To see if this custom-fit item will work for you please tell us what vehicle you'll use it with.
Your vehicle might just need a hitch that fits, works, and holds up. This one's built for everyday use, but not oversized jobs. It's perfect for adding a bike rack or cargo carrier for weekend trips, or towing a utility trailer to the store.
You don't need a heavy-duty truck to get out there with your gear. With 3,500 lbs of towing capacity and 350 lbs of tongue weight, this hitch is built for everyday use. It's right at home carrying a cargo tray for a weekend trip, taking bikes out to the trailhead, or even hauling a small trailer to the hardware store. The 2" receiver is what most racks, trays, and ball mounts are designed for, so chances are the gear you already have (or the gear you want) will slide right in. You shouldn't have to hunt for an adapter to make your accessory work. And it's Class III, which means it's strong enough for regular use, not just occasional hauling.
This hitch bolts directly to the frame using included hardware and the tools most folks already have in the garage. There's no need to drill into the vehicle or weld anything in place, and you won't be cutting up the bumper just to make it fit. It's designed for a simple install whether you're putting it on yourself or having a shop handle it. If you'd rather not DIY, we can help you find a local installer using our dealer locator.
This hitch meets SAE J684 standards, so it's been tested to handle its rated capacity under real towing conditions. You may not spend time thinking about certifications, but they matter when you're pulling weight. This one covers strength, performance, and structural integrity, so you're working with something that's actually been proven, not just claimed.
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Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Hi, this is Scott with etrailer. Today, we're taking a look at and installing the Trailermate Class 3 Hitch for 2023 Chevrolet Equinox. The Chevy Equinox is a really popular vehicle, and if you're looking to expand your hauling ability with it, you can get a hitch put on like we have here today, and what this is gonna do for you, this is gonna allow you to have bike racks on the back, maybe do some light towing, or even have a cargo carrier. Say you do a lot of camping and need just a little bit more room, you can throw some stuff on the back, and that way you have more room on the inside of your vehicle. This hitch looks pretty good too. You're not gonna see the cross tube, that's gonna be hidden up behind your fascia, and it really doesn't stick out a whole lot either, and so when you're walking by it every day, you're not gonna be hitting your shin on it or your legs or anything like that.
It's kind of tucked back in, and I really like that about this one. This hitch is gonna have a 5/8 pinhole opening, and that's what's gonna hold in any of your accessories that you put on your hitch. Now, this one won't come with a pin, so you can pick one up here at eTrailer. It's also gonna have heavy-duty chain loops, so that's gonna accept either your S-style hooks, or it will also accept your clevis-style hooks, so either one of those are gonna be a good option for your trailer towing needs. As far as measurements go, from the center of our pinhole out to the edge of our bumper, we're looking at right at about 5 inches.
Now, with that number, you'll be able to decide if you have any accessories that stow away or fold up, you'll be able to decide if any of those will make contact with the back of your vehicle once you fold them up. As far as from the ground to the inner top of our receiver, we're looking at 10 inches. Now, with that number, it is pretty low to the ground, so you're probably gonna want to have some rise in the shank of either your bike rack or your cargo carriers for clearance. As far as weight capacities go for this hitch, we're looking at a ton-weight rating of 350 pounds. Now, that's gonna be the combination of your bike rack with all of your bikes on it, or your cargo carrier loaded down with all of your gear.
Now, for trailer towing capacity, we're looking at a gross trailer weight rating of 3,500 pounds. That's gonna be the weight of your trailer and everything that you have on that. Now, keep in mind, it's always a good idea to take a look at your owner's manual and make sure you're not exceeding any of their maximum towing capabilities for your vehicle. So, usually the best bet is just go with the lower number between your hitch and your owner's manual. So, if you have any questions or comments about this hitch for your Equinox, you can always get ahold of one of our experts here at eTrailer, and they'd be happy to answer any of your questions.
