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Fully welded Subaru Forester trailer hitch is strong and durable. Draw-Tite's Tested Tough guarantee ensures that this hitch exceeds industry standards. The combination of an A-coat base and a powder coat finish provides excellent rust protection.
Features:
Specs:
Draw-Tite's Tested Tough program provides testing standards far superior to those outlined by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), the go-to source for engineering professionals.
Each Draw-Tite trailer hitch receiver undergoes extensive fatigue testing and static testing with the ball mount that is either supplied or recommended for use with that particular hitch, thus ensuring results that are applicable to real life use. Fatigue testing is also conducted on hitches rated for use with weight-distribution systems.
In addition, Draw-Tite performs static testing on a simulated automobile, as opposed to the rigid fixture used for SAE testing, resulting in a more true-to-life scenario.
At etrailer.com we're committed to the products we sell, and to our customers. Our experienced and knowledgeable staff are available via both phone and email to address your questions and concerns for the lifetime of your hitch. The technicians at etrailer perform hitch installations on a daily basis, making them a valuable resource for do-it-yourselfers. The one-on-one, personal service you'll receive comes straight from an expert in the towing and automotive field. We've installed it, we've wired it and we've towed with it, so whatever your question, we can answer it.
California residents: click here
Bolt it on and it works great. Easy to install. Looks good.
owned for a year+ and everything is still working great. very easy install. only complaint is that it didn't take long to start showing rust at cut ends and welds.
Hidden Hitch arrived as scheduled. The box was damaged but no parts missing as they were taped to the hitch.
Very happy with the rugged contruction of the hitch.
Took about 2 hours to put on 2015 Subaru Forester, very easy after following the helpful video on the e-trailer website.
Extremely happy with the purchase from e-trailer.
I ordered the Hidden Hitch Class III 2" Hitch for our 2015 Subaru Forester. It came in perfect condition from etrailer with all the necessary hardware. I was somewhat reluctant to install myself, but after watching the available videos, I decided to take it on. I installed it this morning in a little over an hour including the time required to get the car up on the jack stands, etc. I could have saved some time if I took it to my friends garage and put it on his lift, but it was really a simple installation, even doing it lying on my back. Looking forward to receiving the Yakima Ridgeback bike rack, which I also ordered from etrailer, and trying everything out.
Called first to ask a few questions and ended up ordering the Hidden Hitch class 3 hitch. Cathy H was very helpful on the phone and the shipment arrived quickly.
The box was a bit torn upon arrival, but I expected it due to previous reviews. I did inspect the hitch and there was no damage.
Installation was easier than expected and it helps to have an extra set of hands to hold the hitch in place. Found it easier to remove the 2 bolts holding the muffler to the pipe, rather than lowering the exhaust. This way we didn't have to work around the muffler.
I am strongly recommending etrailer to people! The 87654 hidden hitch fits my 2014 2.5L Forester perfectly and is a good value for the price. The hitch is well made and is built like a tank. I feel it adds significantly to the structure of the car, if you ever get rear ended. "Hidden" model is fairly discreet, tucked under as well as it can be without going to a type that requires removing your rear bumper and most of the rear of the car. I like the round tube structure for smoothing the aerodynamics, due to adding this chunk of material under there. The etrailer videos are EXCELLENT. But make sure you find them all and watch them. I missed the one about the muffler hangers, which might have saved some time and effort. Reinstalling the muffler and rubber hangars probably took more time than the rest of the installation, and removing the muffler is pretty much required on the Forester. Fishing the bolts through with the special wires was easy....Thanks Etrailer!
i.e. all my issues were with Subaru, not Etrailer parts.
Shipping box is pretty heavy duty but was very torn up when it arrived. etrailer packed it very close to the 50pound UPS special handling limit and UPS doesn't like that and treats it accordingly. Luckily its like mishandling a tank, so no harm to the hitch. Some foam blocks in the box would help, but if that would add significantly to the shipping cost, I am ok with it the way it is. (I got free shipping deal!)
The hitch is heavy and awkward. When moving it into place to bolt it, you likely need an extra person, a car jack and some bungies to attach it to the car jack, or all of the above.
