Most Popular Visible Cross Tube for 2014 Subaru Outback Wagon

Went with the Curt 13206 for our 2014 Outback after researching prices and weighing options for factory vs. aftermarket hitches and wiring. Our intended uses -- some light trailer and camper towing, plus cargo carriers and bike racks -- were a good match for the Curt's ratings (which exceed the Outback's ratings, just a bit of extra assurance). We also liked the more-rearward placement of the hitch opening. The hitch and accessories arrived quickly from etrailer, with no shipping damage. We were pleased with the aesthetics of the Curt hitch in person (rounded tubing, good finish, quality welds). It might not be the most "stealth" offering out there, but appears very solid and not at all conspicuous once installed. The installation was fairly straightforward, got it done solo in the garage in a couple of hours. The hitch was a tight fit around the spare tire well, had to scrape down a bit of the factory undercoating on each side to get it into place (something a few other customers mentioned). The rubber exhaust hangers also took some awkward wrestling -- probably would have been easier if I'd had access to a lift. Also installed the Curt 56040 wiring harness and Tow Ready mounting brackets (18140 + 18144) for the flat-four plug. Again, relatively easy jobs with the how-to demos on etrailer. Since I had the rear flooring pulled out to put in the wiring, I decided to enlarge a couple of existing taped-over holes in the cargo area to fish the hitch mounting hardware into place (rather than enlarging holes on the underside of the vehicle), as suggested by previous reviewers. Similarly, I routed the flat-four harness down through an existing rubber plug in the spare tire well (added some split-loom), and connected it to the Tow Ready brackets on the hitch. I thought this would be a cleaner and more convenient solution than running wiring through the rear hatch when towing. Have to say that the how-to videos and notes from etrailer, along with the tips, tweaks and suggestions from other customers, made these tasks much, much easier and saved a lot of time. Thanks again for the thorough product selection and documentation, and great service.

Our Curt Hitch from etrailer.com fits my 2014 Subaru Outback perfectly. It doesn't stick out too far, hang too low and it has the right clearance from the bumper for the bike rack.

I think this will serve my purpose. I wish to pull a 4x8 utility trailer with 4-wheeler. My son hopes the bolts are strong enough as intended. I thought the hitch would be more hidden but it will be ok as is. Less expensive than the dealership price. The wiring instructions have it going thru the back and out of the hatch door. Not a good idea so we installed wiring underneath.

Just exactly as the youtube installation video said it would go. My Dad and I noted that the written instructions, hardware kit, and youtube install directions were all in perfect alignment. Excellent quality product that actually went in exactly as it was described! (shocking to us). My Dad was so impressed he's thinking of buying a hitch kit for "Grandma's SUV". Great website, great product videos, great shipping/tracking, and great product! So easy we did it right in the driveway!

Great hitch and delivery came as promised, very quickly. It was a bit tricky installing - being careful and thorough, it took 2 hours. The hitch is strong and will hold 400 pounds, plenty for the 73 pound e-bikes we have.

My Outback had a 1.25” hitch forever. With the 2” adapter, it stuck out 6” from the bumper and probably reduced ground clearance for the bike rack. This is recessed a few inches under the bumper, and will fit a proper 2” rack, so it’s fantastic. I wish I had gotten it sooner. Look up some videos of how to disconnect the rubber muffler grommets with a pair of channel locks and some lube. That’s the hardest part. Everything else installed pretty smoothly with only a little cussing, and no bashed knuckles. I can’t say how long it took since I had to remove the old receiver first so the underside was perfectly set for the new one once I got to it. Probably 2 hours total and at least an hour of that or more was fighting with the rubber grommets and the wrong tools.

The Product identification on the website was easy and clear for my car. The order process was super easy. We received the order very quickly, and it was delivered complete and in great shape. My Dad helped me install it, and we were both impressed at how good the customer service is with the access to fantastic video instructions for installation. The little bolt threading aids were brilliant! We used the floor Jack to lift the hitch in to place so that we didn't have to struggle with the weight while lining up the bolts. Lucky for us we had the hole saw in our shop. Had we not, it would have been a 30 mile trip to town and back......We had fun, and now I can haul and carry Stuff. Thanks etrailer!

Installed hitch on my recently acquired 2014 Outback and towed my surplus furniture out to California from Indiana for my daughter's wedding. Problem-free trip. I also use the hitch to mount a bike rack. Installation was straightforward once I fabricated a cradle out of scrap lumber and used this + car jack to raise the hitch into place underneath the car and then tighten up the bolts.

