- First Name
- Bruce
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2020
- Threads
- 9
- Messages
- 88
- Reaction score
- 352
- Location
- Howell, Michigan
- Vehicle(s)
- Mini Cooper, Audi Allroad, Bronco-II (past)
- Your Bronco Model
- Badlands
- Thread starter
- #1
Super excited to have first found out about the new Draw-Tite hitch courtesy of Bronco6G member and received it and installed it today (9/22/21).
I obtained it from etrailer: https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Hi...icleID=20216004594#exp-productdetails=.photos and the experience was great except for the packaging (more on that later).
First off, I was going to get the OEM hitch ordered but ~$600 is expensive when my only use-case is for a heavy duty bike rack for my ebike. So, when the dealer indicated that the hitch was a commodity hold delay item (whether true or not, who the heck knows), I deleted it. I figured I can find a 3rd party hitch that would be coming out and they did....
I was first just going to get the Ford OEM hitch w/o wiring at Lasco Ford Part at a discounted price of ~$269.50 see link: https://www.lascoautoparts.com/oem-...vbmNvJnk9MjAyMSZ0PWJhc2UmZT0yLTNsLWw0LWdhcw==
But, then I read about the CURT hitches but they didn't seem in-stock and then I came across the chats about draw-tite.
The extended length on the draw-tite is awesome since it's still a tad less than the width of the big fat 33" spare so no interference with your shins etc but perfect for bike racks like mine that fold-up 90deg. You can always buy a 8" or 12" extender tube but my hitch has an integrated anti-rattle mechanism and with extensions, you'd have to add a separate anti-rattle clamp etc...
The etrailer status emails and tracking updates was awesome and I received the product in 4-days! The only pain point was that the heavy duty box with heavy gauge staples was all busted open. I was thinking how can this happen, but when I looked inside the box, I fully understood....Etrailer doesn't conform to the precision packing style that Apple does with it's phones but simple threw the big uneven hunk of steel into the box with zero support packing! A little bit of tossing around from UPS etc and the hunk of steel busted out of the box....it's a hunk of steel so no damage done but a bit annoying.
The end result is awesome, see pics below but the install of only 4-bolts wasn't trivial for me; I'm a little mechanically inclined but installing all 4 nuts was a bit of a contortionist activity for me at least. Etrailer has install instructions but the tolerences on the steel bumper and hitch and access area's wasn't that easy (note my custom nut holding tool {which is indeed legal now in the state of MI ;-) }.
In the end, all of you can figure it out and get 'er done. Torque-wrench it to 75ft-lb like it said and no worries whatsoever since not towing anything, only bike rack and 75lb ebike.
Let me know if you have any questions...for the price, this thing is a beast, very heavy duty, with metal tab for future electrical etc....
I obtained it from etrailer: https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Hi...icleID=20216004594#exp-productdetails=.photos and the experience was great except for the packaging (more on that later).
First off, I was going to get the OEM hitch ordered but ~$600 is expensive when my only use-case is for a heavy duty bike rack for my ebike. So, when the dealer indicated that the hitch was a commodity hold delay item (whether true or not, who the heck knows), I deleted it. I figured I can find a 3rd party hitch that would be coming out and they did....
I was first just going to get the Ford OEM hitch w/o wiring at Lasco Ford Part at a discounted price of ~$269.50 see link: https://www.lascoautoparts.com/oem-...vbmNvJnk9MjAyMSZ0PWJhc2UmZT0yLTNsLWw0LWdhcw==
But, then I read about the CURT hitches but they didn't seem in-stock and then I came across the chats about draw-tite.
The extended length on the draw-tite is awesome since it's still a tad less than the width of the big fat 33" spare so no interference with your shins etc but perfect for bike racks like mine that fold-up 90deg. You can always buy a 8" or 12" extender tube but my hitch has an integrated anti-rattle mechanism and with extensions, you'd have to add a separate anti-rattle clamp etc...
The etrailer status emails and tracking updates was awesome and I received the product in 4-days! The only pain point was that the heavy duty box with heavy gauge staples was all busted open. I was thinking how can this happen, but when I looked inside the box, I fully understood....Etrailer doesn't conform to the precision packing style that Apple does with it's phones but simple threw the big uneven hunk of steel into the box with zero support packing! A little bit of tossing around from UPS etc and the hunk of steel busted out of the box....it's a hunk of steel so no damage done but a bit annoying.
The end result is awesome, see pics below but the install of only 4-bolts wasn't trivial for me; I'm a little mechanically inclined but installing all 4 nuts was a bit of a contortionist activity for me at least. Etrailer has install instructions but the tolerences on the steel bumper and hitch and access area's wasn't that easy (note my custom nut holding tool {which is indeed legal now in the state of MI ;-) }.
In the end, all of you can figure it out and get 'er done. Torque-wrench it to 75ft-lb like it said and no worries whatsoever since not towing anything, only bike rack and 75lb ebike.
Let me know if you have any questions...for the price, this thing is a beast, very heavy duty, with metal tab for future electrical etc....
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