Video Transcript for Installation: Curt Trailer Hitch Receiver on a 2007 Hummer H3

Today on our 2007 Hummer H3, we're gonna be taking a look at and showing you how to install the Curt Class III Custom Fit Trailer Hitch Receiver.So here's what our hitch is gonna look like once we have it installed. The cross tube is gonna be hidden behind the bumper, and all we're really gonna see is that receiver tube sticking out.We're gonna have a really wide variety of options when it comes to accessories we can mount up. And the way we're gonna mount all of our accessories is through the hitch pin hole here on the side. Our hitch is gonna accept a standard five eighths pin and clip. Now these are not included in the kit, but you can pick them up here at etrailer.com, along with some locking devices to make sure your accessories are secure.If you do plan on doing some towing with your hitch, our safety chain connection point is gonna be a loop style, welded to the bottom of the receiver tube, and you can see we have plenty of room to get the hooks on, even if they are these large, oversized hooks.Now as far as weight capacity is concerned, our hitch is gonna have a 500 pound tongue weight, and that's gonna be the maximum downward force of the receiver tube, along with the 5,000 pound gross trailer weight reading. That's how much our hitch can pull, including the trailer and everything we have loaded on it.

Our hitch is designed to work with weight distribution systems as well, and that's gonna be a separate component that's mounted on your trailer. It's gonna bump the tongue weight up to 550 pounds, and the gross trailer weight rating up to 5,500 pounds. But, with all those numbers in mind, you always wanna double check your Hummer's owner's manual, 'cause you don't want to exceed the manufacturer's recommended weight.Like to give you a few measurements, and that's gonna help you when you're looking into accessories for your new hitch. From the center of the hitch pin hole to the outermost edge of the bumper, you're right about four inches. If you have a spare tire carrier on the back of your H3, from the center of the hitch pin hole to the outermost edge of that tire is gonna be right about 11 inches.

Now those measurements are gonna come in handy when you're looking at folding accessories to make sure you have enough room and they're not gonna come in contact with either the bumper or the tire.From the ground to the inside top edge of the receiver tube opening's gonna be right about 19 inches. Now that measurement's gonna help you when you're looking for a ball mount to make sure you find the appropriate rise or drop to match up to your trailer.So now that we've seen what our hitch looks like and gone over some of the features, let's show you how to get it installed.To begin our installation we're gonna come to the back of our H3, and we're gonna come to the side right by our tire. Now, at the frame here, we'll notice that we're gonna have our leaf spring. If we look up on the side of the frame, it's at the very back here. We're gonna have a bolt, and then if we move just past this body mount, we're gonna have another bolt in the side of the frame as well.

Those two bolts are gonna be in the same location on the other side, and those are gonna be our two mounting points.Now you can see I already went ahead and sprayed these down with some penetrating oil, 'cause we don't want the bolts to break, but we'll grab a 21 millimeter socket, and we're gonna pull those bolts out. I do suggest using hand tools just to start even if it is just to break the bolts loose, 'cause we really don't want those bolts to break or shear the head off. And we have this one removed. We'll remove the other one, and the two on the other side.And with the bolts out, we're gonna need to lower down our exhaust. Now, on the driver's side, we'll have one hanger at the back of the muffler.

So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna spray a little bit of spray lubricant on the hanger, and on the rubber isolator. Then I'm gonna take a pry bar, and the main goal here is to pry that rubber isolator off of the hanger. Now we can move over towards the passenger side, and we'll have another hanger that's gonna be on the other side of the muffler. We're gonna spray that down, and slide the hanger off as well.Now you can see that our exhaust didn't really come down too far, so I'm gonna put a strap up, and we'll move forward on the exhaust and take one more hanger off. And our last hanger is gonna be right at the rear axle here, so we'll slide that one off. Then we can lower our strap so the exhaust can hang down a little bit.Now on each side, the two holes where we removed the bolts are gonna be our mounting location for our hitch. I'd like to go over the hardware, since it's gonna be easier to see now. We'll take one of our new bolts, we'll follow it up with a split lock washer, and then a flat washer. We're gonna go through our hitch, and we're gonna thread it into the weld nuts in the side of the frame on each side.Now before we put our hitch up, I did put a jack underneath the body of the vehicle that way that the rear suspension could hang down a little bit, because at the back here, our leaf spring at the shackle is extremely close to the rear bumper, and we're not gonna have enough room to get it in. But by lifting the rear suspension up and having it hang down, it pivots our leaf spring shackle out of the way just enough.Now with an extra set of hands, we'll lift our hitch into position. Gonna have to make sure you go around the leaf spring shackle, and we'll line up the holes in the side of the frame, and then we'll loosely install at least one bolt on each side. That way our hitch can hold itself up, and we can work on getting the rest of the hardware in place.I'm gonna come back with a 22 millimeter socket, and snug up all my bolts. I'm gonna come back with a torque wrench and I'm gonna torque all my hardware down to the specified amount in the instructions. And you wanna make sure you go back and repeat that for all your remaining hardware.Now we can lift our exhaust back up, and we'll slide the rubber isolator back onto the hanger. It'll probably help if you use a little bit of spray lubricant to make it a little bit easier getting those hangers back on. And finally, we can pull the exhaust strap off, and we're ready to hit the road.That'll finish up your look at the Curt Class III Custom Fit Trailer Hitch Receiver on our 2007 Hummer H3.