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Product Specs:
Trailer Hitch
Custom Fit Hitch
Class III
Visible Cross Tube
2 Inch Hitch
525 lbs TW
3500 lbs GTW
CURT
This fully welded trailer hitch receiver bolts onto your vehicle's frame with no welding required. Powder coated steel is sturdy and corrosion resistant.
Video of Curt Trailer Hitch Receiver - Custom Fit - Class III - 2"
Average Customer Rating: 4.9 out of 5 stars (537 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.Good solid hitch. Paint/coating feels like it should last. Install kit and etrailer Install videos are a time saver! Start to finish was about an hour. I opted to notch and replace the heat shield vs. delete it. Also opted to grind the center frame hole vs. the one close to the suspension as seen in one of the videos.
etrailer customer service is great. Will definitely buy from again.
This is the third hitch I have purchased from etrailer and each purchase has gone smoothly. I will say the two Curt Hitches did install and line up better than another brand I purchased from them but don't recall the brand on that one.
Great hitch! Using to hold heavy weight e-bikes on my Subaru Outback
Nice hitch receiver! I ended up drilling holes to make them bigger. You will need a die grinder or a dremel (which I have but I didn’t have it close by).
etrailer was extremely fast at processing and shipping my order. The hitch was installed on a 2014 Subaru Forester and was very easy to install. It fits perfectly snug underneath the vehicle and there is no wasted space. Hitch seems to be well made and very strong with good welds. I'm sure it would pull a trailer much too big for the Forester. You can also use tin snips to cut a notch out of the heat shield in the area where the hitch bolts are and reattach it with 3 screws. So you won't have to discard the heat shield. I did the installation without help and used a couple of cheap jack stands to hold the hitch up in place. I didn't even need to jack the vehicle up. To enlarge the center hole, I used a cheap ($18) step bit from Harbor Freight. It's a little easier and quicker than filing or routing.
The only warning I would give is NOT to buy the hitch pin - it is secured only with a weak spring clip and there is no hole for a cotter pin. This is unacceptable and I certainly would not trust it even across the driveway. Do yourself a favor and purchase one at a hardware store and you can secure it with a proper pin or through-hole clip.
I also ordered the wiring kit and it was easy to install with good instructions and works great.
Huide
12/27/2013
nice done. thank you for sharing
Jd
11/22/2014
still going strong. Good hitch, well made. Your request for a review after a year of owning it is the mark of a well-managed company. Thanks!
I was originally just looking for a bike rack for my wife's 2014 Subaru Forrester. After viewing the website and watching the instructional video I decided installing a trailer hitch would be the way to go. Living in Missouri I received the hitch the next day. The hitch is top quality and installed with ease. I did decide to fish the bolts through the top inside of the vehicle because I didn't like the idea of enlarging the hole that was an attachment point. Simply pop up the two black buttons on each side to remove the foam, they pop back in when your finished for access. Enlarging the hole shown puts you directly above the center attachment hole. As shown in the pictures I enlarged the hole inside the vehicle and then sealed with butyl tape, Fishing from the top was very easy. I also only removed the minimum amount of heat shield to allow for the bolts and flattened/sandwiched the shield between frame and hitch to eliminate any chance of a rattle.
Now I only have to pick out a bicycle rack which I will definitely be ordering from etrailer.com
Wally
4/5/2018
Still rock solid. Couldn’t be happier.
I just purchased a 2015 Subaru Forester and needed a hitch for it. To have the dealer install would have been $700 and would have only been the 1 1/4" hitch. I wanted a 2" and have seen good reviews on the Curt hitch. I got confirmation from Curt that this did indeed fit the newest forester and so made the purchase. I thought about doing the install myself, but for $80, the local trailer dealership around here would do the install in an hour and be held liable for any damage done. And since I have no experience with car stuff and did not want to take a chance with doing any sort of damage to the vehicle, I brought it in.
It turned out nice. I needed a 4" lift for the ball mount so that my trailer would be nice and level. Also needed to pick up the extended version of it so that it would clear the back bumper of the car. Haven't towed anything yet, but over the next few days, I'll test out the 1500lb towing capacity and see how it works.
Dan
8/20/2014
How did your testing go?When you said you would test the capacity, do you mean your trailer is exactly 1500?How heavy is your trailer?
