does not fall when you remove the bolts.Remove the bumper. Bumper is held on by 4 19mm bolts. Two on each side. The two bolts closest to the front of the engine you can take it right out. The two rear one's, you have to hold the nut on the inside, otherwise it'll just keep spinning. If you live in a salted area, I would recommend WD40 the bolts generously a day or two before working on it. Also, be prepared to need a torch. I used the one's you just attach a small canister to. Even with a power air gun I needed some heat. You do not want to keep going at it if it is being stubborn. Bolts will break! 3. The bracket that holds the rear bumper to the truck can be removed from the bumper and HAS to be removed. I believe these were 19mm also. Again, soak it with PB Blaster/WD40. Again, I needed heat. Try to scrape any rusted parts and BUY anti rust spray like rustoleum. 4. If your current bumper has the stock ball hitch attached to it, remove it by undoing the huge nut holding it in place from the bottom. You might have to sawzall it or heat the hell out of this part. The nut will not clear the hitch if you leave it, at least for me it didn't. 5. Take the brackets you just removed and put the flange that sticks out in to the opening in the hitch, move the bumper to the hitch and connect the two rear bolts again, the one's the held the brackets to the rear bumper. DO NOT TIGHTEN THEM. Leave a good amount of wiggle room. Do this to both sides of the brackets. 6. Use the floor jack to lift it in to place and bolt it back together for the remainder 4 bolts. With these 4 bolts tighten, now tighten the 4 bolts holding the bracket to the rear bumper. The bumper comes with a plate and bolt. It is easy to figure out where it goes by reading the instructions. It is essentially used to secure the bumper to the hitch. 7. Optional, but recommend spraying anti rust on the bolts. 8. Install rear license plate lights and you're good to go! Hope this helps and please correct me if I'm wrong on anything or forgot something.

Came quickly, fit great. Read other posts. If you're missing hardware, it's only two stove bolls with nuts and square hole spacers. You can replace them with an decent weight bolts. The existing bumper bracket bolts are reused. I included instruction for those who didn't get them. Remove spare tire 1st. disconnect plate lights etc and remove bumper brackets and all. Remove brackets from bumper(4 bolts). Slide receiver up and over shackle bolts for rear leafs and get in place then feed the two rear bolts in there holes. I did that with one arm lifting receiver by middle and other hand feeding bolt in. Now with floor jack and a block use that to hold up receiver under where the hitch goes and use that to find the rear two bolt holes and get them started. Don't tighten anything. Remove bumper brackets from bumper and clean bolts and threads. Now pick a side and set the jack where you can slide out rear bolts, feed the bumper bracket hook into hole on receiver and slide the fork end into forward bolt then re install rear bolt. Do both sides. The rest is pretty basic. Rebolt bumper etc. The stove bolts installed can help as well with lineups. It's all pretty much 19mm. I installed on a 2002 taco double cab 4wd. I did this myself in under two hours on a hot day with plenty of breaks and I'm 67 years old. So this is pretty easy if you're mechanical. Best of luck, it's a nice little receiver.

Fit perfectly. Took around 20 minutes to install. It will be easier if you have another set of hands to help hold it in place while bolting it. Very sturdy and we'll built.

Real nice fit and seems legit and strong - went on my 2004 double cab Tacoma no problem after the original one finally succumbed to salty coastal conditions in the far north Pacific. Happy with this product.

This was not overly difficult to install. You should be pretty handy and have the proper tools handy to get the job done. Pretty normal and expected issues getting the bolts to line back up but nothing horrible, just be patient and a helper would be good but not mandatory

I have a 2001 Tacoma (4WD, 2 door), and bought this to use as a rear recovery point for offroading, so that I could hang a D-ring shackle receiver off of it. Install took about two hours by myself, with air tools. An extra set of hands would have been nice, but it's certainly doable alone. As with any older vehicle, getting some of the bits loose takes a little elbow grease so if your truck is older you'll definitely either want to use a compressor or copious amounts of WD40. Some notes - the way this is designed, there are two cutouts that the bumper mounts need to slip into from the side. My bumper mounts were unfortunately rusted to my bumper itself (old truck, New England winters) so I had to remove the bumper with the mounts attached. To that end, getting it back on was a bit tricker than it would have been if I could have removed both ends of the mounts (from the frame, and from the bumper). My truck had the factory frame replacement recall done to it, so it may be part of the reason - but this did not 100% line up with the stock mounting holes. It took a little finessing with a rubber mallet to get in there correctly, and even then I had to drill out the rearmost mounting hole slightly. This basically sandwiches between the frame and the stock bumper mounts, so when you screw it back in you need everything to line up so that you can go through the bumper mount, then the Curt mount, then back into the frame. All in all not too bad and certainly worth the DIY time vs. paying a local shop upwards of $300 for one installed.

