etrailer | Installation: Stealth Hitches Hidden Rack Receiver on a 2023 Audi Q3

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Full transcript: https://www.etrailer.com/tv-install-s...
Hi, John with etrailer. If you're ready for a bike rack or a cargo carrier for your Audi, but you don't want the looks of having a hitch on your car all the time, well, check out what we installed on this Audi today. This is the Stealth Hitches Hidden Rack Receiver Hitch and we installed it on our 2023 Audi Q3. And more than likely, the biggest draw to this hitch is the fact that you can retain a factory look on your Audi until it's time that you need to use this. Now, this receiver hitch is only for bike racks in cargo carriers. This is not rated to tow with.

You can't just put a ball mount inside of this. Now, if you are thinking that you're gonna do some part-time towing in the future, we have another kit on our website that's gonna include everything you need: the ball mount, the wiring, and it'll also include this receiver hitch as well. So let's talk about some of the functions of this hitch. To install your receiver hitch, you're gonna see it's gonna have this stud up here and it's going to just (stud clattering) lock into place on the Audi. Now, once it's up here, of course you're ready to use your cargo carriers or bike racks.

And when you're done using it, there's gonna be a knob on this passenger side. It just rotated and this drops back out. Now, that's gonna put this back, get this mounted up, and we're gonna see how this hitch fits out on our Q3 here. We'd like to start with ground clearance. You'll see how it's sitting today.

So from the ground to the top of the inside collar, we're looking at 15 1/2 inches. And then for your accessory that you're gonna put on here, we like to get a measurement from the center of the pinhole to the edge of our fascia. In this instance, the pinhole's actually past our fascia, so you can put this on, and be rest assured here that most of your accessories that have a stowed fold up position are gonna fit on the Audi without impacting the back of your bumper. Now, one very nice feature is the kick sensor on your Audi is still gonna work even with the hitch on or even when it's loaded up with a bike rack. Now, speaking of accessories, the weight capacity of this hitch, it's a nice number, it's 600 pounds of tongue weight rating.

That's gonna be the force pushing down on this hitch. And so you're gonna have plenty of room if you wanna load up a cargo rack with all your gear or it's enough weight even for a four-bike bike rack. Now, one of the nice features I do like about the Stealth Hitch is that it's lockable. You're gonna have a lock cylinder on this left side on the driver's side up here, and you could lock it. So that's gonna lock your accessories into position. If you have a locking anti-rattle clip here, that's double the security features for any accessories that you put on. Another nice feature is you're going to get a rubber plug that's gonna fit inside the rack receiver up here when you're not in use,. It's gonna keep the dirt and grime out of that cylinder. So the final thoughts on the Stealth Hitch. I think this is a great option for the Audi. Stealth Hitches is a premium hitch with a lot of nice features on it. When it comes down to either the powder coat finish on it, the reinforced collar and their welds, their quality, really, is second to none, and it's just a great fit for the Q3. I think the height is good, it's gonna have plenty of options for your bike racks, and cargo carriers, and other accessories like that. So this is a win-win in my book. Now, as far as installation goes, this gets pretty involved. They rated a 10 out of 10 for difficulty. But the Audi actually was pretty okay with us today. We didn't have too many problems installing this hitch, so you are gonna have to remove the entire rear fascia here. And other than that, though, we're just going to be removing some bolts and bolting it back on. There's no cutting, no drilling. The Audi is already cut out on the bottom here for a receiver hitch, so it really is. The biggest task is gonna be getting the fascia removed, and we've got some tips for you to how to get that off and how to plan your day out when you do this. So if you wanna see how we installed this hitch on the Q3, stick around, we'll show you right now. Now, before we begin our installation, there's a few things that we need to think about. We will be removing this entire rear fascia. So you want to have room for that somewhere. It will be coming off completely. You can set a blanket on the ground and then you'll be able to set that off to the side. Second, if you've got your rear hatch open, take your floor panel out be