Draw-Tite Sportframe Trailer Hitch Receiver - Custom Fit - Class I - 1-1/4"

Video Transcript for Trailer Hitch Installation - 2004 Chevrolet Impala

Today we are going to be installing hitch part number 24681 from Draw-Tite on a 2004 Chevrolet Impala. You can see here at the bottom of the bumper there are two smaller holes that we are going to use as the rearmost attaching point. These two holes are going to need to be enlarged to 1/2 inch, and then we will feed our block and bolt into position. Also, a little bit forward here, you can see the main crossmember just rearward of the spare tire well. We are going to use the outboard holes on each side as the forwardmost attaching points. To get our hardware into this position, we are going to need to fish wire our bolt and block through this larger access hole here toward the end of the crossmember. So the first thing we are going to do is go ahead and fish the bolts and hardware into the forward crossmember, and then we will enlarge our holes here at the rear. In order to fish the bolts into this forwardmost crossmember, I am going to take a standard piece of what is called "stove wire," and what I am going to be doing is go ahead and feed it through the hole that we are going to be putting the hardware in and back out through the access hole here at the end of the crossmember. From there, we are going to take our 7/16 block and our 7/16 carriage bolt and we are going to feed it through the frame. What we are want to do is just feed the stove wire through the block and then we are just going to take and wrap the threads of the bolt with it. And then from there we can just feed the block into the crossmember, followed by the bolt, and we will just pull that into position. Okay, and we are going to do the very same thing here on the driver's side.

Okay, the next step is to go ahead and enlarge the two holes here on the rear bumper channel. We are going to enlarge these to 1/2 inch. Okay, then next we want to go ahead and feed the large, 1/2-inch block through the opening here in the bumper channel right over the existing hole that we just enlarged. And then we want to take our 1/2-inch carriage bolt and just set it into position. And we are going to do the same for the other hole that we just enlarged. And, with all the bolts in place, we can go ahead and put our hitch up into position. And be careful when we put the hitch up into position that we do not push any of our hardware back up into the frame. Here at the rear we want to make sure that we use the 1/2-inch conical-tooth washer and 1/2-inch nut. And on the forwardmost attaching points we want to be using the 7/16 conical-tooth washer and the 7/16 nut. And then lastly we want to go ahead and torque all the bolts down. You want to check with your instructions to verify the appropriate torque rating for each individual bolt. Okay, with your bolts torqued down, our installation is complete. This will conclude the installation of hitch part number 24681 on a 2004 Chevrolet Impala.

At this point, we can go ahead and start installing the hitch on the vehicle. We will put the passengers side bracket over the exhaust and let the exhaust hold it up for a bit while we get the drivers side bolt holes lined up. Now that we have got all the hardware started, we can go ahead and snug them down. With the bolts snugged down, now we can give them their final torque, as specified in the instructions. All that remains now is to go ahead and reinstall the rubber hanger onto our exhaust. And that finishes our install of install part number 36407 from Draw-Tite.