etrailer | Installation Guide for the Curt Trailer Hitch Receiver on a 2019 Subaru Crosstrek

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Hey everybody. Rob here at etrailer.com and today we're going to be taking a look at the Curt Class II custom fit trailer hitch receiver on our 2019 Subaru Crosstrek. Now here's where our hitch is going to look like once we have it installed. I really like it because the crosstube's completely hidden behind the bumper here and all we're going to see is that receiver tube sticking out. Not to mention the receiver tube is almost flush with the back bumper, so we don't have to worry about walking by and hitting our leg on it. Now it is a Class II, which means it's going to give us that 1-1/4" by 1-1/4" receiver tube opening, which would be great for accessories like bike racks.

We can go put a bike rack in here, take some bikes with us and hit the trail. But regardless of how we're going to be using our hitch, all of the accessories are going to mount to the hitch pin hole here on the side.Our hitch is going to accept a standard 1/2" pin and clip. Now these are not going to come with the hitch but you can find them here at etrailer.com, along with some locking devices and anti-rattle devices to make sure your accessories are secure and we don't have that annoying rattle when we're driving down the road. Now if you are going to be towing a trailer, obviously you need a spot to hook up your safety chains and we have a loop style welded to the bottom of the receiver tube and with most size normal hooks will fit. No problem, shouldn't have any kind of interference with the pin and clip or worry about getting hooked or unhooked.

The same thing goes if you have those really large oversized hooks too. Those really wide openings make it extremely easy to put those hooks on and take them off.And speaking of towing, if you do plan on doing some light duty towing with your Crosstrek, our hitch is designed to work with specific draw bars or ball mounts and you can find those here at etrailer.com. Now as far as the weight ratings go, our hitch is going to have a 350 pound tongue weight and that's the maximum downward pressure at the end of the receiver tube. And to put that in perspective, depending on the weight of your bike in the rack, we'll be able to carry three, maybe even four bikes with us. Now as far as the gross trailer rate rating goes, our hitch is going to have a 3,500 pound rating.

That's how much the hitch can pull, but that does include the trailer and the load we have loaded on it. Now always keep in mind those are the ratings of our hitch. So we do want to double check our Crosstreks owner's manual and not exceed the manufacturer's rating.Like to give you a few measurements and these are going to help you whenever you're looking for accessories for your new hitch, like a bike rack or even a cargo carrier. From the center of the hitch pin hole to the outermost edge of the bumper, it's right about 2-1/4". This measurement is going to help you when you're looking at folding accessories to make sure that you can put them in the upright stored position and not make contact with the rear bumper.

And from the ground to the inside top edge of the receiver tube opening is going to be right about 15-1/2". Now at that height I'd recommend a bike rack or a cargo carrier with a raised shank. That would get a little bit more ground clearance out of it, but at that height it shouldn't be a major concern. But now that we've seen our hitch and gone over some of the features, let's bring into the shop so we can go through the installation process together.To begin our installation, we want to come to the back of our Subaru and we're going to come right underneath the rear bumper. If we move to the outer edge we can find the frame rail, and we're going to have to remove a few rubber plugs. So here in the frame rail you'll see we have three rubber plugs. We just take a flat blade screwdriver, something kind of sharp or flat and we're just going to pry those plugs out.You want to remove all three of these and we'll move over to the other side of the frame and remove the three that are over there as well. The large hole in the frame towards the front of our Subaru, that's going to be our access hole. We need to get our hardware through there, but if we grab our spacer block you can see it doesn't quite fit in there and our carriage bolt barely fits as well. So we're going to need to enlarge this hole. You can use a file. I'm going to be using a step bit just to make the process a li