Video Transcript for Installing the Blue Ox Trailer Hitch Receiver on a 2021 Jeep Wangler 4xe

Hello, neighbors, it's Brad here at etrailer. And today we're taking a look at installing the Blue Ox Trailer hitch receiver on a 2021 Jeep Wrangler 4xe. Wranglers are one of the most accessorized vehicles, and when it comes to adventure, it's kind of synonymous with the Jeep name. And with that, any accessories that you want to take on your adventures, having a hitch is gonna really open that up as to what you can bring along, whether it be a bike rack, a cargo carrier, or even if you plan on pulling a trailer, you're gonna want that hitch in place so you can accomplish all of that. Now the Blue Ox trailer hitch is a great option. It's got a few nice features, but first and foremost, it's a two inch by two inch receiver tube opening.

And that's a great size because it's kind of the standard when it comes to trailer hitch receivers. And that means you have tons of accessories available, whether it be bike racks, cargo carriers, ball mounts, it's kind of the standard size, so you're gonna have tons to pick from. All of them are gonna stay in place with a 5/8 pin and clip. Now, this is not included with the hitch, but many times your accessories will have them included. If you plan on leaving the accessories on the back of your Jeep, you might wanna look at a locking pin and clip.

That becomes a really good deterrent from anyone that's just walking by and sees your accessories. It's gonna keep them from just taking those with them. If you plan on towing a trailer, you're gonna be hooking up safety chains. And so even if with a standard S-hook or a larger clevis style, it fits perfectly on this plate-style safety chain loop. I like that it holds actually a little bit further out.

Makes it nice and easy with this angle to hook up. And speaking of towing trailers, you're gonna want adhere to the weight capacities, not only for, you know, the trailer you're pulling, but also your accessories. And this one's rated pretty well. You have a gross trailer weight rating of 4,500 pounds, which is gonna be the weight of the trailer, plus the accessories loaded onto it. Your tongue weight rating is gonna be 675 pounds, and that's gonna be the downward pressure on the inside of the receiver tube opening.

