Video Transcript for Blue Ox Class III Trailer Hitch Step-By-Step Installation - 2019 Toyota RAV4

Hi, Jesse with etrailer. Today, we'll be taking a look at and I'll show you how to install the Blue Ox Custom Fit Class III hitch on our 2019 Toyota RAV4. Adding a hitch to a car like the RAV4 makes a ton of sense. It's a great vehicle for road trips, and you might run out of storage space on the inside, so it's gonna give you the ability to add a cargo carrier, or a bike rack, or something like that, and it even gives you the ability to do some light-duty towing with your Toyota. Now, for our closer look at our hitch here, we'll see it has a nice textured black powder coat and they actually put an e-coating underneath that. So this is really gonna hold up to the test of time, any rocks that kick up won't really scratch it up or damage the paint at all.

So, it looks really good there. And you have a mostly hidden cross tube. It does come with this mounting bracket for wiring, so it's a good thing if you're looking into towing with the vehicle, you will need to add on trailer wiring. And this hitch here comes with a bracket, we're ready to mount everything up right there. The receiver opening is going to be a standard two inch by two inch opening, and behind that will be a standard 5/8-inch pin hole for your pin and clip.

The pin and clip itself does not come with the hitch, however, we have many options available here at etrailer or any accessory that you add on will most likely come with one included. Then behind that, we have our safety cable loops, nice sturdy design. It's also gonna be super easy to get any clip that you might want to add on there, whether it be a quick link like that or a club style like this. Now, for some measurements, from the ground to the top of the inside of the car is about 11 1/2 inches. That's on the low side.

If you're looking to add a ball onto here, I would definitely get something with a rise to it. From the center of the pin hole to the edge of the bumper, looks like it's about 4 1/2 inches. So keep that in mind for any folding accessories that you might add on here, just to ensure that they don't make contact with the vehicle. Now, for the weight capacities on the hitch, the gross trailer weight will be 4,500 pounds. That's the amount of weight that you can pull behind the vehicle.

The maximum tongue weight is 675 pounds. That's the amount of weight pushing down on the hitch. You do have the ability to add weight distribution with this hitch. However, both those numbers will stay the same. Anytime we're talking weight capacities, you'll always wanna double-check your Toyota's owner's manual just to ensure that your RAV4 can handle that weight safely. All in all, if you're looking for a good-looking hitch for your RAV4 that's also made by a reputable brand that has on the higher-end tow rating numbers, I think this is definitely a good choice for you. As far as the install goes, it's really simple, it's just a matter of possibly having an extra set of hands to lift the weight of the hitch up into place and then getting four bolts on. So if that's not something that you think you can do, maybe you don't have the time or space, feel free to check out our Dealer Locator. If you are looking to do this yourself, then follow along and I'll show you how we got ours set up today. To begin our installation, we're going to need to drop the exhaust. So, I recommend having something supporting the exhaust. I'm just using a cam strap that's hooked onto both sides and tighten it down under it. If you're on the ground, you can just use a jack stand or something like that. We have two 12-millimeter bolts with this hanger here and there will be another one on the other side. We'll get those removed. (drill whirring) We do have one more hanger to remove here in the center. I just sprayed some white lithium grease on it to help lubricate it. You could also use something like soapy water. I'll just take a pry bar and just kinda try to get in there and pry that hanger loose. (hanger clattering) (metal clanging) At this point, we can loosen our strap a bit. Now, on both sides, we have some stickers covering up some weld nuts that we'll need to remove to gain access to. The easiest way I've found is just to take a razor blade (sticker ripping) and kind of dig in under it. And once you have enough up, you should be able to get under there with your fingernail and pop it off. Once we have all the stickers removed, I like to run a wire brush in and clean up the threads. (wire brush clattering) And after doing that for a little bit, I also will run our hardware that we're gonna use. (wire brush clattering) Just thread it in and out, make sure they're threading in easily. 'Cause the last thing you want is to have the hitch held up above your head and then not be able to thread the hardware in. So let's go through all of our weld nuts and make sure they're nice and smooth, and then we're ready to move on. So, on some models, like the one that we're working with today, we have a tie down that's going to interfere with our hitch here. So it should just be two 17-millimeter bolts we'll need to remove. (drill whirring) And we will bring that down and set it aside. (drill whirring) Before we lift the hitch up into place, I just wanted to show you how the hardware will be installed. You'll have a bolt for each hole here and a conical tooth washer. Make sure that the washer will face towards the hitch, the teeth on the washer release, and they're just gonna slide in like this and we'll be threading onto those weld nuts that we just cleaned up. It's a good idea for this step to have an extra set of hands. I have my friend Aiden here helping me out. So I have the hitch in one hand and the hardware in the other. We'll lift it up over the exhaust there (hitch clanging) and just get everything lined up. (hitch clanging) And the one bolt finger-tight for now. That way, the hitch will hang and we can install the rest of the hardware. So, it might be a little bit of a hassle trying to get the bolts started on this side. What I'd recommend is just getting someone over here holding the hitch, get both the bolts started on the other side, on the driver's side, and then have somebody hold it up, and it makes it a little easier, but it is kind of a fight, just 'cause there's a really tight space up on the passenger side. So, if we're tightening the bolts down, I definitely recommend using a ratcheting wrench because you won't be able to get a ratchet and a socket in there. (bolt scratching) You could also use a regular wrench, but having that ratcheting wrench, it's just gonna make it a lot easier. So, I'm just gonna go through, get all four of our bolts snug down, and then we can torque them all down. (bolt scratching) Now, we'll need to go through and torque all of our bolts. If you don't have your own torque wrench, we do have some available here at etrailer or you can always rent one from your local auto parts store. Now, on this side, once again, it is very narrow, so what I have is a little offset wrench adapter for the torque wrench, and that's gonna allow me to gain access to it. That's a 3/4-inch socket opening. (torque wrench beeping) Now, with the exhaust up and with the hangers reinstalled, just remove your strap. Otherwise, that's gonna do it for our look at and installation of the Blue Ox Class III Hitch on our 2019 Toyota RAV4.