Install: etrailer Trailer Hitch Receiver on a 2023 Cadillac XT5

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Full transcript: https://www.etrailer.com/tv-install-e...
Hey everybody, Ryan here at etrailer. Today on our 2023 Cadillac XT5, we're gonna be showing you how to install the etrailer.com 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 work for you. One of the best things about this hitch is the fact that it can hide behind this panel, and with Cadillacs being luxury vehicles, personally, I would rather not have to look at a trailer hitch whenever I don't want to, and because this panel, this'll pop on when you're not using the hitch, and you won't even know it's there, and there is a couple screws that'll go in there too, but I'm not gonna bother with them right now just so I can effectively demonstrate this. So it looks completely OEM, completely stock, and when you're ready to use a hitch, you can remove the panel here, and now you have full access to it. With Cadillacs, you get a lot of cool features, one of 'em being the Hands-Free Liftgate Assist, and a lot of people wonder if putting a trailer hitch back here is going to affect that, and with this one the answer is, "No." It's still gonna work the way it should, and honestly, with the hitch sitting up high, you really don't even need to adjust your foot, but if you end up having some issues, just kick to either side of the receiver tube and it'll open up like it should. With this being a Class 3 hitch, it is gonna have the two inch by two inch receiver tube opening, super common size, it's gonna work with a lot of different things.

It is going to have the standard 5/8 pinhole. Keep in mind, though, pin and clip doesn't come included. If you need one, not a big deal, you can grab it here at etrailer. A lot of times if you end up buying an accessory, they'll come with pins and clips, so just keep that in mind. These safety chain openings do sit back a little bit, but not a huge deal, you could still get to 'em, and they're gonna be large enough to use just about any size hook that your trailer might have.

As far as hitch's weight capacities go, it's gonna have some really good numbers. The maximum gross tongue weight rating is gonna be 750 pounds, and that's gonna be the amount of weight pushing down on the hitch, so you'll be able to use any size bike rack or cargo carrier that you'd want to, for example. As far as the maximum gross trailer weight, that's gonna be 5,000 pounds, or the amount of weight that is pulling on the hitch, so the weight of your trailer plus anything that you might have on it. This setup can be used with a weight distribution system, which is a separate component, and what happens when you use that, that's gonna keep your Cadillac and your trailer level whenever you're pulling it down the road. So if you got a bigger camper or something like that, might be worth looking into.

If you end up using something like that, the tongue weight rating will stay the same at 750, but the gross trailer weight rating will go up to 6,000 pounds. I do always like to suggest, so it's never a bad idea just to grab your SUV's owner's manual that way you can check in there and make sure that your Cadillac can pull that much weight safely. Now we can go ahead grab a couple of measurements, and these will help us figure out what type of accessories will work best. From the ground to the top inside edge of the receiver tube openings, gonna be about 19 inches, so if you plan on pulling a trailer around you could probably use a ball mount that has a slight drop in the shank or maybe even a straight shank. If you go from the center of the hitch pin hole to the edge of the rear bumper, that's gonna be about six inches, and you can use that measurement to help figure out that if any folding type accessories you might have can be stored in that upright position without hitting the back bumper.

Other than that, at the end of the day, a trailer hitch you really can't go wrong with. It's really capable, so you're gonna be able to do all those different types of tasks, and you're still gonna be able to maintain the factory type appearance since it can hide behind the panel. As far as the installation goes, believe it or not, it's not too bad. Essentially you just feed some hardware into the frame rails and the hitch goes up into place. It can be a little bit tight depending on your model. I'll show you a couple of bolts you can take out on the bottom side to give you a little more space if