Trailer Hitch Installation - 2008 Chevy HHR

Installation of a Trailer Hitch on a 2008 Chevy HHR

Today we will be installing Draw-Tite part number 24756, which also coincides with Hidden Hitch part number 60815. This will be going on a 2008 Chevy HHR. Here are a couple of measurements to think about when considering buying your hitch. From the center pin to the outermost point on the bumper is 5-1/2 inches. And from the top of the receiver to the ground, on this particular vehicle, is 10 inches. This will help you when ing accessories for your new hitch. Next we are going to move on to the installation. 0:43

Our first step is going to be to lower our muffler. We have three hangers that we are going to want to hit with a penetrating oil to loosen them to make them easier to come off. There is one near the axle, you have one on the passenger side or almost the center of the muffler, and then you have one on the driver side that is hidden by the muffler. There are a total of three hangers to remove to the muffler down. Now for removal of the hangers, I like to use a large screw driver or pry bar, or sometimes a pair of channel locks will work also. Our next step is to enlarge this hole with a drill bit and drill to make it large enough to put in our fastener which is a 1/2 inch carriage bolt. We are going to do that for both sides before we begin our installation. Let me check our hole size by simply seeing if our carriage bolt will fit through. So we are good on the driver side. Let us move to the passenger side. We will check our hole. And now that our carriage bolts will fit down through our sub frame, we can mount our hitch. 2:00

Now we are going to go ahead and fish our wire through the channel. Now we are going to go ahead and slide our block through our fish wire, which is going to hold our carriage bolt and be our new fastener. Feed your block up through the hole first and then pull your carriage bolt through. This will install your rear most fastener. Now we are going to go ahead and install our forward most mount. We will do this the same way. Now our forward most mount is installed on the passenger side. We can take our fish off. We will do the same thing for the driver side. Now is the best time to get a friend because we are going to install the hitch. We are going to be installing the hitch with conical washers, the notches will face the bottom of the vehicle, and then fasteners and nuts. You want to slide the muffler side of your hitch in first. And I like to fasten the passenger side first. I like to put a little side pressure on the bolt to help hold it in place while threading on the nut. You can see we are hand tight on the passenger side. We will do the same thing for the driver side. 3:51

Once we have all four of our mounting bolts hand tightened, you are going to go check your instructions and tighten down to the recommended torque specs. We are going to repeat the same process on the driver side. OK, now that we have all four tightened to torque specifications, we can reinstall our muffler. I like to start with the driver side rear first because it is the most difficult. Alright, that covers our driver side. Now we have one towards the axle and we have one in the very rear on the passenger side I am going to do next. Now we get the one near the axle. Now that we have our muffler reinstalled, this completes the installation of Draw-Tite part number 24756, Hidden Hitch part number 60815.