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Trailer Hitch Installation - 2003 Ford Escape
Custom Fit Trailer Hitch
This Product Fits The Following Vehicles
2001 - 2003 Ford Escape
2001 - 2003 Mazda Tribute
Products Featured in this Video
Manufacturer InstructionsInstallation of a Trailer Hitch on a 2003 Ford Escape
Today we are going to install part number 90635 from Hidden Hitch, and we are going to install this on a 2003 Ford Escape. First we will show you where the hitch mounts up on the frame of the vehicle. Where it is going to mount up is on this hole here, and here. What is going to happen is we will thread our hardware from the edge of the frame. There is an opening back here - we will pull our hardware through from the inside out. Now some vehicles - there will be an exhaust shield on there that you will have to trim. Instructions are provided to do that. But in this case, there is not one existing, so we do not have to worry about it. And if you do have to trim it, it is very easy. Tin snips is all you need to cut it out and make room for the hitch. And this assembly is going to be identical on both sides. It is also going to use one last attachment it is going to use the tow loop here, too.
We are going to start on the passengers side of the vehicle. We will start fish wiring the hardware in. Now there are going to be two bolts that go in per side, and there is a difference in the bolts, too. One is just basically going to be longer than the other. What is going to happen is this short bolt is going to go in the front hole here - I am sorry, the rear-most hole here - and then the longer bolt is going to go in this hole, and it is going to get a spacer put between the frame and the hitch itself. So that is why you want to put the longer bolt in the back. The fish wiring tools, we will start with the bolt in the back. We will go through the hole we are going to use, go all the way to the end of the frame and pull it out. And it is just long enough, so be careful you do not push the wire back into the frame. Take your block and install it on there. There you go - stay! Okay, you can just take that block and just push it on in on the wire. And go into the back holes we are going to use the long bolt. Thread that into place and pull the whole assembly through and out.
And do the same thing with the rear-most hole here. And do the same thing again. It is a little easier to see. And the short bolt will go here. All right, that is all we have to do on the passengers side. We will go on over to the drivers side and do the same exact thing. There you go.Next, we can go ahead and start installing the hitch on the vehicle. What we will do is we will hang the hitch by the two rear bolts first, and then the forward bolts we will leave alone because we have to push up and out of the way so we can get our blocks in there. And we will just use a couple of nuts just to really hold the hitch in place for now. We are just going to just hang it we are going to leave it loose so we can move the hitch around as we need. All right, let us go ahead and push our bolt up just a little bit, install our block, let it fall back through. Then we will put our nut and washer on there and come back out - just a couple of threads, because we still have to do this on the other side. There you go.
All right, next we will work on the tow loop assembly. That is why we leave it loose - so we can move it around. We will put our spacer block between the hitch and the tow loop. And then that block going outside with the carriage bolt, and that will run all the way through. Then follow it up with the lock washer and nut. Since we have got all our hardware installed now, we will go ahead and snug down the bolts. Make sure the hitch sits the way we want it. All right, if we are satisfied with that, then we can go ahead and torque down the bolts, as specified in the instructions. And with that, that finishes our install of part number 90635 from Hidden Hitch.
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- Trailer Hitch Help
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