I kept thinking about how much money I was saving from the ridiculous quotes I was getting from the car mechanics to install a hitch. That kept me smiling through the couple of tough spots. (i.e. those dang rubber donuts for holding on the muffler)
Buy your hitch from etrailer, install it yourself and spend the amount you save on a nice bike rack or something.
Outfitting a new vehicle, and stumbled on etrailer through a Yahoo search. Up to this point i was ordering a hitch that required drilling so I'd be having it installed. After checking out the hitch options, and accompanying You Tube vids i went with the no drill Hidden Hitch. It came promptly, packaged well, and ready to go out of the box. I was on my own to install, only had a concern about lifting it up while tightening the bolts. I have to say the wire fish thingys are ingenious, wow, I giggled at the simplicity of their use. The hardest thing was lifting it into place, alone. My chest proved to be a perfect lift, lol. I tightened one to hold on each side and then took care of the rest. The heat shield probably wasn't my finest work, but its good to go. I highly recommend the hitch and etrailer....they answered a prepurchase install question promptly. Nice...now I'm ordering a bike rack.
I watched numerous instructional videos before installing. Fortunately, the nut/bolt parts package was well secured, as the box was damaged in transit. I had a little damage to the heat shield plus stripped retainer bolts — but I just connected the two frozen bolts with some support hanger wire. Whether you have a hitch lift or not, you should probably have second hand available to at least get the first nuts threaded. It’s a very substantial and nicely designed accessory. It’s secured and ready for the bike rack or some trailing.
My 16 year old and I installed it on her car. The directions are good and the video showing the install even better. The clever wires that shipped with the kit made fishing the mounting bolts thru the frame box a breeze. Hitch is great and served our intended purpose to mount a heavy duty bike rack on the back!
Lazer S.
9/30/2025
A second pair of hands definitely makes the process easier, Mike! Glad to hear you liked the video for the install as well. We do our best to make things easier and are always happy to hear when we do! What kind of bikes are you carrying?
Arms of hitch were poking out of box. From reviews, I expected it. I repainted it with truck-bed paint. Covering stickers with tape.
Photos won't upload.
I haven't mounted it yet.
Todd
9/13/2025
No issues with in. Not noticed an rust
Installation was quick and easy after watching the etrailer YouTube video!!
Installed on a 2022 RAV4 hybrid.
Fit like a glove, no problems.
I did NOT drop the exhaust and with 2 people, was able to carefully slide it into place. Everything lined up perfect. As others have said the one bolt on the passenger side does not have enough room for a socket, so you will have to torque it with a wrench.
I also did NOT cut the rear plastic of the vehicle. It was not necessary, the top of the hitch sits just a hair under the plastic
The cardboard box the hitch arrived in was damaged but the hitch was fine. This will always happen without additional packaging or some kind of foam insert. I'm not complaining, as long as there was no damage and nothing lost, I prefer to have less packaging material.
Brooke M.
5/9/2025
Well I certainly appreciate you sharing all the details here- makes for a really useful review and helps gauge what one can expect in real life :)
It was delivered in no time and I started to install it. Thanks to several videos and recommendations here on reviews, I already knew the process. I used Rhino ramps for installation - do not forget to chock your front wheels. The most difficult process was removing the exhaust, other than that it was a straight forward application, if you are handy. Having and using proper tools is the key. The only complaint that I have is I got four fish wires for the bolts instead of six. When I was installing the hitch receiver, one of the bolts was pushed back and stuck in the channel. I was lucky to have a telescopic magnet to push them out from access hole and use fish wire to put it back to the correct hole. I did not cut the exhaust heat shield(thanks to one of the reviewers here) I drilled two holes that has been indicated on the heat shield and run the bolts through that two holes. It is solid. I used jack stands when I am installing the hitch receiver for additional support. I did 90% of the work by myself. Having second pair of hands when installing the receiver is almost a must. Overall, I am happy with the instructions. Thank you all!
Relatively easy to attach to my vehicle (Subaru Forester) and has worked well doing the only task I have used it for, which is attaching a platform bike carrier to transport my mountain bike.
Brooke M.