Ive put on serveral hitches, just follow the directions. Much easier now that a fish wire for each bolt is included. Widened holes with step bit this time and made it much easier. Reinstalled heat shield by drilling holes in it for bolts to pass through. Installed it by myself without raising vehicle.
Troy
7/19/2023
No issues, use for towing small trailer but mainly for Kuat bike rack.
The trailer hitch was delivered timely. My son was able to install it relatively easily. And it has performed perfectly ever since.
We are very happy with our Curt trailer hitch and with etrailer's service.
Tom M.
8/20/2018
Hitch is working fine. Thanks for asking.
Amazing product and service from etrailer as usual. This is the 4th hitch I've purchased and installed over the past 10 years from them, I always recommend them to my friends looking to install a bike rack. Allocate another $[XX] to buy a step drill bit (or ask your friends to borrow one) to fit this on your Forester. I figured I could just widen the "feed hole" with a file, but using a step bit will save SO much time and make a much cleaner job of it. The fishing line things that help with install are great, I think I enjoyed using them more than a normal person should. Great solid hitch, no complaints and highly recommend.
I just installed this hitch on a 2016 Forester. First, the hitch and hardware were all in perfect condition.
The instructions were detailed and very helpful.
Now that it's installed, it looks great and feels solid.
I'm glad I had a nice bit on a my die grinder for the step of widening the two holes, I'm sure a step drill would make easy work of that too.
I had never used the fishwire procedure before, but it was very easy and worked great.
After plenty of searching, etrailer had the best price for this hitch and followed it up with free and fast shipping, awesome customer service, and most importantly a great product from a great selection.
By the way, this is my third hitch from etrailer, the other two are on my WRXs :) Still strong, years long
I chose the Curt class II trailer hitch & Curt wiring harness. The videos along with the customer comments and reviews were very helpful making the installation go smoothly. I backed the car up on ramps to get working room. The hardware provided had much larger heads than shown in the video so I enlarged the 4th hole in order to pull the blocks and bolts thru. The rest of the installation went smoothly.
The tube cover with American Flag made a nice finish to the installation. Just an FYI, I have see the same tube cover on several other vehicles in the area. It looks good.
Fast shipping and helpful customer service, in that the original hitch i ordered was going to be delayed, due to out of stock. so i ordered the Curt. The instructions that came with the hitch were clear and easy to follow, but I watched the video, which suggests widening the furthest forward hole, which is already a bit bigger than the three that you put the bolts through. I drilled two holes next to the big hole (so it looked like mickey mouse - sorry i did not take a picture), then just bent the "tab" of metal between my two holes out of the way to fish through the bolts and the flat pieces of metal which prevent the bolts from turning. once i fished everything through (very easy and fun, even), i bent the tabs back into place and replaced the rubber stopper.
I also followed the comments from others on the website and trimmed the muffler heat shield so as to leave the bolt holes for the hitch exposed, then reinstalled it with three of the four screws. I lowered the muffler, and held it in place with a strap, like the video suggests. The install went easily, but did take me about three hours.
The receiver end of the hitch ends up a couple inches shorter than the end of the bumper, so there is no chance of smashing your shins against it, and it is very tight up to the bottom of the bumper as well. It does not appear that it will impede any type of 4 wheeling in the Forester, which was also a concern, as I see some hitches on cars are so big, that it would impact clearance.
I took a star off because the hitch is too narrow and contacts the spare tire well on both sides with no side to side adjustability. It would not sit flush on the frame rails until drawn to the full 110 ft-lbs. Installation took 2.5 hours without enlarging any holes in the frame rails and besides the holes in the heatshields is reversible. I have arthritic hands and worked alone when it was 91 degrees and I stopped multiple times to get tools/refreshments/wash my hands and tools. Knowing what I needed beforehand I doubt it would take more than 1.5 to do it again. The bumper cover/mud flap (green) required 8mm, 10mm, and a small screw driver. The bumper support (blue) used 14mm. The Curt hardware is marked in yellow. The disassembly is straightforward and once the bumper support is removed you can easily place the carriage bolts within the frame rails using the fishwires. I used a section of 2x10, two 2x4 cutoffs, and four 3 inch deck screws to create a balanced platform to raise the hitch into place. Once the nuts are on lower the jack and unscrew from the bottom. Reassembly took maybe twenty minutes. Note: My Forester XT has an aftermarket cat-back exhaust system with mufflers 1/3 the size of the OE units so I was able to complete the install with it in place. The Magnaflows are narrow enough that they don’t block access to any of the heatshield bolts or frame rails.