A lot of times that's gonna account for your suspended accessories like cargo carriers or bike racks. And with 675 pounds, you could load up a four-bike bike rack or a cargo carrier on a trip, and I really don't worry that you're gonna go over that tongue weight. Now, it can be used with weight distribution hitch, but the numbers are gonna stay exactly the same. And something that you need to check is the vehicle's owner's manual. See what the vehicle's capable of towing, and then compare that not only with the hitch, but any of the components you'll be using to tow. And you're gonna wanna take the lowest number out of all of those. That way you stay safe and you're not overloading anything. Now, when it comes to picking accessories or ball mounts, it's important to have the measurements proper and that way you can get something that works with your Jeep. And because these have the spare tire on the back, it can get a little bit interesting. And a lot of times, you're gonna wanna find something with a longer shank. And in fact, measuring from the center of our hitch pin hole to the furthest point on the tire, it's coming in at about 6 1/2 inches. So, when choosing a ball mount, you might wanna look for something with a longer shank, and the same goes for a bike rack or cargo carrier. That way it's gonna put it out past the tire. A lot of cargo carriers and bike racks that store in a vertical position, it can get tricky sometimes getting those to be able to stow with this tire. So, look for something with a little bit of an extension on that shank to make sure that it's gonna clear. You can take a look at some of our test fits on products to see how it's gonna interact with a Jeep, but it's also gonna be important for a ball mount. I mentioned looking for a longer shank. It's also important to get the right riser drop. And the best way to do that is get the ground clearance. So, this is a stock Jeep, it's not lifted. And from the top of the receiver tube opening to the ground, it's coming in at 20 inches. So, pretty good ground clearance. More than likely, you're gonna need a drop configuration. But to figure out exactly what you need, you get your trailer nice and level. Measure from the ground to the top of the coupler, take that measurement, and then compare it with these measurements on the hitch, and then you can determine that riser drop necessary to get the trailer level and you'll have the best towing experience possible. Now, something that's unique that Blue Ox put into place with this hitch is this tab that's bent up. And if you are planning on pulling any trailers or have accessories with bites on them, you might wanna pick up some four-pole trailer wiring at the same time. That way you can get all the light functions and keep you safe and legal. But this bracket makes it to where you can pick up a separate four-pole bracket and attach it. So, it's gonna be a nice and secure mount. Other options, generally you just take it and hook it on the safety chain loop, which is totally fine. But this built-in bracket is really nice, especially if you plan on pulling trailers quite often, it does make it a little bit cleaner overall. And when it comes to the installation of this hitch, it's rather easy to do. There's factory holes that are on the rear bumper support where your hitch is going to attach. And sometimes you're gonna have a few different configurations of hardware, depending on the year and trim. But on ours today, it was just taking out two bolts, a spacer plate, and then we just raise it up, put our hardware in place, tighten and torque it down, and that's it. So, it's really easy to do. So, for you DIYers, stick around. I'll show you how to do that step by step. But if it's something that you don't have the place to do it, the time, the tools, or even the want to do it, I totally get it. But having a hitch on your Jeep really does open it up as to what you can do with it. So, don't let the installation hinder you. You can reach out to our dealer locator to find someone close to you to get that hitch installed and then you'll be out on the road ready to use it. And once you get it installed, whether you do it yourself or you have the dealer install it, send us pictures. We'd love to know how you're using your hitch, especially with Jeeps, you get all kinds of applications that people are using 'em for, and we love to see that, and show other neighbors how it can be used. As far as the installation goes, let's take a look at that. To begin our installation, we're gonna be right here on the rear beam, where we're gonna be bolting up our hitch. And more times than not, these will have factory bolts that go into the rail. And sometimes you use 'em, but that's not the case here today. There's also going to be a plate upfront that's attached. It's just gonna have weld nuts that those bolts go into. We're gonna get that completely removed. And in order to do that, you're gonna want an 18 millimeter wrench. Those two factory bolts are gonna be located just right behind the muffler. So, we'll get these taken out. Now depending on, you know, what kind of elements your vehicle has been in, these can get a little bit tricky. So, if you need to, you can put some penetrating oil on those threads, and that'll kind of help loosen it up. But we'll get these removed. Most times these will pull out with no problem, they're a pretty long bolt. Occasionally, you'll run into issues, depending on trim, with the muffler being in the way. If that is the case, you can just lower it down. There's gonna be some exhaust isolators on each side of the muffler. And just using a pry bar and some soapy water, just pry those off, and that's gonna allow the exhaust to drop down and it's gonna make it a lot easier to get that hardware out. But again, that's only certain trims. On this one, we're not having any issues. Now the bracket with the weld nuts, that will need to come down. And it's attached where on the bottom side of the bumper, you're gonna see two 10 millimeter bolts. They're gonna be the wider ones, not the ones in the center. We're gonna get this taken out and that way we can get that plate taken out. (electric ratchet whirring) (electric ratchet whirring) Now, from here, we should be able to shimmy me this out. You may need to kind of work it at a few different angles here, but let's see if I can't come up with any tips for you. Now, you can remove these small eight millimeters, if you need to, but I found to get this out, just kind of pry back that plastic a little. And once you get these tabs past that, you'll see, it kind of sits up there like this. So, that way, we can just kind of pop that out. So, you may have to force it a little bit. But with that out of the way, now we can start getting our hitch up. Now at this point I'm gonna just grab the hitch, raise it up, and get those holes aligned. And I'm gonna have at least one bolt ready to get it held up in place. It'll make it a lot easier to get the other ones in place. And we're gonna be putting a flat washer on the head of the bolt. So make sure that you have that ready. (metal clacking) Slotted on the rear. So, you have a little bit of a play here, but the main thing is getting that bolt to pass through. Now, most of the bolts were able to just pass straight through. Sometimes tolerances on the holes just from the factory can be a little bit off. And I haven't taken a burr bit or a drill bit to enlarge that. It's pretty close. I'm gonna try a dead blow and just kind of knock it in. But you also don't want to damage the threads on the bolt, so you might be able to drive it in with a socket or a wrench and just kind of get it to pass through. But again, most of ours were able to pass in with no problem. And just know that you might run a little bit of tolerance issues. Now, I'm struggling with this last one, but I have the other bolts in place, and I wanna make sure that those don't pop out as I'm taking a dead blow and kind of knocking those in. So, we'll have serrated flange nuts. If yours went in nice and smooth, you're just gonna grab these and start them. You can just kind of hold 'em in place. It's a little tight here, but if you pass the bolt back a little and then just thread it from the backside to get it started, that's what we're gonna be looking for. And if you're having trouble feeding them up and holding it in place for the bolt to thread in, you can grab a 3/4 inch box end. I have a ratcheting wrench, but honestly any wrench will work, and that way you can hold that in place in the tight spot and then thread it from the backside. And as far as fighting with this last bolt, I found that just a little bit of a persuasion here with our ratcheting wrench was enough to really start to draw it in. So, if it's really fighting you, you don't wanna mangle up those threads because getting that flange nut on can be difficult. So, you know, if it's not fighting you too much, ours didn't take much effort to get that to spin, but I think that's better than trying to fight it with a dead blow or something along those lines. So, at this point, we'll just get all of our flange nuts started on our bolts. With all of our hardware started, I'm gonna get everything snugged down. And you're gonna probably want two 3/4 ratcheting wrenches make it a lot easier. You can put a socket on the back end, and eventually we're gonna come back and torque these down. So, no need to get crazy here. We just want to snug this all up. And this is gonna help, you know, save a little bit of time with the torque wrench, so we'll snug everything down just by hand. Now once you've tightened those down, we're gonna come back with a 3/4 inch socket and a torque wrench. Torque settings are found in the instruction manual. So, we'll go through and torque these all down. Now, I like to normally torque on the nut side. I think that's a better way to torque things down. You're not gonna really be able to get a socket up there, so we are gonna be torquing on the head of the bolt, and you're gonna want your wrench ready to hold the nut and place as you torque it down. (metal clacking) This is gonna be an important step because obviously, you're gonna be putting some weight on here, and you wanna make sure for the lifespan of the hitch, it's not gonna become loose. It's also gonna make sure it's not too tight, putting stress on any of the hardware. If you need a torque wrench, we have 'em here at etrailer. You can generally go to an auto parts store and rent one for free. But we'll get these torqued down and we'll be good to go. (torque wrench cranking) (torque wrench beeping) Now, once you have that hardware torqued down, you've officially installed your hitch. And you may be wondering, "Well, what about those 10 millimeter bolts" Those originally threaded into that spacer plate that we took out. So, no longer these thread in place. So, it's really not gonna cause any issue, bumper's not gonna go anywhere. But once you load up your accessories, put it in your pin and clip, you'll be ready to hit the road. And that was the look at installation of the Blue Ox trailer hitch receiver on a 2021 Jeep Wrangler 4xe.