Video Transcript for Set up: Draw-Tite Trailer Hitch Receiver on a 2018 Toyota RAV4

Today on our 2018 Toyota RAV4 we're going to be taking a look at and showing you how to install the Draw Tite Class Two Custom Fit Trailer Hitch Receiver.So here's what our hitch is going to look like once we have it installed on our RAV4. The cross tube's going to sit right below our bumper and it's going to give us an inch and a quarter by inch and a quarter receiver tube opening. That's gonna be great for a lot of things like bike racks or even some light duty towing.Now the way we're gonna mount any of our accessories, the hitch pin hole here on the side. It is going to accept a standard half inch 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 keep your accessories secure.If you do plan on doing some light duty towing our receiver chain connection points are going to be a plate style welded to the bottom and you can see we have plenty of room to get most size hooks on or off, but if you are using a rather small hook, just keep in mind it may have a little bit of limitation when it comes to movement because of the flange right here.As far as the weight capacity goes, our hitch is going to have a 300 pound tongue weight, which is the maximum downward force of the receiver tube, along with a 3,500 pound gross trailer weight rating. That's the amount our hitch can pull including the trailer and everything we have loaded on it.

Now with those numbers in mind, you should always double check your RAV4's owner's manual because you don't want to exceed the manufacturer's recommended weight.Like to give it a few measurements. That's going to help you whenever you're looking for accessories for your new hitch, like a bike rack or even a cargo carrier. From the center of the hitch pin hole to the outermost edge of the bumper, it's right about three and a half inches. This measurement's going to come in handy when you're looking at folding accessories to make sure you have enough room and they're not going to come in contact with the rear bumper.From the ground to the inside top edge of the receiver tube opening, it's right about 13 inches. And at that height I would definitely recommend a bike rack or a cargo carrier with a raised shank.

That way we get a little bit more ground clearance out of it. And 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 installation, we're gonna come to the back of our RAV4 and on the driver's side we're going to have this plastic panel on the bottom. It's going to be held in by a few plastic pushpin fasteners. So we can grab a flathead screwdriver or a trim panel tool. We'll come to the center of the fastener and we're going to pop that out.

And once the center of its popped out, we can work on getting the rest of the push pin out.We'll have two at the very back here. And then if we move forward by the wheel right by the rear suspension and the rear tire here, we're going to have a plastic nut holding the panel in place as well. So we'll grab a 10 millimeter socket and we'll pull that out.I'm going to pull the panel out and set it aside. Now underneath that panel you may have a recovery hook. If not, chances are you're going to have a couple of bolts in the bottom of the frame.

We're going to need to pull those out. And if the hook is there, we're going to remove that as well. We'll take a 17 millimeter socket and remove the bolts.Now, we move over to the passenger side where our exhaust is and we look directly above the muffler. We're going to have this rubber isolator and the hanger. We're going to remove the rubber isolator off the hanger. So I'm going to take a little bit of spray lubricant. I'm going to spray it down, make it a little bit easier to slide that hanger off. You can take a pry bar or whatever you have available. We're just going to slide that rubber isolator off so the exhaust can come down a little bit. Now on top of the muffler, on the opposite side of the hanger, we're going to have this metal rod. Now it's bolted to the top using these two bolts and we grab a 12 millimeter socket. We can pull those two bolts out.We'll remove the rod and both bolts. With our tow hook and the panel out of the way we can get a better view of the bottom of the frame rail and we're going to have several threaded holes in the bottom. On the driver's side we'll have three. Those are going to be our three mounting locations. We'll want to take one of the new bolts from our kit. We'll want to make sure that we can easily thread it into the weld nut by hand. That way there's no dirt, debris or rust inside. We don't have to worry about it cross threading.So let's make sure we can thread it in to each one of the weld nuts. We move over to the passenger side of the frame and do the same thing. Just keep in mind that on the passenger side we're not going to have this middle mounting location. There is only going to be two. Now whenever where we do go to mount our hitch up, we'll take one of our new bolts. We'll take a conical tooth washer, we're gonna make sure that the teeth are facing up towards the hitch. We'll go through our hitch and secure it into the frame.Now with an extra set of hands, we're gonna lift our hitch up, lift it up over the passenger side so we can clear the exhaust and we'll line up the holes in our hitch with the holes in the frame. We'll take one of our bolts and a washer and we're going to get it started hand tight, at least one on each side. That way the hitch will support itself. We don't have to worry about it falling down. I'm going to come back with a 19 millimeter socket and I'm going to snug up all my hardware. Then, I'm going to come back and make sure I torque all my hardware down to the specified amount in the instructions.You want to do that for any remaining hardware that you have. I'm just going to take a little more spray lubricant, I'm going to spray down the isolator as well as the hanger, making it a little bit easier to get the exhaust back in place.That'll finish up your look at the Draw Tite Class Two Custom Fit Trailer Hitch Receiver on our 2018 Toyota RAV4.