I have bought Curt trailer hitch to attach bike racks for 2 or 3 bikes to my Subaru Forester 2015. I am using the hitch about a year and it meets all my expectations. No problems so far.
I am very happy with the service provided by e trailer.com, They truly have the lowest prices and if you find a lower price they'll match and give you an additional 10% discount!!!!
This hitch is very sturdy and for the price I think it is the best bang for your buck...
I followed your install video completely however I don't understand why Curt recommends that the heat shield be removed. I installed the hitch with the heat shield and all i needed to do was to drill two 1/2 inch holes where the R and M are located in the heat shield (there is a pilot indentation there) this area of the heat shield is where the hitch will attach to the car and then I reattached the shield back into the car before attaching the hitch.
I don't have a lot of mechanical skills and it took me about 3 hrs to install this hitch by myself and taking breaks in between to wait for paint to dry. I painted with rust resistant paint and undercoating the areas that I enlarged/drilled. Enlarging the holes was the most time consuming part in my opinion but it didn't took that much either I used a Titanium Nitride Coated High Speed Steel Step Drill Bit and enlarged the hole up to 1 3/8.
getting it on the car by myself was difficult but I used 2 floor jack towers to hold the hitch in place and that helped but it would have been easier having an extra set of hands to hold it while screwing the bolts
I also painted the hitch 3 days prior with 3M rubberized undercoating to give an additional layer of rust proofing
I am very pleased with the way it looks on my 2015 Forester. Thanks etrailer.com, I highly recommend, and will definitely buy from you guys again!!!
I received my Curt Hitch for my 2014 Subaru Forester about 3 weeks ago, didn't have a chance to install it until this weekend. This is the third hitch I've gotten from etrailer.com, I've been very pleased and this hitch was no exception. Like a few other reviewers, I completely removed the muffler, I think that made for a much cleaner install. I also modified the heat shield under the muffler, may not have been necessary, but as long as Subaru put it there. I used a Dremel with a carbon tipped bit to enlarge the middle hole, that and the included fish wire worked very well. The finished look is very unobtrusive, I am very pleased.
Very great product. I went to the dealership to ask them about a hitch and they wanted over $800 to install one, and that did not include a wire harness. So I shopped around, and found this site. I ordered the hitch and wire harness for a fraction of what the dealer was asking. I received everything within 4 days, got a conformation email within minutes of ordering saying my shipment was being prepared. Then received an email a few hours later saying it was shipped. Very good customer service. The install was very simple also. Came with all the instructions and hardware to complete very easy. Instructions said install would take about an hour, I had it installed in about 30 minutes. Looks very clean on the vehicle. I would recommend this site and product to anyone. Since putting it on I have hauled a piano, dirt, and other stuff in the trailer with no problems. Thank you so much!
Overall the installation was very easy. To make it easier for myself (no help) I removed both exhaust mufflers.
In your web page it doesn’t show a 2018 Forester with dual exhaust.
Some hardware stores didn’t have a deburring bit to widen the hole so instead i used a pointed grinding stone and notched 2 sides of the hole (as you may see in one of the pics). This provided enough space for pc#1 & 2 to be dropped in place.
Next was to raise hitch into place (luckily i have a motorcycle floor jack). The fit was VERY TIGHT due to the spare tire compartment and possibly the angle of the hitch otherwise you just need to press hitch into place. No harm No foul...
Minor blemishes. No problem. Reinstall heat shielding (some cutting needed). Reinstall mufflers and I’m done!
Next...Trailer hitch wiring.
Thanks for the great products and videos associated with those products.
First the positive: Product is excellent, everything was there in the box and it fits perfectly under my 2015 Forester.
Now the less positive: I read the instructions that came with the hitch receiver and they made little sense to me. Enlarge the middle hole and pass the bolts through there? I didn't make sense, especially to install the bolt/spacer in that hole. Luckily, I watched the video and they say in it to not follow the instructions and use the rear access hole. My question is then: Why not correct the instructions?
