Draw-Tite Trailer Hitch Receiver - Custom Fit - Class II - 1-1/4"

by: Brandon05/06/2024

Pretty easy to install if you don't have rust. I had a seized bolt. If you have the foresight, just soak your bolts in penetrating fluid the night before and have a torch handy if that doesn't work.

The hitch itself worked out fine. I used it exclusively to haul a few road bikes around. I don't know how it holds up against heavier loads, but this was solid for my needs.1779865

by: Steve03/17/2024

I like the ability to use the bike rack on different size hitches and the ease of use! So easy to hook it up and strap the bikes to it with straps similar to ski boot straps. The rack has a locking pin to the hitch and if you add a lock for the bikes at least they can be reasonably secure.1749217

This hitch was purchased for a 2015 Chevy Malibu LS. I bought it after reading that it mounted higher than the other brand this company offers. Upon removal from the box, bare metal was seen due to chipped paint. Installation was straightforward with pretty good instructions. Once in place, the hitch stuck out about an inch below the bumper fascia. This did not look optimal, and I was sure the hitch would meet pavement on a steep driveway. I called the company to complain, and the representative said she would try to find a solution. Well, the hitch did scrape on the first day driving the car. I removed the hitch, modified it and reinstalled it at the desired height. It now touches the bottom of the fascia and looks great. I emailed the company describing the problem with the hitch design - and the solution - but have only heard crickets since.1658988

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Had the hitch installed by my local mechanic as I had no way to get the vehicle in the air. It took this very experienced mechanic almost two hours to install the hitch. He said the instructions were very difficult to understand and there were some nuts and bolts missing in the package. The hitch is outstanding and barely shows. It is of quality construction and I would surely buy another and recommend the unit. It will be used to transport my bicycle on my Cadillac vehicle.1699359

Well I haven't used it with the purpose I intended to use it for yet, but I did install it on my vehicle 2019 Chevy Impala LT model, and it looks great. I feel very confident that it will be able to handle the accessories I plan on using it with. The install was fairly easy, I watched the install video 255 times before I actually bought the hitch lol so it only took maybe 30 min to install. It would have been less I believe if I had a car lift like in a shop or something, but I did mine on the ground, and managed to do it without jacking my car up either which shocked me! Like a lot of other have said though, I did get shorted some nuts, 3 of the bigger ones for the carriage bolts, which is no big deal I just ran to Home Depot and took one of the bolts with me and found the right nut and went on my way, I think they cost like 75 cents a piece I believe, so like I said no biggy. I went and bought a torque wrench (now that wasn’t cheap) so I could torque everything just like in the videos on YouTube, better safe than sorry, wouldn’t want it to fall off or anything while I’m barreling down the interstate and cause an accident or anything like that. I know most people don’t torque things that should be torqued, and I could have probably just rented one from like ORiley’s or auto zone, but now I have one incase I need to do something similar again on my vehicle or anything. Shipping was also fantastic. The way you guys show exactly who gets your order together is really neat I wish all companies did that. Arrived in 2 days I believe so it was also fast. I will be doing an update to this review when I get the accessories I’m going to purchase in a few weeks and give a review update. Thanks so much really love the hitch so far.1453666

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by: Justin07/07/2018

2017 Chevrolet Impala

One year later, and still loving the hitch I installed. Just used it a month ago to haul my motorcycle on a small trailer about a thousand miles. And attached picture of trailer hooked up before taking scrap metal to dump. Beat up utility trailer looks funny hooked up to a new Impala, and my friends keep asking why I don't just get a truck. I figure my hitch and wiring cost around $200, and the trailer was $250, so a total of $450 a year ago is way less than monthly payments on a truck. I think people forget the time when not every family had an SUV or truck, and cars were pulling everything. I agree that with a front wheel drive, there are limits, but I'm not hauling pontoon boats and front end loaders. Also, I recommend the European style hitch, since with the right length, you can have the ball just past the bumper, and looks way better. I'm hoping to get another hitch soon on etrailer for my Chevy Trax to use for cargo tray or bicycle rack.538846

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Shipping was fast and the hitch was somewhat easy to install. The instructions could have been better. The four stars was because 3 nuts were missing.1700654

I found the instruction clear and the hitch was an easy install for me. All the parts were there and it was very easy to install once I had the rear of the car up on my ramps. I found the product to be made of heavy duty components. The trailer wiring harness was an easy install too with clear instructions every step of the way. I am very impressed with these products.636828

