Today on this 2007 Mazda 3 we are going to be installing Draw-Tite hitch part number 24816. Okay, we are underneath the vehicle. We are going to go ahead and point out the mounting locations for the trailer hitch. We have got multiple holes here in this bottom beam. The one just outboard of this fascia plan is one that we are going to be using. We are actually going to be enlarging this hole and this hole here. All four attaching points are going to need to be enlarged a 1/ 2 inch. And also on the inboard sides of the bumper brackets you can see we have also got two existing small holes here and depending on which model you have, 4-door or 5-door, you will need to enlarge one or the other. more
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Posted: 8/20/2009 1:03:56 PM
Today we are going to install part number 87421 from Hidden Hitch, and we are going to install this on a 2007 Mazda CX-7. The first step involved is to actually lower the exhaust so we can get a better view of the frames, where you see it mounts up at. First off, we are going to take off this muffler hanger right here, and this is the other muffler hanger we have got to take down, too. It is always a good idea to spray down the rubber hanger with a lubricant to make it easier to slide it off. And from the back side of the rubber hanger, you can use a pry bar or whatever tool you like to push off the rubber hanger toward the center of the vehicle. All right, that gives us a lot more room to install the hitch and to show you where the hitch installs on the frame. more
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Posted: 7/9/2009 5:12:11 AM
Today we are going to install part number 75118 from Draw-Tite, and we are going to install this on a 2004 Mazda Tribute. Now we will show you our attaching points: they are going to be here, here and here. And it is going to be the exact same thing on the drivers side of the vehicle. We will use a wire pull first. We will push it through the bolt hole that we are going to use, out the end of the frame, and then attach our hardware to it. First we will start off with the plate and then we will end up with the carriage bolt, and we will repeat for the rest of the holes in the frame. more
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Posted: 6/26/2009 3:12:13 AM
Today we are going to install part number 70758 from Hidden Hitch, and we are going to install this on a 2008 Mazda Tribute. It is going to mount up on these two holes right here and here, and this one hole back here. It is going to be identical on both sides. We will begin our install by actually fish wiring the hardware into the frame. We are going to run our bolt leader from our hole here and out our access hole at the end of the frame. Now some models have a tie-down hook that is in the way that covers this up completely. In that case, you would actually have to drill a hole in the bottom of the frame. All right, and we will do the same thing on the passengers side. more
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Posted: 6/12/2009 3:20:53 AM
Today we are going to be installing Draw-Tite hitch part number 24832 on a 2009 Mazda 6. OK, we are underneath the vehicle now and we want to go ahead and point out the mounting locations for the trailer hitch. Before we can do that, we actually need to lower the exhaust out of the way. To do that, we need to remove it off of three hangers. We have got one here on the passengers side, one on the drivers side, and then one dead center of the vehicle. To remove the exhaust off of its hangers, it is a good idea to spray the studs down with a spray lubricant like a WD-40. Before I remove the third forward hanger from the vehicle, I want to do two things. more
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Posted: 6/2/2009 8:19:13 AM
Today we are going to be installing Draw-Tite part number 24773 on a 2008 Mazda 5. OK, we are underneath the vehicle, and we are going to go ahead and point out the mounting locations for the trailer hitch. You can see the tow hook here at the bottom of the spare tire well. That is going to provide one of the attaching points. And then here at the bottom side of the bumper there are two smaller-diameter holes that we actually are going to enlarge a half-inch. And we are going to feed carriage bolts and blocks from the ends of the frame down and through these holes that we have enlarged. When drilling through the bumpers on this particular vehicle and a lot of other Ford and Mazda products, the metal is very hard to drill through with a standard drill bit. It definitely helps to use a rotobroach-type of a bit to get through there. If you do not have a slower electrical drill, use a hand-held one and set it on low setting, because that slows it down. Because the problem is it heats up awfully fast and then it will actually want to burn through the metal as opposed to drilling it. So those two items will definitely make the drilling a lot easier. more
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Posted: 3/27/2009 1:14:46 PM
All right, today we are going to install part number 13575 from Curt, and we are going to install this on a 2009 Mazda CX-9. First, we are going to show you where the hitch mounts up. The hitch is going to be installed on the side of the frame using these threaded holes already existing in the frame. It is going to use four of them. And it is going to be identical on both sides. So basically, what we are going to do is slip the hitch up over the heat shield, put it into place, and just install our bolts. Now, the spare tire is here, but it looks like there is plenty of room to work with it. But, if you want, take down the spare tire to give you a little bit of extra working room, and you will have plenty of room to put the spare tire back up when you are done. We will go ahead and install our hitch. more
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Posted: 3/17/2009 10:44:13 AM
Today we are going to install part number 60846 from Hidden Hitch on our Mazda 6, 2006 model year. On some models, two holes have to be drilled out, basically in this general area here and right here. There is a bolt and plate that gets installed right there. Some models will have the hole pre-existing, but in this one we will have to drill them out. Our next step is to go ahead and lower the exhaust to a level where we can do our install. There are three rubber hangers to be removed: this one right here, one back in the center and then one on the passengers side also. We also put in this temporary strap here so when we lower the exhaust we have something to control it as it comes down and we can actually support it at a specified height. more
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Posted: 10/15/2008 10:25:59 AM
Trailer Hitch Installation: Drop bolts through easy access points on the frame. Next is a simple matter of holding the hitch up and putting the nuts on. Before tightening the bolts up, be sure to center the hitch up with the frame using the edge of a weld. After centering go ahead and tighten the bolts, and the van is ready to go. more
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Posted: 7/23/2008 7:14:10 AM
This install will also cover a 2001-2004 Ford Escape and 2001-2004 Mazda Tribute. First were going to show you where the hitch installs, as you can see here we already have the bolts pulled through the frame. Theres three and we did that is theres a hole at the end of the frame towards the bumper and we used a pull wire to pull the bolts through with a bolt leader. One other difference, if you want to take a look at some of the older models had a big heat shield here, you will have to take tin snips and cut it out, the instructions will show you where to cut. Well start by installing the hitch and resting the passenger side on the exhaust and well put of first fasteners on the drivers side and go back to the passengers side. We used a couple of nuts to hold everything in place, then well install all the lock washers and regular washers and nuts more
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Posted: 7/23/2008 6:33:54 AM
Trailer Hitch Installation - 2007 Mazda 3
Trailer Hitch Installation - 2007 Mazda CX-7
Trailer Hitch Installation - 2004 Mazda Tribute
Trailer Hitch Installation - 2008 Mazda Tribute
Trailer Hitch Installation - 2009 Mazda 6
Trailer Hitch Installation - 2008 Mazda 5
Trailer Hitch Installation - 2009 Mazda CX-9
Trailer Hitch Installation - 2006 Mazda 6
Trailer Hitch Installation - 2008 Mazda CX
Trailer Hitch Installation - 2003 Mazda Tribute
Trailer Hitch Classes and Weight Capacity Comparison
Class I Trailer Hitch and Weight Capacities Review
Class II Trailer Hitch and Weight Capacities Review
Class III Trailer Hitch and Weight Capacities Review
Using Stove Wire as a Bolt Leader Demonstration
Lowering Exhaust Pipe on Vehicle with Rubber Hanger
Lowering Exhaust Example for Trailer Hitch Installation
Using Fish Wire for Trailer Hitch Installation
Drilling a Spare Tire Pan for a Trailer Hitch Installation
Drilling to Enlarge a Frame Hole for Hitch Install
Handle Nut Demonstration
Cleaning Weld Nuts for Trailer Hitch InstallationBall Mounts (12)
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