Also, I didn't like that they enlarge the access hole with pry bars in the video since I wanted to be able to put the plug back in place so here's what I did. I took a reciprocating saw and made four little notch, allowing me to bend two tabs (see pictures). After passing all bolts and spacers, I fold the tabs back and the plug fit perfectly
Finally, they don't re-install the heat shield in the video (2016 Forester installation video) but I knew better since I watched other videos for other products. I simply made cuts in mine to fit the bolt holes.
In summary, excellent product but some work needs to be done to correct the instructions. Luckily, the site has plenty of videos to help you find the perfect solution. This is why I still give it 5 stars.
So, I was concerned about the length of the Curt 13144 hitch for my 2015 Subaru Forrester. The pics on etrailer for the 2015 showed a short receiver (tucked in 3-4" under the bumper) and the 2016 pics showed a longer hitch receiver for the same part number, which extended almost even with the end of the bumper. I read some reviews online for this hitch for the Forrester and some people had issues with mounting things with the shorter hitch, so I was concerned about which one I'd be receiving (i wanted the longer one). I don't know if Curt changed the design some time in 2015 or what. I called and brought this up with Angela, she was very helpful and took the time to understand my concerns. I took the chance and ordered it with her, and it was the right part, perfect for the vehicle. Angela stayed with me (via email) through shipping, delivery and even post-purchase, making herself available via phone if I wanted. The customer service at etrailer is excellent! I wish every company could take a lesson from them.
Like many others have experienced, the box was torn in 3 places, but it didn't affect the integrity or finish of the part. This hitch is incredibly durable and well constructed.
My installation went without a hitch (pun intended!). I followed the Curt video. There are many helpful hints in people's comments that I won't repeat...I used them all, including trimming and keeping my heat shield. A few points. It wasn't clear if I should jack the car up or not. I ended up jacking with a floor jack and set the car on jack stands. It was a very good work height and I'd recommend it to others. My biggest trepidation based on reviews/feedback was dealing with the rubber exhaust hangers, but it was really easy as long as you lubricate them (i.e., WD40). I guess people who struggled didn't lubricate the rubber hangers. I mean, it was SO easy. Took me 1 minute to undo 3 hangers and 1 minute to re-attach at the end of the job. One little thing that might help...when removing the fish wires from the bolts, just pull them taught and start unscrewing. The tension from pulling on it keeps the carriage bolt from spinning and its much faster/easier than trying to hold the bolt and unscrew the fish wires. The only special tool I had to get was a step bit that went to 1 1/8" ($19 @ Harbor Freight). I believe it was a textbook install and from the time I took out my first tool to the time I put my last one away it was just under 2 hours...and I'm not a particularly efficient worker. I like to take my time and double-check things as I go. Your mileage may vary.
Bought for my 2015 X. Fitment is great, and I have a Curt hitch on my older forester that isn't rusting, so I expect the same from this one.
I installed it myself. Wasn't keen on drilling the frame, so I did a no-drill method by removing the bumper cover and beam. It was surprisingly easy for me and only took me about 2 hours. A second hand and a large platform jack was essential for me to get the hitch into position.
I ordered the hitch Sunday afternoon about 3:30. At 5:30 i had a confirmation of shipment, and a tracking number, on Sunday! Said the hitch should show up on Thursday, but it was here Wednesday.
This is the third hitch I have installed, and the second from etrailer. They all have installed exactly the same. First was a Mazda Protege 5 sport wagon, then an '11 Subaru Impreza wagon, and now an '18 Forester. It took right at an hour to install, just as the instructions said it would. The instructional video is right on for the installation. I would strongly suggest having a helper to hold it in place during the install. We deviated from the instructions in that we removed the muffler completely from the car. It is only 2 bolts, there is no gasket involved, and since the car only has 1000 miles on it, the bolts were easy to remove. The only issue we had, and it is a small one, is we found the passenger side had to be fitted first to fit under the muffler hanger. We fit the drivers side first, and the passenger side then interfered with the muffler hanger and would not fit. I used Dawn dish washing soap to lubricate the muffler hangers going back together, and it made slipping the hangers through the rubber mounts a breeze
(2014 Forester) I haven't used my hitch through the winter, but looking forward to racking up my bikes in a few weeks to head to Ocracoke, NC! This hitch receiver is rock solid. There's a few chips in the paint that I'll try to touch up before heading down to the salty air.
