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This fully welded trailer hitch receiver bolts onto your vehicle's frame with no welding required. Powder coated steel is sturdy and corrosion resistant.
Features:
Specs:
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Average Customer Rating: 4.3 out of 5 stars (23 Customer Reviews)
This fully welded trailer hitch receiver bolts onto your vehicle's frame with no welding required. Powder coated steel is sturdy and corrosion resistant.This hitch is not bad, but it is NOT fully compatible with Forester XT! XT has dual mufflers which are large and causes muffler hangers to rest on hitch severely amplifying noise. This happens because side cutouts are too small. Not sure if much can be done to fix this - may need to cut some metal out to make room for hangers.
Sierra K - 08/16/2021The product was excellent. I do believe the included instructions could have been a little bit clearer, however, the video was excellent. I did find the installation much more difficult than was suggested. The hitch fit perfectly. Couple observations make sure you wash out the back of your car before installing this product there is so much dirt in the facia. Also one does not have to actually remove the Muffler as suggested. I also did not have to remove the bumper assembly after removing the facia. one just needs to unscrew the lower of the 3 bumper screws about a 1/2 an inch for the unit to clear. Thank you etrailer for a quality product at a quality price this is my 2nd purchase. 2015 Subaru Forester.
Fit perfectly. Instructions were clear. The installation video from etrailer was very helpful. A few notes, mentioned by others in comments or in the video: (1) The hitch receiver heavy. It would help to have another person available when you need to lift it up to the frame of the car. I was able to do it alone by putting the hitch receiver up on a makeshift scaffold (concrete blocks). (2) Pay attention to the issue of having to put the small lip at the rear edge of the hitch receiver up over the bolts at the back of the car frame (shown in the video at 8:11). It helps to angle the front side of the unit down while lifting it up to the frame. I snugged up one side of the hitch receiver to the frame before making sure the lip was over the bolt on the other side and had to loosen up the snugged side and get the lip in place on both sides before snugging up either. (3) I had to cut about a 1/2 inch more of the bumper away than is outlined in the instructions (video at 5:35) -- 3 inches up instead of 2.5 inches, but I was able to do that additional trimming at the end of the install. It wasn't super hard to deal with these issues. I am glad I purchased this receiver; it's worth the little bit of extra effort to have the hitch up tight to the bumper with minimal protrusion. It's clean and sharp.
The hitch bolted up easy . The dimensions to cut the bumper were to small so extra trimming was required.
Very study hitch. However, it is a "little" tricky on the install as it just barely (by about 1/4" or less) clears the body bolts on the back to sit flush. Also, the support gussets that make it a "hidden hitch" extend too far outboard IMHO than needed and it takes some tweaking to keep the exhaust from vibrating against it. However, the bolt fishing wire installation was very smooth and trouble free. The instructions for the heat plate modifications is right on the money! Many installation of this type of hitch on this model say to just remove the heat shield, but I like this best practices method of modifying the plate to allow the hitch to sit flush to the mounting body rail, while still providing the heat protection it was installed from the factory for. The cut-out instructions for the rear valance are a "best guess" and it is really better for you to use the hitch itself to make the area to be cut out for better results. The hitch still "sticks out" a little more than I'd like, but it is much more recessed than any of the other options for this model outside of the exorbitantly priced factory option. All in all thai is an excellent hitch for this price point!!! (photo shows tools needed to "adjust" exhaust pipe for clearances)
This hitch does a great job pulling a trailer. It was fairly easy to install (the muffler re-install is a pain with the tight clearances). My only complaint is the clearances with the muffler, which causes rattling where they come in contact. I'm working on trying different muffler hangers to improve that, but it would be helpful if they were included or if that was a note indicating that they would be necessary.
I picked this hitch specifically because it does not protrude as far from the rear bumper as others do. It was very tight to install on my 2017 Subaru Forrester XT. It required some slight modifications to some bolts that prevented the hitch from sliding into place which may have been because of the dual mufflers. The hitch remains very tight against the mufflers which causes some significant vibrations under load. Likely easily correctable by a muffler shop. All in all, good product and meets my needs.
Heather A - 05/07/2021The hitch for my Subaru Forester is great and installed well. The instructions for cutting the rear bumper are not accurate. Not enough material is removed to allow the bumper to move back into its former position. Other than that it went well, and I look forward to using my new hitch.
While I love this style of “hidden” hitch it was not a direct fit on my Forester XT. The dual exhaust of the XT seems to be the issue - the hangers hit up against the hitch and cause some awful rattling/vibration. The hitch shop that installed it had to do some modifications in order to get it to fit without issue. Works great but it was a headache to get it right.
Sierra K - 10/06/2021Well made. Easy to install. Paint is good. Packaging was excellent. Above average quality. Would be excellent if somebody removed the piece of wire from a bad start welding. I almost cut my hand on it.
Great product, very helpful video.Support went out of their way to help me with a re-route to my order. I was able to complete the install without much trouble with minimal tools and 1 person. It did take 5 hours but I am a slow worker. I found a prevous review by Ralph H described my experience perfectly in a previous review so I am quoting here for anyone thinking of doing this install themselves. " (1) The hitch receiver heavy. It would help to have another person available when you need to lift it up to the frame of the car. I was able to do it alone by putting the hitch receiver up on a makeshift scaffold (concrete blocks). (2) Pay attention to the issue of having to put the small lip at the rear edge of the hitch receiver up over the bolts at the back of the car frame (shown in the video at 8:11). It helps to angle the front side of the unit down while lifting it up to the frame. I snugged up one side of the hitch receiver to the frame before making sure the lip was over the bolt on the other side and had to loosen up the snugged side and get the lip in place on both sides before snugging up either. (3) I had to cut about a 1/2 inch more of the bumper away than is outlined in the instructions (video at 5:35) -- 3 inches up instead of 2.5 inches, but I was able to do that additional trimming at the end of the install. It wasn't super hard to deal with these issues. I am glad I purchased this receiver; it's worth the little bit of extra effort to have the hitch up tight to the bumper with minimal protrusion. It's clean and sharp."
Easy to install on your own and has not had a single hiccup since installing
Heavy Duty/Solid. Directions were ok as this will not fit snug against the frame unless you back out (2) 14mm subframe bolts. it's just too tight of a fit but that is ok, because once this hitch on tight, it isn't going anywhere. Shipping was great too, Big thanks to Carol C!
Arrived earlier than expected. Exactly what I needed.
Fits well with a low profile. Trim of the heat shield with snips was easy and the rear fascia trimmed quick with a grinder.
Quick service, easy install with supplied kit. It took me less than 30 minutes and looks like a factory install.
High quality, nice finish, heavy duty, great hardware. Shipping was really fast even during Covid-19 challenges
Ordered late Sunday. Delivered Thursday AM. Very happy with the service.
Easy Install
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