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Had this installed in an hour on an Impala. Fairly easy assembly. However, I question the strength of the installation hardware. It’s held on with 3 bolts. Two of the bolts seem rather small to hold the weight of a trailer and all of the force applied to the hitch as you tow. I’ve installed several trailer hitches on other vehicles, and this one by far has the lightest weight hardware.
I feel there should’ve been a better design for this vehicle. 700125

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This hitch was easier to install than on my previous car which had a different hitch. Less time involved and easy to install on my 2014 Chevy Impala. I can easily put my bike rack into this hitch and off I go to the park. 392613

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Installed in about 5 minutes. Used the video and paused. Only complaint was I was short 3 large nuts for assembly. Plan on using it for a hitch mounted carrier system for ice fishing and a back up for in case I get stuck 456532

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I was a bit disappointed with my order. I have ordered from y'all a few times in the past with no issues at all, but this time that wasn't the case. I made the mistake of assuming everything was going to be perfect with my order. I got my car up on the jack stands ready for the install before unpacking my order, my bad! Once I unpacked everything I was missing all 4 nuts for my carriage bolts, and 4 washers for the very first step of the install. I had to put the car back onto the ground and run 30 minutes away to get the parts to complete my order. Y'all dropped the ball on this one.1492222

Katrina B.

1/14/2023

That would be so frustrating to have happen and youre right, we definitely ped the ball on that. I get it, so I sent your information over to our customer service department for them to get in touch with you about how we can correct our error.

by: Jason 04/15/2023

I am very satisfied with my trailer hitch, I have used it several times1557454

Before purchasing, I picked out what I thought were the best trailer hitch and wiring harness for my car and emailed etrailer asking if my selections were correct. Mike at etrailer recommended a different hitch and wiring harness explaining the advantages of his choices, and created a web page with all of the information I needed. After purchasing the hitch and wiring kit I requested a price match by emailing them links to lower priced items. etrailer refunded me 110% of the difference per their policy. The trailer hitch arrived with quite a few nicks in the paint. etrailer indicated that this is due to the method that the manufacturer uses to ship the hitch parts to them. They could not guarantee that a replacement hitch would be any better. They gave me the option of either receiving another one or refunding me some money to cover the cost of touch up paint. I chose to apply some touch up paint and receive the refund which was $[....]. The installation instructions were easy to follow. The installation on my 2013 Malibu was easy. No drilling was required, just removing and installing bolts and nuts. etrailer's service was excellent and they are very easy to work with. I would have given this 5 stars if not for the paint nicks.250327

Jerry

1/30/2018

The products are working just fine. I am very happy with them.Thanks for checking

I received the hitch much faster than expected, so installing it had to wait. The shipping box was very big, bigger than needed. Part of the hitch broke through the box and damaged the paint. The Drawbar was out of it's package and also had paint damage. Question!, why powder coat the parts if you don't care about protecting them in transport. Dumb!
When I installed the hitch, everything went together well---- almost. The two 8mm x 55mm bolts (#1) for the tailpipe hanger were too short. I had to remove two of the four 1/2" flat washers to get the nut to thread onto the bolt. Apparently, figuring out the correct amount of thread length needed for strength, when threaded into the nut, is not one of Draw-Tite's greatest engineering skills. The diameter of the bolt = 8mm. Therefor the minimum threaded into the nut must be 8mm or preferably more. I am ordering longer bolts to do the job right. I believe the hitch will serve my needs and your company was good to deal with.509163

Allen B.

5/17/2019

Excellent, its working out very well. Thanks

Received the hitch in good order. Inventoried and set to work installing. I watched the accompanied video on the product web page and followed the instructions given. The front mount on the cross member frame was a bit of a struggle but once the other bolts were loosened more I was able to align everything. After torquing the bolts to the specification on the work sheet, it was complete. About 1 hour from putting the car on ramps and off again. In the past I have installed 3 other hitches from etrailer.406127

Chuck L.

7/17/2018

I use a small trailer quite often with my Malibu. There has been no issues with the wiring kit or the hitch. I expect it will last the life of the vehicle. Thanks for the followup email.

I can always count on excellent customer service when I order from etrailer.1058400

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by: Tom A07/09/2020

2015 Chevrolet Impala

Hitch was very easy to install, only neede basic hand tools. Fits nicely on my 2015 Impala. The plug and play wiring was just that, with excellent directions for both the hitch and wiring. Total installation time spent was 45 minutes. Looks great , works great . You have one very satisfied customer. I will buy from you in the future. Very,very good quality hitch!!!830325

Tom A.

