etrailer Class III Trailer Hitch Installation - 2021 Honda Pilot

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Full transcript: https://www.etrailer.com/tv-install-e...
Hey everyone. Shane here with etrailer.com. Today I have a 2021 Honda Pilot, and I'm gonna walk through how to install the etrailer.com class 3 trailer hitch receiver. Adding a hitch on the back of your Pilot is gonna give you a lot of different options. Whether that's towing a trailer. Whether you want to put up a cargo carrier.

Maybe you put a bike rack on. Having the two inch receiver tube opening is going to allow, or give you a lot of different options for hitch mount accessories. This is what our hitch is gonna look like when it's on the vehicle. See a cross tube is completely hidden behind the bumper fascia, so it maintains a nice clean look. The only thing we're really see is our receiver tube.

The edge of the receiver tube actually sits back past the outer edge of our bumper fascia underneath our vehicle. So if we're trying to get anything in and out of the back of the vehicle, we don't have to worry about hitting our shins or anything like that on it. Hitch is gonna have a steel construction black powder coat finish. So it's gonna hold up really well against rust and corrosion. Two inch by two inch receiver tube opening.

So again, it gives us a lot of different options for hitch mounted accessories. Reinforced collar to help us clean up the look and also gonna give us a little extra stability there for any of our hitch mount accessories that we may have installed. Hitch pin hole here is gonna be 5/8 inch in diameter. The hitch does not come with the pin and clip. However, you can find it here at etrailer.com and it's gonna take a standard 5/8 hitch pin.

We're gonna have rolled steel safety chain loops. These are gonna be welded on the bottom of the receiver tube. You can see we have very large openings, so it's gonna accommodate different size safety chain hooks. Now I'm gonna give you a few weight capacities and measurements to help you when deciding on any of your hitch mount accessories, like your bike racks, cargo carriers, or ball mounts. From the center of our hitch pin hole to the outermost part of our bumper fascia, it's gonna be about 4-1/2 inches. That number is important for any of your hitch mount accessories that may fold up. You wanna make sure they're not gonna make contact. From the ground to the top innermost part of our receiver tube is gonna be about 14-1/2 inches. Keep that number in mind for any of your hitch mount accessories that may require a little more ground clearance. As far as our weight capacities go, we're gonna have a 900 pound max tongue weight which is the downward pressure on the inside of the receiver tube. We're gonna have a 6,000 pound gross trailer weight which is the trailer plus the load included. And that's gonna be how much the hitch can pull. You can use weight distribution with this hitch. Tongue weight is gonna stay the same, however, trailer weight is gonna go up to 8,000 pounds. Now that we've gone over some of the features, let's walk you through how to get it installed. To start out installation we're gonna need to lower our spare tire or remove it. We're gonna come into the back of our vehicle. We're gonna lift up this panel and right in the middle we're gonna have this plastic cap. take a Flathead screwdriver or trim panel tool, we'll pop this up. You're gonna have a rubber cap here. Pull that up. And this is where we lower our spare tire. Come over to our driver's side. This panel right behind is where your spare tire tools are. Pop this off and on the lid you're gonna have this tool. We'll slide the end on, and then you just want to turn it to lower your tire. Now this is a brand new vehicle, but our mounting locations on our frame rails are open to the elements. So if you've driven your vehicle for a little while, it might be a good idea if you take a nylon tube brush and just clean out the threads. 'Cause we don't want our hardware to crossroad inside of there. We're gonna have three on fastener side and three on the driver's side. With another set of hands we're gonna raise our hitch up into position. For hardware we're gonna take a hex bolt, conical toothed washer and make sure the teeth are facing up towards the hitch. We'll get one in place on each side. That'll help support the hitch while we install our remaining hardware. Once we get all of our hardware in place, we'll come back with a 7/8 socket and we'll tighten all of our hardware into place. Once we get all of our hardware tightened, we're gonna come back and torque it to the specifications in the instructions. Once you have all your hardware torqued down, you can go ahead and reinstall your spare tire in reverse order from the w