Curt Trailer Hitch Receiver with Standard Drawbar - Custom Fit - Class II - 1-1/4"

Video Transcript for Trailer Hitch Installation - 2014 Chevrolet Malibu - Curt

Today on this 2014 Chevrolet Malibu, we're going install part number, C12115 from Curt. All right, this is what the hitch looks like once installed on the car. Next, we'll give you some measurements to help you out in selecting some accessories, such as a bicycle rack or a cargo carrier. From the receiver opening down to the ground will be about 11 inches. From the center of the hitch pinhole to the edge of the bumper will be about 3 inches. Now we'll go ahead and show you how the hitch is installed. We're going to remove a bolt on our exhaust hanger bracket, this vehicle is only a single exhaust so just remove the one bolt on the driver's side. Then the bolt on the other side will help hold the exhaust up.

On the passenger side there's not a bolt to remove. But on that side we do have to use the hex nut that's welded in place - clean up the threads first. You'd want to use your favorite spray lubricant and then a tube brush, like part number 814092. We'll check to make sure that the bolt threads in, in this case we dont have a problem with it, but the older the vehicle is, the more dirt and debris will collect in the threads and you'll have to clean it out. We'll go ahead and show you how to hardware this before we install it.

We have our bolt and our lock washer, it will go through a bracket and then that bolt will eventually go through the frame assembly and then handle nut will go on the other side and on the inside of the frame assembly. Let's go ahead and take it apart, and go ahead and put it in place on the frame. You want to get an extra set of hands to help hold it up. The hitch will mount on the backside of the end panel, or in other words, it's going to sit over the nuts that are welded in place. We'll take our conical toothed washer and nut and run through the hitch and then through the nut. Now on our driver's side we'll go ahead and install a new nut on the other side of the bolt.

Again we want to leave this where we can move the hitch, front to rear and rock it back and forth. Okay, now there's a bracket that attaches to the suspension sub-frame, it reaches underneath the exhaust. We have our bolt and our lock washer, it'll go through our bracket, and then that bolt will eventually go through the frame assembly, then the handle nut will go on the other side. Let's go ahead and take it apart, and go ahead and put in place on the frame. Take our bolt and our lock washer with our bracket, through our frame and then into the handle nut.

Again we'll leave everything loose. Now we'll install our center section. We'll go ahead and take our hardware, which will be a carriage bolt and we'll go ahead and push it through. Then underneath we'll get the flanged nut. We'll do these one at a time working our way around, until we have all the hardware loose and installed. Now to help us line up the holes we're using our alignment tool to help get the rest of our hardware in, this is where it pays off to make sure you have everything as loose as possible to help line up the holes. Now with all our pieces installed and our hardware loose and installed, we'll go ahead and tighten down the bolts, take up the slack. We'll start off with the small bolts on the end of the frame. We'll tighten down the bolts first. As added security, we'll go ahead and torque down the nuts on the other side. Then our four carriage bolts in the middle of the hitch, we'll go ahead and tighten down those. Then our bolts going to our hanger bracket, and the bracket going to the sub-frame of the suspension. Then we'll torque the bolts down as specified in the instructions. Okay, with that and our hardware fully installed, that'll finish it. There you have it for part number, C12115 from Curt, on our 2014 Chevrolet Malibu. .