7/9/2021

its working great it was so easy to install. have not had one problem with the hitch. a very high quality piece of add on equipment. love it

I need a hitch for my 2014 Impala LTZ . E trailer had what I needed and after talking to a tech I decided on the Draw-Tite hitch . It installed quite easily except a person had to really contort their hand to get up to the 2 bolts on the muffler hanger , finally getting to them with an air ratchet . Once that was conquered the rest fell into place very good with little effort . Thanks guys353358

Tim S.

3/16/2018

It is working great. In fact I removed it from my 2014 Impala and installed it on my new 2018 Impala.

Rachael H.

3/16/2018

Thanks for the follow up and reply. I did want to advise you that the hitch manufacturer's do not recommend re-using the the installation hardware. If should only be used once since it is torque to speck. Replacement hardware is available as part # RHK you would just need to enter your Hitch manufacturer and your hitch item number.

Helpful Links

Accessories-and-Parts/etrailer/RHK.html

Great information for helping to decide which hitch to use as well as how it will fit on the car. Arrived quickly and was exactly as described. Installation information on the site very helpful. Included instructions easy to follow. Hitch was VERY easy to install (45 minutes - was taking my time). Looks good on the car (2014 Impala).395347

Rick

6/17/2018

Both the hitch and the bike rack have worked flawlessly over the last year and both still look brand new. Given the experience my son just bought a hitch from etrailer for his Odyssey, which was also straightforward to install and looks great.

Came as expected. I already watched the video a couple of times. Had to go back and check which way the nuts and washers were used. The hardest part was figuring out which way the hanger for the long support bar went. The holes did not line up perfectly as expected. I was missing 3 of the 3/4 nuts to use on the plates that fit together. Thank goodness I had some in the workshop. It took me about an hour and a half from start to finish. I had track it up and crawling around the ground makes it more time consuming. If I would of had the air ratchet things would of been a lot faster. I mean, it's only 8 bolts. I should of took pictures but it was hot out and I just wanted to get it done.1333034

Sierra K.

7/22/2022

Sorry to hear about the missing hardware. Customer Service will reach out to you.

by: Brad M.04/29/2020

I'm very pleased with my Draw-Tite trailer hitch from etrailer. I installed the hitch myself with ease, everything lined up perfectly. The price was right and customer service excellent.791009

Bradley M.

4/30/2021

Very pleased, absolutely no issues

Great service, fast delivery
Love the outcome of this little project
I put a trailer hitch on my Cadillac I now can take my bikes with me wherever I go1464102

I rated this Draw-Tite 36538 hitch 5-stars because of the build quality (including painted finish) and the ease of installation on my 2014 Malibu LTZ AND the fine customer service I received from etrailer personnel. Also it appears to be beefy and rock solid for a Class II hitch. To be truthful the first hitch I received had the receiver end off-center with the rear of the car maybe 1/2" to 3/4". I thought I had misunderstood the directions so I contacted etrailer customer service by phone (no waiting) and received a huge apology and a promise to send me out a replacement hitch kit ASAP. Vanessa N. sounded so sincere and concerned that I thought she might just crawl through the phone line to reach out and pat me on the back to comfort me! :-) Two days later I had the replacement and found that only the receiver portion of the kit (that is the part that attaches to the muffler hanger brackets) had to be replaced. To do this I only had to remove 2 small nuts and 4 large nuts and slip the replacement receiver into place. That took maybe 15 minutes. At last every thing lined up perfectly then. The next day FedEx arrived at the door with return authorization in hand to pick up the original box containing just the old receiver and the remaining new replacement parts which I did not have to use. Done, and I am very happy with the results and the customer service response I received. This whole thing could have been a major headache but etrailer made it an extremely fast and convenient proposition. Well done. Oh, and one thing I like about this Draw-Tite hitch receiver is it is nicely tucked in under the bumper and does not protrude as much as other hitches I could have chosen. PS-I'd also like to thank George J. for setting me up with my own personal site describing all parts I would need to do a full hookup, plus an extremely helpful video showing me exactly how to install all parts. A great servic George! Thanks again.446482

Nice Product, Fast Delivery. Package was short 4 - 1/2" nuts which caused a delay in my install. I installed this hitch on a 2013 Cadillac XTS and it did not go as smooth as the other examples videos on Chevy and Buicks. The Hitch hits bottom side of Bumper so I loosened it back up and added a piece of rubber for protection of the bumper and to stop any vibration. Hitch would not fit per directions , I had to back off the two long bolts at the muffler support in order to get the Hitch portion on. Rear part of the hitch sits pretty low, taking away some ground clearance. But it gets me a spot for my bike carrier , which is great. Happy with Etrailer as this is my third hitch from them, Always best price and fast service.641125