6/26/2025
Mountain biking, nice! Do you have any favorite trails that are your go-to's?
I chose etrailer.com for my Hitch because of the good background information they provide for the hitch's installation (the good price was also a major consideration). This is my second installation of a etrailer.com hitch on two different cars. The hitch arrived in good condition even though the box it was shipped in was lost in transit. I reviewed etrailers.com installation video and the written installation instructions that came with the hitch from Draw-Tite. etrailer.com video made the installing fairly easy. It really helps when you can watch how it is done. However I did not like slicing the heat shield as detailed in the video's instructions and followed Draw-Tite's instructions for the heat shield modification. etrailer.com's heat shield modification would have been much faster but I wanted more metal to help keep the heatshield from vibrating. Over all it took about two hours to do the installation. Only problem encountered was forgetting to put the rubber drain plugs back in the car's frame. It is really difficult to install the rubber plug back in once the muffler/hitch is in place. The hitch works perfectly and best of all I don't have to install a strap to steady the bike rack. Have just done a 1000 mile trip with no problems.
James M.
11/8/2021
Hitch is working fine. No problems have been encountered
I installed Drawtite hitch # 75876 on my 2015 Subaru Forester. It arrived in good condition and there were no parts missing. The installation went without a hitch (pun intended) and it fits perfectly. I think the key to my successful installation was the instructional video on etrailer's website. It was very clear and concise. There is however one thing I would like to add for an even better installation. Instead of trimming the heat shield to allow for bolt access and have it dangle, I drilled two holes in the shield, threaded the bolts through it and clamped it between the car's frame and the hitch. If you're concerned that the heat shield will somehow interfere with secure bolting, it won't. Subaru intentionally marked the heat shield with two small dimples for drilling position. I drilled holes 1/16" larger than the bolts and the hole position was perfect. I should mention the dimples are very small, so wipe the heat shield to help find them. There's an R and an M on the shield and the dimples are within those letters. (See photo.) Lastly, this hitch is rated for heavier towing than a Forester can handle so choose wisely. I'm using it only for my bike rack and cargo carrier, so I will never exceed 2500 lbs. of towing weight. Thank you etrailer for the excellent video!
Perry D.
10/18/2018
Its working out very well, thank you. Whats important is that I noticed other installers used my review to locate the two dimples on the heat shield for a more secure installation. It helped me and Im thankful it helped others. On another note, I did just notice a typo in my review that you might want to correct if you can. In the next-to-last sentence I state 250 lbs. of towing weight which should read 2500 lbs.
This is the 2nd trailer hitch I have purchased from Etrailer. I spent $7 for the upgraded shipping at the hitch arrived 4 days after I ordered it. I installed this hitch on my 2015 Subaru Forester XT. The installation video was dead on, I followed step by step and it took about 45 minutes using a cordless impact, a few deep well sockets and a couple wrenches.
-I used my floor jack to raise the hitch and align the bolts. A must if you don't have a second set of hands.
-Using the hole saw saved a lot of time to trim the heat shields. I used the dimples as suggested and it was close enough to re install the shield. I bought the hole saw at Home Depot for under $10.
-I used a lot of penetrating oil on the muffler hangers, made it a lot easier to remove and reinstall. Reinstalling the mufflers was the most time consuming step, but was well worth it to have the access to get the bolts.
-The hitch is tucked under the bumper, my thule bike rack fits perfect and is much more rigid than when I had it installed on a 1 1/4 receiver on my old car.
-There is no visual obstructions in the rear when the bike rack is installed.
-I saved about $300 using this setup over the factory hitch.
I would highly recommend Etrailer. The customer support is excellent and this hitch was a perfect match for my bike rack.
Thanks Etrailer!
Bm
3/8/2016
From April to October, I had the bike rack installed on the trailer hitch and used it almost on a daily basis. I took several extended road trips with my mountain bike, and the hitch performed excellent. I remove the bike rack during ski season, but once the trails are snow free again, I will be using the bike rack and hitch on a daily basis. I am still super happy with the hitch I purchased from ETrailer and will definitely be buying towing products from this outstanding company.
