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- 2008 Mazda5 GT
They’re not all the same. Hidden Hitch and Draw Tight (as well as Reese) are now all under one happy conglomerate family; HH and DT are indeed almost identical. Curt is still an independent shop and made in (usa)I don't know what the difference is. They are all of the same rating and same installation points.
personally I'd just buy the cheapest one available on sale.
I've bought for different cars between myself and friends all 3 brands and honestly could not tell a difference in the build quality.
It is just a chunk of welded metal.
Wonder if others had different experiences.
Best thing to do, pretend you own a 2010 and 2012 Mazda5. Go to mfg website and download their install guide. You can see how they are attached to the car. Bumper covers are different (longer on 1gen) but attachment points are identical, because it is the same car. Go to etrailers as central source for pics.
You should also understand how a rack is attached to a hitch: push pin (shakes, rattles) or anti-rattle hitch pin (fancy way of saying screwed in tight - eliminate sway). This is also independent of lock or no lock option on the pin. On class 3+, it uses hallow 2” receivers so they insert a nut to catch a threaded bolt. Class 1-2 are 1.25”, which is solid. You can tap this to DIY anti rattle pin. The Softride racks (has pros and cons) come with ‘threaded’ 1.25” bar and anti rattle pin with a lock on it. The alternative is to add a stabilization strap to a push pin setup but given this cars weak hatch (1gen) and the spoiler in the way, there’s no where to mount it... so, IF you are going to carry a lot of weight, you don’t want leverage and you don’t want it moving around.
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