etrailer | Curt Trailer Hitch Installation - 2019 Subaru Forester C12198

Click for more info and reviews of this CURT Trailer Hitch:
www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Hitc...
www.etrailer.com
Don’t forget to subscribe!
/ etrailertv
Full transcript: www.etrailer.com/tv-install-c...
How's it going, Ryan here at etrailer.com. Today on our 2019 Subaru Forester, we'll be taking a look at and showing you how to install the CURT inch and a quarter trailer hitch receiver.Right off the bat, in comparison to some of the other hitches available, this one is going to be a little more hidden because of its low profile design. That's because the hitch is a class two, so it's going to have that inch and a quarter, by inch and a quarter receiver tube, it would be a little bit smaller than those two inch hitches. So it's going to work perfect for those hitch-mounted accessories, especially those bike racks. I really like the look of the reinforced collar and it's also going to provide us with a little more strength. It is going to have a half inch size pin hole.
Now keep in mind a pin and clip does not come included but if you need one, you can find it here at etrailer.It's going to have plate style safety chain openings, which are quite large and should let us use just about any size hook that we might have. And since they're talked a little further back, we're not going to have to worry about interference with our pin and clip.As far as the hitches weight capacities go, it's going to have a 350 pound maximum tow weight rating, so that's going to be the amount of weight pushing down on the hitch. It's going to be perfect for those one to three bike racks. As far as the maximum gross trailer weight rating goes, it's going to be 3,500 pounds, the amount of weight pulling on the hitch. So that will be the weight of your trailer plus anything you might have on it.I do want to point out it is always a good idea to check with your Subaru's owner's manual to make sure your Forester can pull that much weight.
And if you do plan on doing a little bit of towing, I'd recommend picking up some trailer wiring, that way the lights on our trailer will match the lights on your Subaru, and it will be safe and legal. If you're looking for a nice bike rack that'll go great with our hitch and Subaru, I personally recommend the THule Helium Pro.Now I'm going to give you a couple of measurements. You're going to use these to help figure out which hitch mounted accessories to get. From the ground to the top inside edge of the receiver tube opening, that's about 14 and a half inches, and you're going to use that to figure out if you need to get a ball mount with either a drop or a rise. From the center of the hitch pin hole to the edge of the rear bumper, that's about four inches.
And you're going to use that to figure out if any folding accessories you might have, can be stored in an upright position without contacting the bumper.Now a great thing about this hitch, it's really easy to get installed and shouldn't take up a whole lot of your time. Speaking of which, let's go ahead and put it on together now.To begin our installation, we're going to be removing this plastic panel, here on the driver's side. The first fasteners that we're going to take out will be these push pin fasteners, there's going to be five of them. We're going to have one, two, three, and then once you take this one out, the mud flap will come down. There'll be another one under there, then we'll have one up on this side.
Now to get these out we'll just take a flathead screwdriver and pry underneath the head of the fastener. Pull the head of it down, we can just pop it out. Now we're just going to have two more bolts. So I'll use a 10 millimeter to get those off. I actually found one more fastener here in the wheel well we'll need to take out. We're able to drop this down and set it off to the side.Now we're going to need to lower our exhaust, but before we do that, it's a good idea to take a strap and just run it from side to side. That way when we do lower the exhaust, it'll have a little extra support. We're going to have a total of three rubber isolator hangers that we need to remove. We're going to have one right here on the side of the side of the muffler. Now to get these off, it's a good idea to spray them down with some penetrating oil or some soapy water. We can just take a pry bar, work off the isolator from the metal hanger. We're going to have another one on the passenger side, towards the back of the muffler and do that same technique to get it removed. Then if you follow our exhaust towards to the of front of the vehicle, we're going to have that last hanger right here. Now we can remove our heat shield above our muffler and that's going to be held in place with four 10 millimeter bolts. You can just drop it down and set it off to the side.Now if we come to our frame rail we're going to have

[@777arc2]

Wow that's just incredible how many steps are needed to get a hitch on an SUV

[@etrailer]

There are a few steps involved. The good thing about installing a hitch is that you will probably never have to do it again. www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Hitch/Curt/C12198.html

[@AustinFreemanSoccer]

This is a great "How To" Made it really easy for me to DIY

[@ALtheDoctorWho]

This is the better way to do the Heat shield. There was another install video on this that made me cringe when I seen the installer cut the shield. insane. A step towards making a rattle box.Thanks for making a better video on this.

[@etrailer]

Thanks, appreciate the kind feedback! You are right, sometimes the person writing the install instructions or the installer can get a bit overzealous with the trimming trying to make sure there are no fit issues. But they forget that someone has to live with the vehicle for the next 10 years! So moral of the story, you can always cut more, but can't cut less. Most of the Forester owners we work with want a hitch for carrying bikes. If this is your plan, here are the ones that the Forester owners we have liked www.etrailer.com/Best/Subaru/Forester/Bike_Rack/Hitch_Bike_Racks If you are planning on towing this video may be helpful as well. www.etrailer.com/tv-best-2019-subaru-forester-custom-fit-vehicle-wiring.aspx Let me know if there is anything else we can help with!

[@natecurrier]

Thank you! Easy peasy 👍🏻👍🏻

[@etrailer]

We are happy to help! If you need any additional information on this trailer hitch, check out the following link to our website. www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Hitch/Curt/C12198.html