Easy install, great video on the process. Works great!

Love the way this fits. Not a overly hard install. Be careful of the shavings from step bits, they burn like welder zparks.

This is an excellent hitch for the Outback. I have towed several moving trailers and a lawnmower trailer regularly. The hitch didnt miss a beat. Also it seems to be resistant to corosion and has generally held up well. Great purchase.

My hitch and accessories arrived much faster than was originally quoted! Amazing service! The hitch fit was ok ( I have a 99 Outback Limited ), as I had to use some spacers to make it line up correctly. It lined up in the frame/ carriage bolt area just fine, but the area where it hangs down it was a little off and I had to use some elbow grease to make the bolts go through. Haven't hauled anything with it yet, but it looks great and I installed it by myself in a little over an hour. Overall great looking hitch ( looks stock ) and great customer service from etrailer!!!

The trailer hitch itself works fine. Very solid compared to others. The installation instructions could use some additions. The holes you drill for the bolts and brackets to be fished through the frame tube seem to be very small. I could not get the bolt head to pass through this opening. I drilled a third hole towards the back of the vehicle in order to make the opening larger. Also, I used some Rustoleum spray paint to cover the bare metal from the holes I drilled. After the paint was dry and I fished in the bolts and brackets through the opening. Then, I covered the holes that I drilled with aluminum duct tape. I had a difficult time reinstalling the muffler hanger at the rear most of the car. I seem to have to defy the laws of physics to get it to work.

Hitch seems to work well. etrailer provided prompt delivery and good follow up. installing it was not easy and took quite a while.

Installed this hitch last week and used it to haul bikes to the races this weekend. Hitch worked as advertised. Looks nice installed on my outback, I would recommend this product.

Install was smooth on my 23 outback and matched the install video. Appreciated the higher tongue weight capacity without removing bumper!

Wonderful product with speedy delivery. The hitch was installed by myself and my son, it went with just a little drilling and tightening of bolts. Great fit and it looks good. I would recommend etrailer products to anyone. Thanks

To begin, etrailer.com had the best price, easy order process, and quick delivery. They are wonderful to deal with. I had a friend help me install the hitch on my 2013 Outback 6 cyl with dual exhaust. Followed the step by step instructions 100%. The hitch installed quickly (1.25 hr) without a hitch (no pun intended). It looks great and I'm sure will work perfectly for the bicycle rack it was purchased to hold. I couldn't be more satisfied with this hitch.

Shipped on time as advertised and complete. Instructions were well written and accurate for hitch itself, but missing a couple steps for the electrical connector kit, (as for taking apart the car trim) so took some time to figure out. (The instructions were from the manufacturer and not etrailer.com itself). Connector worked fine on installation.The fit of the hitch was very precise, so precise that at first I thought it wasn't the right model. But I persevered, and it did fit. The close and precise fit is appreciated, it should help eliminate possible looseness, rattling, and weakness. This is my third Curt hitch from etrailer.com on 3 different cars. I would definitely buy from them again.

I've been considering installing a hitch for a long time, but constantly held off due to not wanting to deal with the hassle of dropping my exhaust. So, when 12 years of New York road salt caused my midpipe to disintegrate and my mufflers to become swiss cheese, I figured this was a perfect opportunity to install a hitch in the process of replacing my exhaust. Installing the hitch should be easy if my exhaust is completely removed from the vehicle! I was dead wrong about that. I should have paid more attention to the reviews from people who found their hitch too narrow and interfering with the bumper brackets between the hitch and the fuel tank. The first hitch I received was impossible to get even close to the rearward mounting holes. I cannot figure out how anyone was able to bend something like this into shape either... I also noticed that it seemed like it would be unlikely that the bolt that goes through the tow loop would fit either, as it looked about 1/4 inch too far rearwards compared to the hitch. However since the hitch wasn't even close to in place at the forward mounting ears, I figured it was just an optical illusion/bad angles. I called support, and they said that hitches can sometimes get bent in shipping. They sent out a second one, and it arrived yesterday. The second one was SLIGHTLY wider. It still interfered with the bracket, but not as severely, to the point where, after wire brushing the bracket to remove rust, I was just barely able to get the rearward bolts to go into their holes, then the forward bolts, and I was able to tighten them down despite the hitch rubbing against the brackets on both sides. At that point it was time to get the tow loop bolt in - but it was 1/4 inch too far rearwards to go into the slot in the hitch. I tried, now that bolting it in had bent the ears outwards some, starting with the two loop bolt and then trying to insert the others. But if you have the hitch hanging from the tow loop bolt, once you get one of the "ear" bolts in, on the other side of the vehicle you can't get the "ears" anywhere close to where they should be. That's two duds in a row, I give up... As far as the attached pictures: One shows the rust on the "ears" of the first hitch where it was rubbing against the bracket. One shows the tow loop bolt too far rearwards relative to the hitch The last shows a shot of the offending bracket in question - most of the image has been darkened to highlight the specific problem area, no other editing was performed. You can see that in the rear of the problem area, it looks like there is a weld bead. I'm wondering if on some Outbacks the bead does not extend as far forwards and if this is what's interfering with the hitch. Either way, if the "arms" of the hitch were each about 1/8-1/4 inch longer, the hitch would fit perfectly - but they aren't and the hitch comes close to fitting, but not close enough to actually be installable.