I installed this hitch on my 2014 Subaru Forester. The instructions (especially the videos) were extremely helpful and well put together. With the help of my father, we installed in hitch in about 1.5 hours. I'm not quite sure why other customers are using the holes that can be accessed from within the rear of the interior, the fishing of the bolts as mentioned in the instructions went very smoothly. So far I have only attached my hitch-mounted bike rack, but I'm loving the hitch! Thank you etrailer, I will be back!
Tim D.
6/6/2018
Hitch has been wonderful over the last year. There is a little bit of rust starting, but that is expected in Minnesota. Thanks for the great product and service!
I bought this product for a 2014 Subaru Forester XT Touring model. I am very pleased with it. I choose this particular hitch for several reasons (the Draw-Tite and the Hidden Hitch for this vehicle are the same hitch with different product stickers).
While I have no intention of towing the weight this hitch is rated for as that would exceed the recommendations for my vehicle, I wanted the 2" receiver for my platform style bike rack. Also, while I realize it is unlikely, I didn't want to be close on the tongue weight if I loaded several bikes onto a 1 1/2" receiver. For a few extra dollars I don't have that concern.
There were two other things that sold me on this hitch. One was that the competitors hitch recommended an additional strap from the bike platform back to the car or their warranty is voided. Draw-Tite does not require this for their product. I called them to confirm that this was not needed. I guess it might make a difference if you travel rocky / off road. Platform bike racks are typically not recommended for that type of travel.
The other selling point was that Draw-Tite provided instructions on how to trim the muffler heat shields so that they could be kept in place. The competitors instructions called for those shields to be removed. Might be another "peace-of-mind" issue, but my feeling was that those shields were installed for a reason. I just felt better keeping them there. I am sure someone more mechanically inclined could figure that out with the other products (by even just using the instructions for this product) but I was having mine installed by a mechanic that deals with Subaru vehicles and I thought it better to have those instructions to provide them.
Very pleased with the product, the instillation and how it looks on the car. I would recommend this hitch receiver.
Glenn
7/20/2014
Thanks for the review and pictures. Reading the instructions it looks to me that you dont have to drill or widen any frame holes unlike other hitches. Is this what you found as well?
Rachael H.
7/21/2014
Hitch was delivered fairly quickly but as others had experienced I had damaged packaging and needed to spray a little Rustoleum on it in a few places. I was able to follow the instructions that came with the product and did not have to enlarge any hole in the frame to fish the spacers and bolts as in the video. The video was very helpful though and I recommend watching it. I did remove the muffler and that made it much easier. I had the help of a friend with better tools than mine and it took us about an hour. This was installed on my 2017 Forester Premium. Would have given five stars if not for having to touch it up. I also installed the Curt C56040 wiring harness on my own and it went smoothly and exactly as in the video.
Ken B.
4/19/2022
Hitch has been working great. I use it to pull a utility trailer as well as for a basket carrier and bike rack
etrailer is an excellent company. Their website was easy and friendly and guided me to purchase the correct bike hitch product for my 2016 Subaru Forester. Their email follow up and status updates as to delivery were super and the delivery of my product was actually much faster than I expected even though I had only asked for standard delivery. I had my hitch installed at an Autoplex Dealer in my area ( yet another great company). Pictures are attached. Thanks!
Harv B.
10/2/2018
Product is still great. Service was exceptional!
I want to thank etrailer for the prompt order delivery. Thanks to them, I was able to put my hitch on my 2016 Subaru Forester in time for my vacation. Also, the installation video was invaluable. It gave me the confidence to attempt the install in the first place. The hitch looks great. I'd recommend etrailer and draw-tight hitch to everyone.
Mark V.
7/8/2017
A year later my hitch is working perfectly. It is still tight as the day I put it on, no rust has formed on it, and Ive used it several times. I would still recommend this product to everyone.
This is my third receiver I have purchased and installed. The instructions are always spot on. Installation process is good for a dyi.
This was bought to add to my Subaru forester. It allows me to add a small trailer on back. It was a perfect solution.
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Gwendolyn Y.
4/21/2025
Looks great, John! Do you have a rack and trailer already or looking at getting them soon?