John
3/6/2023
After a year+ of use, its a rock solid hitch and I love being able to haul my bikes with it.
I was bit nervous about installation which requires drilling but it went super easy. The package was shipped fast and arrived in just few days. Installation was easy after watching etrailer's video on YT. I did not cut the heat shield but drilled holes using a unibit and it worked very well (also used a unibit to enlarge hole in frame).
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Product Specs:
Trailer Hitch
Custom Fit Hitch
Class III
Concealed Cross Tube
2 Inch Hitch
525 lbs TW
3500 lbs GTW
Draw-Tite
Fully welded vehicle trailer hitch is strong and durable. Draw-Tite's Tested Tough guarantee ensures that this hitch exceeds industry standards. The combination of an e-coat base and a powder coat finish provides excellent rust protection.
Video of Draw-Tite Max-Frame Trailer Hitch Receiver - Custom Fit - Class III - 2"
Average Customer Rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars (144 Customer Reviews)
Fully welded vehicle trailer hitch is strong and durable. Draw-Tite's Tested Tough guarantee ensures that this hitch exceeds industry standards. The combination of an e-coat base and a powder coat finish provides excellent rust protection.The hitch is ill fitting but it did go on. The measurements on instructions are not correct. I had to cut almost an extra inch on my bumper to make it fit. Hitch is not made correctly it was made to narrow and pushed in my spare tub and the big round clearance holes only one lined up the other was offset again hitch was made to narrow. Passenger side is fine but drivers side is bad. It did go on but very disappointed.
Jenny N.
5/17/2023
It looks like the side brackets are flexed inward. This can happen as when the hitches are shipped to us they are shipped together in large pallets. What we do recommend is flexing the side brackets back out to align back with the holes. Please see the FAQ below to see the different ways that this can be done,
Helpful Links
I needed a hitch for my wife's brand new 2018 Subaru Forester to haul our Yakima bike rack. I also did not want the hitch cross-bar to hang down below the back bumper as the Forester already sits fairly low. I went with the Draw-Tite 76182 over slightly cheaper brands/styles for this reason. The hitch is way more heavy duty than needed but all of my draw bars and bike rack are 2" so I did not want go with a different size.
I ordered the Hitch from etrailer.com on Wednesday and it shipped the same day and arrived Friday. It was very well packaged with internal supports inside the box. Packaged perfectly and arrived in great condition.
The install was fairly straight forward. The fit was perfect and all the bolts lined up perfectly. The threaded feed wires for feeding the bolts through the frame worked AWESOME and took about 10 minutes to install all 6 bolts (3 per side) in the frame. The biggest trouble I had was trimming the rear bumper on the underside. I had to remove the hitch and re-trim the bumper cover 3 times before I had a perfect fit as I did not want to trim too much. I used a Dremel with a cutting wheel on medium speed. I also used painters tape to mark my cut rather than a marker and this worked well.
Rather than completely removing the rear bumper cover assembly, I bent the 2 support tabs as suggested by the install video. I was hesitant to do this on a brand new car but it was quite easy to bend with my hands and bend them back. This was a smaller risk than removing and reinstalling the bumper cover and risking scratching it or dropping it. Also since it was still no the vehicle, this made it easy to trim and I did not need another person to hold it still.
On the rubber muffler supports, use a little WD-40 on your finger and they will slide right off/on the welded studs.
George from etrailer.com was great and even followed up with an email to confirm my hitch was delivered and to check that it arrived ok. I usually shop Amazon for nearly everything, but the great reviews of personalized service and support prompted me to go with etrailer.com. I highly recommend them and they have the best price to go with that great service and support.
The hitch turned out great and looks like a factory install. Thanks etrailer.com!
Jeff
8/23/2019
1 Year Update: I am still happy with this hitch and would purchase it again. Install Tip: make sure you follow the trim outline on the backside of the Subaru bumper cover. I did not trim the horizontal portion high enough as I wanted it to be hidden as much as possible. The problem was, the horizontal cut was too low and the plastic rested on the top of the receiver tube. This allowed water and salt to sit in this spot and start to rust. I ped the hitch and trimmed the horizontal cut 12 higher so that it does not touch the receiver tube. Cleaned up the hitch and touched up with satin black and it looks brand new again. This was my rookie mistake, not the fault of the hitch. I would purchase this same hitch again. The quality, fit, and finish is perfect.
