Draw-Tite Max-Frame Trailer Hitch Receiver - Custom Fit - Class III - 2"

Video Transcript for Installation Guide for the Draw-Tite Max-Frame Trailer Hitch Receiver on a 2024 Mazda CX-50

Hey, everybody, Ryan here at etrailer. Today on our 2024 Mazda CX-50, we're gonna be showing you how to install the Draw-Tite Trailer Hitch Receiver. Before we do that though, let's take a minute, check it out, and make sure it's gonna work for you. Putting a hitch on a vehicle like the CX-50 makes complete sense, you know People use these to do a lot of different things. And so having this back here is going to allow you to tow a trailer around or use accessories like a bike rack or cargo carrier. With that said, compared to the other hitch, which is a CURT, not a ton of differences between the two.

They're gonna be able to handle the same thing and look pretty much the same in terms of the appearance. So honestly, if you we're to ask me, you really can't go wrong with either one. This is gonna be a class III hitch, which means it has the two inch by two inch receiver tube opening, which is a good thing. That's a super common size and a lot of stuff is gonna work with it. It's going to use the standard 5/8 pin and clip.

Keep in mind, one doesn't come with the hitch. If you need one, not a huge deal. Grab it here at etrailer. A lot of times if you end up buying a new accessory, they'll come with one. So just something to look out for.

These safety chain openings are in a loop style. And nothing really to 'em there. They're fairly large and easy to get to, so whatever size hook you might have on your trailer should work out well with it. As far as the hitches weight capacities goes, it's gonna have a maximum gross tongue weight rating of 525 pounds. That's gonna be the amount of weight pushing down on the hitch.

It's a pretty good number and you should be able to use just about any size bike rack or cargo carrier, just to give you an example. As far as the maximum gross trailer weight rating is concerned, that's gonna be 3,500 pounds, or the amount of weight pulling on the hitch. So that is the weight of your trailer, plus anything you might have entered on it. I do always like to recommend though, never a bad idea just to grab your Mazda owner's manual. That way, you can check in there and make sure that your SUV can handle that much weight safely. We'll go ahead, grab a couple of measurements now, and these will help you figure out what type of accessories will work best. You go from the ground to the top inside edge of the receiver tube opening. That's gonna be about 12 1/2 inches. So if you plan on pulling a trailer, chances are pretty good. You can get a ball mount that has a rise in the shank. Probably that two to four inch range work good for most people. And it's high enough off the ground. If your accessory has a straight shank, probably be all right with clearance, but if you're gonna get a bike rack or something new and you can find one that has a rise in it, probably better off buy a little more ground clearance back here. From the center of the hitch pin hole to the edge of the rear bumper, that's gonna be about 5 1/2 inches. And you can use that to help figure out exactly if any of those folding style accessories you might have can be stored in that upright position without hitting the back of your CX-50. So when it comes down to it, a good all around hitch. It looks good and you'll be able to do a lot of different things with it. As far as the installation goes, it's really not too bad. It uses some existing attachment points that are already in the frame from the factory. So really shouldn't give you a ton of issues or take up a bunch of your time, but if you're gonna be putting this on yourself, feel free to hang around. We'll go ahead, pull into the garage, and get going on it now. To begin our installation, we're gonna be working underneath the back of your Mazda here, and there's a couple of things that you need to do that our neighbors actually are already done, but it's not really a huge deal 'cause this is really straightforward. So originally, you'll have a little plastic piece set that slides into here, right And you need to remove that. It's on the inside. There's gonna be a couple of screws that you can just pull out. And then more than likely, along here, there will be a push pin fastener or two that you need to pull out, very similar to this. And to get those out, ours are gone already, but just giving you a demonstration, to get those out, you can take a flathead screwdriver and a pry underneath the head, and that's how they pull out. So nothing really to it there. And then this plastic piece here, this is gonna run across, and all you're gonna have to do is follow this factory opening and trim that section out. So somewhat thick plastic, I usually use a Dremel tool or an oscillating tool, something along those lines to get that little bit of plastic cut out. Now you can move to the side of your frame rail, and you're gonna have these pieces of tape that are covering up our attachment points. We have a total of two. And from this point on, whatever we do to one side of our vehicle also due to the other side 'cause it'll be set up the same way, but essentially, just need to get that tape removed. Sometimes it's on there real good, you might have to come over with a flat head and help scrape it off. But those are gonna be our attachment points where our hardware's gonna thread into. Now even though they we're covered, it's not a bad idea to take a brush or something. Could even put some penetrating oil in there and just wipe those threads out. The hardware that you're gonna use will be the same for all four of the attachment points. You're just gonna have a bolt and a conical tooth washer,. and make sure when you put the washer on that the teeth are gonna face this way, towards the end of the bolt or towards the hitch. So you'll hold the hitch up, put this through the opening in the hitch, and thread it into those weld nuts in the frame. If you can have someone give you a hand with this, it makes it a lot easier. But you'll take the hitch, raise it up into position, we'll get it all lined up, and get our hardware started hand tight. With the hardware in place and hand tight, come back with a 19 millimeter socket and snug everything down. (drill roaring) (drill roaring) And lastly, what you need to do is come back with a torque wrench and tighten down all the hardware to the amount specified in your instructions. (torque wrench clicking) (torque wrench beeps) And that'll finish up our look at and our installation of the Draw-Tite Trailer Hitch Receiver on our 2024 Mazda CX-50.