etrailer pricing, ordering and delivery were first rate. This hitch, promoted as a custom fit for my 2009 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport, was installed by my regular auto body shop, a highly experienced and very reputable outfit. It was they who recommended the Curt model purchased. Hitch installation time was advertised as 30 minutes, but the shop said the installation was a bit tricky and took over an hour due to the complexity of using the fishing wire, lowering the exhaust, expanding some holes and making sure everything remained in place. They installed successfully and were happy to do so, though it gave them a story to tell. The hitch appears very solid. I'm looking forward to attaching a hitch mounted bike rack, the RockyMounts Monorail Solo, to take my e-bike with me to great riding places.

I ordered a hitch for my subaru outback Impreza sport. My costumer service experience was great. All the information I needed to know was discussed before hand to be sure that I was buying the right hitch. I ordered the hitch and it arrived at its destination less than 5 days of ordering it. I would definitely do business with Curt again and highly recommend them.

Pretty simple install and very good instructions! I just used the hitch for the first time carrying a bike rack and it works perfectly and everything is snug!

High quality hitch I just installed on a Subaru Crosstrek 2017. I followed all the instructions and viewed install videos. My only suggestion.... small one.... in the 2016 install video, it shows the fishwire kept on the driver side bolts, which I did while I struggled with getting the passenger side nuts on the bolts. This proved to be very helpful in preventing the driver side bolts getting accidentally pushed into the frame. The 2017 video does not show this and the guy uses an pneumatic die grinder. I used a Dremel with a stone wheel that did the job very nicely. Rust-oleum paint on the bare metal. I purchased a 1/2" torque wrench for this install.... wow!... glad I had it, but my arms are a bit sore now. After that experience, I hope others realize that just a ratchet and socket are not going to be enough. The hitch is solid in place and I'm very happy with the purchase.

Exactly as described! I have an older 2011 Honda Odyssey that I needed a hitch for and didn’t want to spend a ton of money for the minimal use it would get. When I researched hitches etrailer kept coming up with great reviews. Their site rated the install at 3 out of 10 stars and the reviews said 1-2 hours doing it alone. It was super easy. No ramps or special equipment or fancy tools needed!

Great quality hitch. Easy install. I used jack stands and a cinder block to hold it in place while I bolted it on. No rust on it yet which is good for living in New England.

Great quality and easy installation on our 2015 Subaru Forester. We have 10 recreational acres in beautiful Brown County, Indiana and a tiny cabin that we are renovating. We will use this hitch to use a trailer in hauling supplies, for transporting the ATV, and also for a bike rack. Hubby is very pleased.

This is the third hitch I have purchased from etrailer and each purchase has gone smoothly. I will say the two Curt Hitches did install and line up better than another brand I purchased from them but don't recall the brand on that one.

First towing experience went well with a 2012 Subaru Forester towing a U-Haul trailer helping someone move. Install was smooth and eTrailer videos made everything easy.

This was exactly what I needed. This high quality hitch was very easy to install. Instructions were pretty easy to follow. The YouTube installation video was a lot easier to follow. Now I can move up to 4 mountain bikes on this bike rack with confidence to any place I want to go. Thanks etrailer.com!!!

Easy install on 2015 Forrester with no drilling or cutting. Evergthing fit perfectly, took about an hour. Not the case on the 2015 Outback below...

I watched numerous instructional videos before installing. Fortunately, the nut/bolt parts package was well secured, as the box was damaged in transit. I had a little damage to the heat shield plus stripped retainer bolts — but I just connected the two frozen bolts with some support hanger wire. Whether you have a hitch lift or not, you should probably have second hand available to at least get the first nuts threaded. It’s a very substantial and nicely designed accessory. It’s secured and ready for the bike rack or some trailing.