Now, if you already have this hitch or you have any comments about it, you can leave any comments or pictures down below, we'd love to hear from you. Now, as far as installation goes, this one's pretty straightforward. You may have to enlarge a hole a little bit to get your hardware in. But other than that, it's something you can definitely handle in your driveway at home. Now, if it's something you don't have time to do yourself, you can take a look at our dealer locator and get something done for you locally. If it's something you feel like tackling yourself, stick around, watch our video, and we'll help you get it installed. To start our installation, we're gonna have two T15 screws in the bottom of our fascia. And we're gonna remove those. And what that's gonna do is give us the ability to flex our bumper down a little bit so we can get our hitch put in place. (screw whirring) For our next step, we're gonna need to get our exhaust lower down. So we're gonna have this mount right behind our frame. And it's gonna be two 15 millimeter bolts. We just need to use a ratchet with a swivel. It can be a little bit tricky to get up to it, but they break loose pretty easy. And once we get them so far, we can just take them out by hand. We're gonna do this on both sides. (screw rattling) Since we're gonna be dropping our exhaust down, I want to take a cam buckle strap and just get it so we're gonna support our exhaust. I'm just gonna find a good solid place to put that. Now I can tighten up my strap. That's just gonna give us some support, some support once we drop our exhaust. Now, back where we undid our bolts in the rear, let's kind of lift up and pull them back and out of the way. They sit in a little tab here. So you'll just have to push those back and pull that down. Let's let that sit there. Now, a little more forward of our vehicle, we're gonna have this isolator. And what I like to do is take a little bit of soapy water and just spray it on our isolator. Wiggle our exhaust around a little bit and let that work in. Spray both sides. And now this would be pretty easy to remove. All you have to do is just push this forward. If it gives you any trouble, you can always use a pry bar or isolator pliers to get this removed. Now that we have that down, let's release our cam buckle strap just a little bit. For our next step, we're gonna want to get our hardware in place, and we're gonna be using these two holes. Now, in between those two holes, you're gonna have this hole here, and it's not quite big enough for our hardware to fit in. So, what I'm gonna do is I'm just gonna take a step bit and enlarge this hole on both sides. (screw whirring) All we need to do is just go a little bit bigger and big enough to get our spacer block through and our carriage hole. Now that we've enlarged our holes on both sides, we'll come back through with some paint and just get that covered up where we made our hole. That way we don't have any rust in the future. Now to get our hardware in place, we're gonna fish wire. And in our kit, we're gonna have what we call fish wire. It's gonna have a little spring on the end. And what we're gonna do, we're gonna start with the rearmost one, and we're just gonna run that up into the hole. Need to get the spring pulled through the hole that we opened up. Now we'll take our spacer block that comes in the kit and put that on the end of our fish wire and follow up with our carriage bolt. We're just gonna thread that onto that coiled end. Now that we've done that, we'll take our spacer block, push that through, followed by our carriage bolt, pull our hardware through. And we are gonna leave our fish wires on because it's gonna help us keep our hardware in place when we lift our hitch into position. Now we'll just follow the same procedure with this hole and the two on the other side. Before we get our hitch in place, we're gonna need to pull this out. And so I already did it on this one. So, I just pushed my exhaust forward as much as I could and got this pin to clear our fascia. And I did have to pull this back quite a bit to get this to pop out. That's just gonna give us enough room to swing it in through our exhaust. Now, with an extra set of hands, we can get our hitch lifted into position. Now we just want to swing it up on the one side. And now we'll take our fish wires and pull them through the corresponding holes. And you always want to have your hardware ready to go up. Now we'll lift our hitch up into position. (metal clanking) Now I'm just gonna unthread my fish wire and get that out of the way and take our supplied nut, get one run up, (screw rattling) get one up on both sides. And that's gonna hold our hitch in place so we can get the rest of our hardware installed. With our hardware all in place, we can come back through and torque down our hardware to the specifications listed in our instruction manual. Now, if you don't have a torque wrench, you can pick one up here at eTrailer. We do have some options available. Or you can take a look at your local auto parts store and you should be able to rent one there. (machine beeping) Now we'll just come back through and get our exhaust put back in place. (screw rattling) Now that we have our exhaust mounts back on and our isolator, now we can remove our cam buckle strap. Now all we have to do is reinstall our two torque screws underneath of our fascia. (screw whirring) Get those put in place. (screw whirring) Now that we have those in, that'll do it for our look at and our installation of our TrailerMate Class 3 hitch on our 2023 Chevrolet Equinox. I'm Scott with etrailer, and thanks for watching.
Had it installed today. Sits below the vehicle rather than hidden in the bumper where an OEM hitch would sit. Not what I was looking for. Lesson learned, just go to a dealership rather than aftermarket retailer.
Very well made product, heaver gauge steel than expected, response to E mail inquires were very prompt
Good hitch.
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