Video Transcript for etrailer Class V Trailer Hitch Installation Guide - 2024 Ram 1500

Hi, I'm Daniel with etrailer and today we're gonna take a look at and I'm gonna show you how to install the etrailer Trailer Hitch on your 2024 Ram 1500. If you're somebody who's going to be doing some heavy duty towing with your Ram, maybe you're taking that camper to the campsite or a big boat to the lake, this hitch is gonna work great for you. This etrailer hitch is going to have one of the highest weight capacities that we offer and the total towing for this is going to be 15,000 pounds. And that is gonna be the trailer plus what's packed inside of it. Now your tongue weight is going to be 1,700 pounds and that's the weight pushing down on your hitch receiver. Now this is compatible with weight distribution systems and it will actually make your total towing go all the way up to 17,000 pounds.

But your tongue weight will stay the same at that 1,700. This hitch is capable of handling a lot, so just make sure you check your owner's manual in your Ram and make sure you're towing what your vehicle can handle. This hitch has a two inch by two inch hitch receiver opening and that's gonna fit most of your standard accessories. Now you will need a 5/8 inch pin and clip to secure that accessory. Now most of the time when you buy an accessory it will come with a pin and clip.

I would recommend just upgrading to a locking one just so you have that extra sense of security when you have something in there, no one can come and take it. Now it has this welded plate on the bottom here and it's got just these oval holes and these can easily accept your clevis style or your S hook safety chains. Now I'll get you a couple measurements here. So from the ground to the top of the inside of the hitch receiver is gonna be about 19-1/2. So that's a good measurement to know to help you level out your trailer if you're towing.

So all you have to do is level that trailer out, measure from the ground to the bottom of the coupler and that'll help you determine if you need adjustable ball mount or you can get a adapter with that exact measurement as well. Now the next measurement is gonna be from the center of the hitch pin hole to the outside of the bumper here and that's gonna be about 2-1/2 inches. So that's good to know if you have a folding accessory like a bike rack and you wanna make sure when you have that folded up that doesn't hit your bumper. If you have any further questions about this hitch or how it installs or what hitch is gonna be best for you and your Ram, please feel free to reach out to us at etrailer. We'd love to help you out.

Now as far as the install goes on this, it is pretty in depth. You are taking the bumper off and the factory hitch that's behind this off as well. Now if that's not something you're interested in doing yourself, you can check out our dealer locator where you can find a professional in your area to get this done for you. But if you wanna do it yourself, follow along and I'll walk you through it. Now I already removed the spare tire just so we can have more room to work under there and I removed the rear license plate, that's gonna reveal two bolts that we'll have to remove. So I got a 15 millimeter socket. Just get these both removed. (drill grinding) Now we're gonna unplug some wiring so we can take this bumper off. Just gonna get the trim panel tool, get some of these connectors taken off. And this is the plug we're going to be disconnecting. Just gonna take this off. To get this unplugged we're gonna push out this red pin. Sometimes it can be pretty difficult so I'm just gonna use a tool and if it comes out all the way, it's okay, we can put that back in later. And now you can just pull this out. Might be pretty difficult with all that gunk up in there. And we are gonna be removing this rear bumper and there's gonna be four bolts attaching it to our factory hitch. So I'm gonna use a 16 millimeter socket and get these two removed and there'll be two on the other side. (drill grinding) And when taking these off, just make sure you are supporting the bumper so it doesn't fall off. I'll get this last one removed. And with all that hardware removed, I got Scott over there helping me and we can take this down and set it into a safe spot for now. Now we're gonna move this factory hitch and there's gonna be four bolts. There's gonna be three on the side here and one on the bottom going up into the frame. I got a 13/16 socket. I'm just gonna get these all removed. And you do wanna save these 'cause we will be reinstalling them. (drill grinding) And the bolt that's higher, closer to the bed, it's hard to get with the impact. So I am just using a ratcheting wrench here to get this out. Now I'm gonna get it mostly loose, so I'm gonna keep it in until I'm ready to pull this off so one side doesn't come flying down. And now that you've got all the hardware loose, can take those bolts out, grab extra pair of hands. I got Scott over there helping me and there is gonna be some alignment tabs. Just gotta get those off and slide it down. And now we can just set this to the side. Now on our driver's side we're gonna have a bolt securing our heat shield, the one closest to the tailgate we're gonna take down. (drill grinding) And on the passenger side there's gonna be two that we have to take down. (drill grinding) Now using a hammer, I'm gonna flatten that little hump that's on the heat shield because our hitch will be sandwiching this between our frame. (hammer clanking) Now we're gonna fish some hardware into our frame and you're gonna get your carriage bolt that comes in kit and a spacer block we're, I'm just gonna put those together and I'm gonna get our fish wire on here. I'm just gonna screw that spiral in all the way. And the holes we're gonna be using is this big hole up front, the hole in front of the threaded hole and this big hole near the back of the heat shield. And something to keep in mind is when I put this through, you want this spacer to be the long ways with the frame. You don't want it to be like this 'cause that'll give you hangups. So I'm just going to put our bolt in this big hole followed by our spacer block and pull it down. Now this middle hole, I'll put the fish wire coiled in through that first and bring it all the way out and I'll put our spacer block on, followed by our bolt. Now I'll just put that in the frame, put the bolt in there as well and get that pulled through. Finally, the bigger hole, we're just gonna do the same thing. The reverse fish wire technique where we just put it up through and pull it down and just do the same process on the other side. I got Scott back helping me lift this hitch into position and I just wanna get all those fish wires and put it through the corresponding holes. Now that middle one is gonna go to the hole that's closest to the hitch receiver and that other hole we're gonna use that factory hardware. Once we do that, we can lift it up. We went ahead and got one of the hardware started just so it could hold the weight to the hitch. And what you wanna do is just pull that fish wire off and get your flange nut started. It's helpful to hold one side so it doesn't spin on you. And once you get all these hand tight, you don't wanna make them too tight so you can move this back and forth here. You wanna line up the hole that is threaded, we'll get that lined up and I'll take our factory hardware and get this threaded in. Then we can put the bumper brackets on. So these are gonna be the brackets that the bumper will get secured to. So there's gonna be a side with three holes. So I'm gonna put that on the inside of the frame here. And those two oblong holes at the top, we're just gonna put those long factory bolts back through. And on the other side of those long factory bolts, we'll just put a flat washer and a flange nut. That small hole on the bottom will get a half inch bolt. I'll get a conical tooth washer, place that on top teeth facing the metal and get this put through and I'll just get a flange nut tightened on the back. Now we can get our bumper and place it back onto our hitch and there's gonna be those studs that we wanna line up with the holes in that plate we just put up. Now we get our flange nut that comes in the kit and get that threaded on that stud. Those holes that were behind our license plate will just get some M10 volts, get those through and I'll just put flange nuts on the other side. We can get that plug reinstalled same way we took it off. You just wanna flip up on the white latch and we can tighten and torque everything down. Use a 19 millimeter socket and get the ones tightened down to the frame first. (drill grinding) Now that we've tightened all of our hardware down, we can come back through and torque it all down to the specs in the instructions. And if you don't have a torque wrench in the home, you can usually rent one from your local auto parts store or you can pick one up from us at etrailer. And you're good to go. You're ready to start using your etrailer hitch on your 2024 Ram 1500.