etrailer | Curt Trailer Hitch Installation - 2021 Subaru Ascent

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Hey everybody, Ryan here at etrailer. Today on our 2021 Subaru Ascent we're gonna be showing you how to install the Curt Trailer Hitch Receiver. But before we get into that why don't we just take a minute check this out and make sure it's gonna be right for you. Putting a hitch on a Subaru just makes sense you know, it looks right at home. These vehicles except accessories very well and people use 'em to do a lot of different things. So you know, whether you're planning on pulling a trailer around or using bike rack or cargo carrier you're gonna want something that is gonna get the job done and a set up like this is gonna do just that.

There are several hitches available for the Ascent. This one as well as there's an etrailer one as well that sit down below the bumper so they're visible. Honestly, you know with kind of that Subaru image that doesn't look bad at all I don't think even though you can see it. But if you're looking for something a little more clean, I guess you could say, this panel here actually pops off and there's several hitches that will sit behind it so that way when you're not using it you know, you put the panel on, you can't see it and when you're ready to use it you pop it off. So it's really just gonna depend on what you're looking for and what one you like.

One of the things I did notice about this setup is the bumper clearance. So it actually comes out just a little ways. So if you have a folding accessory shouldn't have to worry about it at all hitting the bumper when you fold it up. With it being a class three hitch though it's gonna have the two inch by two inch opening. Really common size, a ton of different things are gonna work with it.

It's gonna use that standard five-eights pin and clip. One doesn't come with the hitch. If you need one though, not really a big deal you can always grab one here at etrailer. And the safety chain openings are gonna be a plate style. Those are gonna be large enough to allow us to use just about any size hook that our trailer might have on it.

This hitch is gonna have some pretty good weight capacities. Maximum gross tongue weight rating is gonna be 675 pounds. It's gonna be the amount of weight pushing down on the hitch. That's a good number, a high number. And any cargo carrier or bike rack should work for the most part. As far as the maximum gross trailer weight rating that's gonna be 5,000 pounds. That's gonna be the amount of weight pulling on the hitch. So that's the weight of your trailer plus anything that you might have on it. I do always like to suggest that it's never a bad idea just to grab your vehicle's owner's manual that way you can check in there and make sure your Subaru can handle that much weight safely. I'm gonna grab a couple of measurements. These will help us figure out what type of accessories will work best. To go from the ground to the top inside edge of the receiver tube opening, it's gonna be about 14 inches. So if you plan on pulling a trailer around you know a ball mount with a straight shank or one that has a slight rise in it, it maybe an inch or two will probably work for a lot of people and a lot of setups. From the center of the hitch-pin hole to the edge of our rear bumper, that's gonna be about zero, actually, it's almost perfectly in line with it and we kind of talked about this a minute ago, but you know you could use that to help figure out if those accessories can be folded upright without hitting your back bumper and with that measurement, nothing to worry about. Other than that you know, a hitch you really can't go wrong with, it's gonna blend in and get the job done. You'll be able to do all those different types of things that you're looking to do. As far as the installation goes, it's not too bad. There's a little bit of work involved a little bit of drilling, you're gonna have to enlarge a hole and a little bit of trimming too. There's a little shield that you have to cut to make room but it's something you're gonna have to do one time and then that's kind of it, you know, so not a huge deal. But speaking of that, why don't we go ahead, pull in to the garage and put it on now. To begin our insulation we're gonna be underneath the back of our Ascent. And what I've done is just temporarily lowered and removed our spare tire. That way it'll give us the room we need to work. And once the hitch is in place, this will go back up. But with that said, we can continue on. We're gonna have to remove this black heat shield that runs along underneath our vehicle. This shield is gonna be held in place with five bolts so two on each side in the one in the middle. Here's the tw