I ordered a Hidden Hitch from eTrailer.com and it came last week. So this weekend I went abput installing it. the job was not as simple as the video from eTrailer would make you believe.
First, the hitch slid into position with ease. Lifted the rear of the car up about 12 inches and the hitch just kind of kind of rolled it into position .... very easy! .... then I started threading the bolts in.
First I put one bolt on each side to hold the hitch up into position. After I had all bolts on the drivers side very (!) losely installed giving them just about two turns into the threads I began to finish up by installing last two the passenger side bolts. It became very quickly apparent that one of the three bolts would not go in whatsoever because the holes did not line up well enough. The hitch holes did not match the frame holes. Granted it was only about 1/8th of an inch but since the threads of the bolts/holes are fine thread you have to be able to perfectly line up the bolt and hole to install them. On this side ... no way!. So I removed the hitch again and got my dremel tool out triming two of the passenger side holes just a tiny bit. Putting the hitch back into position all bolts finally installed.
So now that I had all bolts losely started into their holes I centerd the hitch into fianl position to tighten them. What I immediately noticed was the fact that there was a space of about 1/4 inch on each side of the hitch mounting tabs between the hitch and the CX-9 frame rails. The hitch is approx. 1/2 inch or so too narrow. I figured I never would be able to pull this to close the gap, but tightening the bolts I was able to close the gap. This happened by partially pulling the hitch mounting tabs to the outside and partially by pulling the frame rail out by 1/16 inch or so.
Bottom line .... I am disappointed with the fit of this hitch beeing that narrower than the frame rails. In the end everything is fine and I am sure this baby won't budge, but pulling the frame and hitch tabs this hard is not my favorite way to install. A smaller gap I would understand, but this was more than it should have been.
What are your experiences?? Did you have similar gaps when putting the hitch in??
Ohh, jsut in case.... my car did never have an accident or rear end damage. It is pristine and just like out of the factory. So it is not the cars fault.
First, the hitch slid into position with ease. Lifted the rear of the car up about 12 inches and the hitch just kind of kind of rolled it into position .... very easy! .... then I started threading the bolts in.
First I put one bolt on each side to hold the hitch up into position. After I had all bolts on the drivers side very (!) losely installed giving them just about two turns into the threads I began to finish up by installing last two the passenger side bolts. It became very quickly apparent that one of the three bolts would not go in whatsoever because the holes did not line up well enough. The hitch holes did not match the frame holes. Granted it was only about 1/8th of an inch but since the threads of the bolts/holes are fine thread you have to be able to perfectly line up the bolt and hole to install them. On this side ... no way!. So I removed the hitch again and got my dremel tool out triming two of the passenger side holes just a tiny bit. Putting the hitch back into position all bolts finally installed.
So now that I had all bolts losely started into their holes I centerd the hitch into fianl position to tighten them. What I immediately noticed was the fact that there was a space of about 1/4 inch on each side of the hitch mounting tabs between the hitch and the CX-9 frame rails. The hitch is approx. 1/2 inch or so too narrow. I figured I never would be able to pull this to close the gap, but tightening the bolts I was able to close the gap. This happened by partially pulling the hitch mounting tabs to the outside and partially by pulling the frame rail out by 1/16 inch or so.
Bottom line .... I am disappointed with the fit of this hitch beeing that narrower than the frame rails. In the end everything is fine and I am sure this baby won't budge, but pulling the frame and hitch tabs this hard is not my favorite way to install. A smaller gap I would understand, but this was more than it should have been.
What are your experiences?? Did you have similar gaps when putting the hitch in??
Ohh, jsut in case.... my car did never have an accident or rear end damage. It is pristine and just like out of the factory. So it is not the cars fault.
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