Delivery was fast and complete with all items. This is one hefty hitch. I read a lot of reviews and watched numerous videos before installing.
I'm a 69 year old, 150 pound weakling. I did the installation myself in about 4 hours. The key for me was connecting the hitch to my floor jack with a piece of wood to do the heavy lifting. Once it was close to being lined up, I used my Forester's scissor jack on one of the wings to raise the hitch and level it.
The engineering on this hitch is impressively precise. The fit has clear 1/8 margins with no rubbing. With heat shield modifications the fit is perfect. It required building a little jig on my jack to lift it up into place because I was doing the install on my own, and I needed a helper to pull the bumper plastics away while I used the floor jack.
Order error on my part was handled and fixed by etrailer personnel quickly and very efficiently. Thank you very much for your handling and understanding.
Product fit exactly. Installation video made DIY a snap
Great product, perfect fit. Etrailer is a fine company that is fast and supportive.
I purchased this hitch for my wife’s 2015 Subaru Forester and highly recommend it. The hitch arrived in fine shape, with the packaging intact. I noticed that the “loop” for attaching the safety chains is slightly lower on one side of the receiver than the other, but this does not appear to affect its functionality and the hitch is otherwise well made. A few notes about the installation may be useful to others. Instead of using tin snips to carve up the heat shield, I made a paper template to locate the points at which the mounting bolts for the hitch passed through the shield and drilled 3/4-inch holes in the shield to accommodate the bolts; this is much neater looking. Rather than lower the muffler and use a safety strap to support the exhaust, I found it easier to remove the muffler entirely, giving me more room to work and an unobstructed view; the exhaust pipe is supported by an additional hanger “upstream” of the muffler, so no strap is needed if the muffler is removed. I also removed the rear bumper cover (fascia) to give me more room for the install and avoid the need to bend the two sheet metal tabs on either side of the receiver; having the fascia off the car also makes it easier to do the necessary trimming. Because I was doing the install without a helper (and being old and weak), I used a pair of floor jacks at either end of the hitch to lift it into position. To provide sufficient clearance for the hitch receiver and ease reinstallation of the fascia, I made my “hitch cut” about 10 mm wider on either side than recommended in the instructions. (Subaru has kindly marked a square on the inside of the fascia that makes it easy to find the center-point for your cut. Outline your cut with painter's tape to ensure it's square and straight.) I also found it necessary to do some additional trimming of the fascia to provide clearance at the two mounting tabs mentioned above. (See photos.) I still ended up bending the tabs slightly toward the rear of the car to allow reinstallation of the two plastic clips that secure the fascia at those point. All in all, the installation took me about 4 hours, but I’m sure it can be done more quickly. Unlike a factory Subaru hitch I installed on another Forester years ago, this one does not contact the muffler hanger and is blessedly free of annoying rattles. I think the hitch looks great and I’m looking forward to getting a lot of use out of it for carrying a bike rack and towing a utility trailer.
First off I got this hidden hitch because it does not decrease ground clearance unlike other hitches, and due to the fact I will not be using this hitch much, I do not want the possibly of scraping on high inclines becoming a frequent occurrence despite the Forester's great ground clearance. Quality of this product was excellent for my 2016 Subaru Forester 2.5i. The trimming of the bumper took a while! I will get to that shortly. My father-in-law and I did this in about 3 hours. We took our time of course. We did not remove the bumper. Just measure and cut measure and cut. We repeated this several times before we got it right. Now, I wanted to retain the silver bumper underguard, so I had to make two separate cuts (both the bumper and underguard are plastic pieces). People were saying any hitch is not compatible with this extra piece, but I successfully trimmed and mounted it back on to its original location. No extra drilling. The only issue we had was having to make sure the cut on the silver portion was similar to the original fascia trimming. This took more time. As you can see in the head-on picture I had to trim a smaller amount on the right side to account for clearing one part of the hitch. Really not a huge eye sore. In a perfect world everything would be perfectly centered, but as shown in the picture you have to improvise a little with cuts. Pardon some of the scratches on the hitch during our install (if you can see them!). I plan on providing some high quality gloss paint to prevent rusting. All in all, the amount of work was straight forward but did take a while to complete. Still, considering how high this hitch mounts, it was still worth it. Thanks again to e-trailer for great customer service!
