etrailer Class III Trailer Hitch Installation - 2021 Dodge Durango

Products Featured in this Video

etrailer Trailer Hitch Receiver - Custom Fit - Matte Black Finish - Class III - 2"

618 reviews

Code: e98901

Retail: $287.55

Price:  $156.94

• Trailer Hitch
• Custom Fit Hitch
• Class III
• 600 lbs TW
• 6000 lbs GTW

• 2 Inch Hitch
• etrailer

This fully welded trailer hitch receiver bolts onto your vehicle's frame with no welding required. Matte black, powder coated steel is durable and corrosion resistant and creates a rugged look.

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How to Install the etrailer Class III Trailer Hitch on a 2021 Dodge Durango

Hi there, Dodge owners. Today, on your 2021 Dodge Durango, we're going to be taking a look at and showing you how to install etrailer's Class 3 two inch trailer hitch receiver. And this is what our hitch looks like when it's installed. It is going to be visible underneath our fascia here as the cross tube does go down below it, but it doesn't detract from the looks of the vehicle too much as it does stay tucked underneath pretty nicely. Unless you're really down here on your knees, you don't notice it too much. It's a Class 3, two inch by two inch receiver.

So it's going to be great for all of your towing needs, whether you're wanting to load in a bike rack and hit the trails, or if you're wanting to load up a pop-up camper and then go camping for the weekend.This hitch uses a five-eighths inch hitch pin and clip. Now one doesn't come included with the hitch, but we've got plenty available here at etrailer.com. We also have locking ones available so you can protect your investments. On bottom, we have plate style safety chain loops, and they have a moderate size opening that should work with just about all of your safety chains. We've got a larger one here that sometimes has trouble with some of the smaller openings, but on this one here, it does have no problem, so you should be able to use just about anything with this one.This hitch features a 600 pound tongue weight, which is the force going down on top of the receiver.

And that should be more than enough for a four bike platform rack fully loaded up with four bikes. And you can also use the largest cargo carrier available here at etrailer, fully loaded up to the max.It also features a 6,000 pound gross towing capacity, which is how much that it can pull behind it. And that's going to be enough if you've got a pop-up camper or maybe a small travel trailer that you want to bring with you. As long as it's on the smaller side, you should have no problem. What's cool about this hitch though, is it is rated for use with a weight distribution system, which does up its capacity just a little bit.

For your tongue weight, it's going to go up to 750 pounds and your gross towing capacity is going to increase to 7,500 pounds.If you're more interested in a weight distribution system and how they work, you can find plenty here at etrailer. What they do essentially is take the weight pushing down on the back of your vehicle, and it helps lift up on the back and redistribute the weight to the front, to level it back out, restoring lost braking and handling performance. And as always, I recommend you verify and ensure you don't exceed any of the towing capacities on your vehicle.I've also got some measurements here to help you when deciding on your accessories. From the ground to the top inside edge of the receiver tube, it measures about 14 and three quarters of an inch. This is important when determining if you need to drop, rise or raise shank on any of your accessories.

And from the center of our hitch pin hole to the edge of our rear bumper, it measures about five inches. And that's important when determining if any of your folding accessories can be placed in the upright storage position without contacting the bumper.We'll begin our installation underneath the vehicle and we want to look at the inside of our frame. We've got two bolts on each side that we'll need to remove. These larger bolts here. And we're going to use a 21 millimeter socket or wrench to do so. You can lower it on your spare tire to make things a little bit easier, but it's not necessary. These bolts aren't ridiculously long, so you will be able to get them out of there.Now that we've got those bolts removed, you want to look at this area here. You see that there's a little bit of sealant and caulk right there. It may interfere with the hitch when you go to install it. So it's not a bad idea to just take a razor knife and just shave this off, just to make sure it doesn't interfere with raising it up, because it's a little bit of a tight area. We don't want to have to fight just a little bit of sealant, preventing us from getting our hitch in place. We'll do the same thing over on the other side.We'll be lifting our hitch up in just a moment, but I found that if you removed this cover, it can make it just a little bit easier. It gives you a little bit more room to see it's just two little tabs here at the bottom. Just twist them counterclockwise. And then this will just pull off here and we can set it aside. Now with an extra set of hands, we'll lift our hitch into position. You'll have to work it up underneath the fascia. And then we'll just use our factory hardware, go through our hitch and thread it right into the weld nuts where we had removed it from. Once we get one bolt started on each side, the hitch will hold itself up, making it easier to install the rest of our hardware.Now we've got all of our hardware loosely installed, we can tighten and torque it to the specifications found in our instructions. Now the panel we removed, we can just slide back on, it was just help just to help us so we could see better. And that just pushes back into place. And then you just give these little twist to lock them in.And that completes our installation of the etrailer's Class 3, two inch trailer hitch receiver on our 2021 Dodge Durango..