Trailer Hitch Installation - 2004 Chevy Malibu

Installation of a Trailer Hitch on a 2004 Chevy Malibu

Today we are going to do an install of part number 90132 and we are going to do this on a 2004 Chevy Malibu. This also applies to part number 36317. Our first step is to go ahead and lower the exhaust. We do that by spraying the rubber hangers with some WD40 and pry off the rubber hanger. Once it is loose you can put it to the side for now. The next step is to remove these 2 nuts and take out these 2 bolts. These 2 in board weld nuts also must be removed. So what we will do is use a chisel and try and knock them out of there. Now you can go ahead and hang the hitch. It is a good idea to get an extra set of hands because a hitch is often wide and heavy.

We will go ahead and install the rest of the hardware. But we will leave it all loose in there so that we can move it around and the hardware towards the front of the vehicle. The next step is to our hardware back here. I would leave the front bolt as loose as possible so we have enough working room to get into there. In fact we are going to have to put a wedge in there just to hold it down for us. After you have wedged it with whatever you can you should install your bolt first. Then slide the plate through the wire up in there. You might have to give it a few tries to work it up in there. Try coming at it from an angle to help work it in there. Then pull the wire right down through. Repeat this for the other side.

Next we can go ahead and raise the hitch back up into position. Just be careful not to run the hardware back into the frame. Now we will go ahead and snug up everything and tighten up the bolts. At this point we can give the bolts their final torque. At this point we need to go ahead and reinstall our exhaust brackets. It is a good idea to give them a little spray of WD40 to help them slide up on there a little easier. That concludes our install of part number 90132 from Hidden Hitch on our 2004 Chevy Malibu.