This Draw-Tite trailer hitch receiver works well on my 2018 Subaru Forester. I use it to tow a 5ft x 8ft utility trailer. As received, the paint was chipped off at several areas on the hitch receiver. I repainted the hitch before installing. The installation videos by Draw-Tite and etrailer were very helpful.
I have a 2018 Subaru Forester. I chose etrailer.com for my trailer hitch receiver. Personnel from etrailer were very professional and helped me make the right choices for my hitch & electrical wireing. The estimated time of delivery was excellent. Level of difficulty is rated 10 out of 10, and is recommended to be installed by 2 people. I did it by myself. I raised the unit by blocking up the mounting brackets while using a floorjack to raise the receiver end with the ball hitch installed.
Instead of trimming the heat shield, it was premarked for drilling, so I drilled two 1/2” holes and they matched up perfectly. For the bumper facia that had to be trimmed, I measured for center point, then used a scribe to put small holes in the facia. Then I put masking tape along my lineup holes, and cut the facia for a perfect fit.
The finished installation looks like it came from Subaru, and the only part you can see is hitch mount. I watched the installation video 3 times and followed the instructions that came Draw Tight. Only problem was the instructions said to remove two screws that are under the tail lights to remove the facia. That did not work, so I did the job with facia in place, but with the six plastic plugs removed. I held the facia out as I raised the hitch into position, as it showed in the video.
I am extremely satisfied with the installation!!
We plan to use this trailer hitch on our 2018 Forester with a bike rack to carry e-bikes, maybe tow a trailer some day. Installed on a Saturday morning, less than 3 hrs from start to finish, including time to stop and watch the etrailer video. There are a few installation tips to help the next person do it even easier and faster. See below.
Extremely happy with the final result - it is virtually invisible after installation. Very happy with the quality of the product - very rugged 1/4" thick steel, Happy with the installation video and there ate a lot of great tips there. Wire chasers are AWESOME!
Some tips to help:
- we are told to throw away the rubber plugs after chasing the bolts. I put the larger plugs back in.
- the video instructs to keep the fascia in place, whereas the written instructions tell you to take off the fascia. I followed the video and kept it on. I like the idea of not messing with cosmetic parts. worked ok for me, but need to be comfortable bending the metal tabs out of place and re-bending them back.
- I used a hydraulic car jack to hold the hitch and position it in place. worked out well for someone working solo on the ground.
- the tire well is a bit to large, so i needed to dent it in to allow the hitch to fit. see photo.
- the muffler hanger post interferes with the hitch, so i needed a pry bar to help it "sneak by" during installation. see photo
- the suggested size for the cutout in the fascia is 3.25" wide x 2.5" deep. I needed to make it more like 3.5 deep to avoid bending and distorting the fascia. see photo
- the sides of the hitch interfere with the plastic mounting tabs on the fascia. i needed to cut away notches. see photo
have fun!
Everything but the instructions regarding the heat shield and facia cuts is great. The “templates” for the heat shield cut is an inaccurate line drawing with no dimensions, and the “template“ for the facia cut might be a photo, but I can’t tell since it’s so dark, with overlaid dimensions which where both wrong. The mount itself and the hardware are outstanding and not difficult at all to put in, disregarding the facia cut. The cut for my 2015 Forester, with absolutely no damage to the rear end, turned out to be 3 3/4” wide and 3 1/2” from the lower edge.
Jenny N.
1/6/2022
I recommend viewing our video on a 2018 Subaru Forester to see how we handled cutting the fascia and heat shield.
Helpful Links
We’ll made and Fairly easy to install using the included installation paperwork. We also reviewed a few YouTube videos to learn a little more.
2018 Forester XT Touring. This model has two exhaust cans and a bunch wires, sensors and extra brackets in the rear facia. This complicates the install beyond what is shown in the video but don’t let that dissuade you from getting this hitch. On my install I did not remove the facia but I highly suggest removing both exhaust cans. Very easy to remove and reinstall the cans.. Extra wire/sensor brackets in the facia need to be bent out of the way so the hitch can be installed. I drilled two holes in the heat shield at the two dimples and that worked perfectly. No need to cut shield. The original shield screws can also be reinstalled. Additionally, the frame plug closest to the front of the car can be reinstalled too. This hitch is heavy. I installed a Honda CR-V hitch immediate after this install and the CR-V hitch seems like it weighed 1/2 as much. I had my XT on a car rack and feel this is definitely a two person job. Once complete it looks fantastic.