The hitch arrived in <48 hours, in perfect condition though the box had a 3" x 5" hole in it. The powdercoat was flawless and the welds were very good. The instructions are clear for the installation. I did this solo and it took me 2 hours with all hand tools (no impact gun or air ratchet). You need a 19 MM socket to remove and re-install the bolts. On my '99 Tacoma, two of the OEM bolts on the frame did not have welded nuts, so I needed to hold the nuts with a 19 MM open end wrench. (NOTE: all other bolts have welded nuts) Prior to removing the bumper and bumper frames, I liberally applied some penetrating lubricant (PB B'laster Penetrating Catalyst). *****When you install the hitch and OEM parts again, do not tighten any of the bolts until you are sure the alignment of the parts is equal and straight. (Check that the tailgate does not interfere with the plastic bumper cover.) Then tighten them one at a time and check alignment as you go. My Tacoma is a 1999 2WD 4cyl Sr5 Extra Cab. It has a pair of Hellwig Model 550 helper springs installed that raised bumper height 1" from OEM height. I selected a Reese ball mount with a 3 1/4" drop and I reversed the ball to make it a bout a 1 3/4 inch lift for the ball and that puts my hitch height at 17 1/2 Inches off the ground, which is about right for most small trailers. Hints: -as others suggest, drop out the spare prior to starting if your truck is sitting on the ground and not a lift (good time to check the spare tire pressure). -have a light you don't have to hold yourself while you work with the tools. It is dark under there. -if working alone, you can turn a 5 gallon bucket upside down to catch the bumper as you remove it. -as others suggest I did use locktite blue on the fasteners. -you need a torque wrench that goes up to 110 ft-lbs (most auto parts stores loan for free) -wear safety glasses to keep rust and dirt out of your eyes. -to remove and reinstall the ball from the mount, install the mount into the receiver to hold it for you instead of a vice or trying to freehand it. I also use locktite on ball threads. Other costs to account for in the project: Hopkins 43315 Trailer wiring harness, trailer plug mount, trailer wiring test plug with LED indicators ~$50; Lubricant and locktite ~$12; Reese mount, ball, security lock $44. (shop rags, etc.)

I just finished installation on a 2000 Tacoma V6 TRD. It took me about an hour and a half to install the hitch and a wiring harness working alone, not including a trip to the hardware store to replace a busted socket (my fault, see below). Here are some tips that may help you install the hitch: -The outside nuts that secure the bumper to the bumper bracket are welded on. I broke a socket (a cheap one, fortunately) trying to get them loose when it turns out the bolts go in from the inside. They came out with little persuasion. -Similar to above, on the forward-most bolts securing the bumper brackets to the frame, the inner nuts are welded on. Turn the bolt from the outside. -For the middle bolts on the bumper brackets, the nut is not welded. You'll need two 19mm sockets (I needed an 18" breaker bar). -I lowered the spare tire about 6 inches to improve access. This proved unnecessary and don't help much. Don't waste your time. -I used a steel brush to clean out the threads on all of the bolts I took out, which I think really helped them go in smooth when I put it all back together. -Use a floor jack or something to support the hitch if you're working alone. It helps with aligning the holes. -When reinstalling the bumper brackets, I used a pair of needle nosed vice-grip pliers to squeeze the hitch and the frame together. As hard as I tried, I could not get the gap on the little tab on the bumper bracket to fit over the frame and hitch. Once I squeezed them together, it slid right on. -Leave all the bumper bracket and the hitch bolts loose until you've reinstalled the bumper to help with aligning the holes. Once you have the bumper secured, tighten away. -Unless you're using air tools, you'll have to do most of the ratcheting by hand. I could only use my order impact wrench on a few bolts. The fit was very good and the holes all lined up perfectly. I am impressed by the finish on the hitch, plus it's made in the USA. Its totally hidden expect for the 2" receiver