Trailer hitch was easy to install and was exactly the same as depicted in the installation video. The hitch is low profile and barely hangs below the bumper and extends slightly beyond the bumper.
First ordering, shipping, and available instructions are absolutely 5 stars. But this hitch stuck out a touch more than I thought it would. Perhaps an unrealistic expectation but it thought end of hitch would be around the end of bumper however it sticks out just a couple inches. Not sure if it’s becasue of the model year but I installed this on a 2018 Forester Premium.
Notes about install. I removed the heat shield and drilled holes as mentioned in prior review which worked great. I also had some difficulty removing the fascia so decided to instal hitch without removing it and just pull the fascia down after all plugs were removed which worked okay but produced some cursing. I had previously cut the fascia 2.5x3.25” per instructions but found this was not enough in either dimension. I then looked up a video specific to removing the fascia and found that there is a tab underneath taillight that will pop out but requires a little more pressure. Once fascia was removed on the inside there were lines that seemed to be a cut guide. I used a coping saw and followed the rounded corners. Reinstalled and it fit perfect.
In summary I think the model car (18 Forester Premium) I have may be slightly different then previous installers because the hitch projects further back than I expected. I would recommend removing the fascia and following the cut guide if you have this model car. I think the Curt hitch may also project rearward but, since I bought and installed this hitch, I don’t really know.
Overall happy with the product.
Fits great & looks even better on my 2018 Forester!
Very satisfied!
Great product installation photos, gives a first hand look what it looks like on your vehicle.
2nd etrailer purchase! I always recommend etrailer.com to friends, who have also been very happy with the products they have purchased!
I can now take my boat or trailer in tow with confidence!
I also purchased the 118467 T One Vehicle no splice quick connect wiring harness.
Thanks Again etrailer.com!
I just installed the Drawtite hitch this morning. Installation was mostly easy. I put the back of my 2017 Subaru Forester on ramps. I ran into a little trouble when on of the heat shield bolts snapped off. The tip to spray lube on the muffler hangers made it so much easier. I picked this hitch because it is hidden behind the fascia and the heat shield was trimmed and replaced rather than being discarded as in some other hitch installations. The tip to not remove the bumper fascia was great. I can’t wait to start using it for a small utility trailer and bike rack.
When the hitch arrived on my porch in less than 2 days I was shocked! The turn around from shipping to arrival was phenomenal.
The box was appropriately sized and packaged so that none of the parts broke through (despite the shipping companies best attempts).
We have a 2018 Subaru Forester XT with all the features, so the install wasn't as straight forward as the instructions specify.
The instructions did specify that with a dual exhaust (which we have) you would have to do more work to cut both heat shields.
But then this is where the instructions are incorrect, you can install all 4 screws into the heat shield once the hitch is installed!
There are holes etc that allow for it.
The next part that was tough was that my bumper has the backup sensors in it.
When putting up the hitch, it bumped into one of the connectors, I originally pushed up on it to bend it out of the way, but that did not work as the hitch goes really deep into the bumper.
So I advise that you pull that connector arm down towards the ground and into the bumper.
I did a walk around review of it!
The bolts lined up perfect. My dad was enamored of the wire and spring method of getting the bolts in. The cutting of the heat shield and the bumper was not too bad and the only issue we had was all the dirt we had falling in our faces as we removed all the parts.
Emily
3/27/2023
Going on a year now and it is still working great and no issues with installation or the product itself.
the product is well made and not hard to instal.
Fast, efficient service. Thank you.
I received the trailer with all the parts and installed it on my 2014 Subaru forester to pull a light trl with my 4-wheeler. Hitch is wonderful. It tows smoothly for the up to 30 miles I use it to tow my trler to the trl heads I access. Thank you etrailer for providing me with a quality hitch and me receiving it promptly with ALL the parts for proper installation.
-PK
Installed very easily in about 15 minutes (snapped into existing connector on my 2015 Forester), and works just fine. Seems to be of high quality materials to last a long time.
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Sparky
4/26/2023
Been mounted for a year now. Mount still solid and paint finish still looks new even after an Illinois winter.