Video Transcript for Blue Ox Class III Trailer Hitch DIY Installation - 2025 Jeep Grand Cherokee

Hi, I'm Danny with etrailer, and today we're gonna take a look at and I'm gonna show you how to install the Blue Ox Trailer Hitch on our 2025 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Jeep Grand Cherokees are great vehicles and adding a hitch to 'em is gonna be a great idea if you're somebody who's wanting to haul a camper to a campsite, or if you want to have a simple accessory back here like a cargo carrier and bike rack. One of the key features I really like is they have this access panel for your hitch. So you can simply put this on, turn the knobs on the bottom, and it completely goes back to the OEM look of the vehicle. And when you're ready to use it, simple, you just pull it off, store it away, and you're ready to use your hitch. We have a couple of different hitch options for your Jeep Grand Cherokee, but if you're somebody who wants to max out your weight stats, then this hitch is definitely gonna be the one for you, because its maximum towing capacity is 7,500 pounds, and its max tongue weight, which is the weight pushing down on the hitch receiver is gonna be 1,125 pounds.

So you're not gonna have to worry about any accessories that require a lot of tongue weight like bike racks or cargo carriers. You will need a five eighths inch pin and clip to secure your accessory in the hitch. Now this doesn't come with one, but usually when you buy an accessory it will come with that. Now I will recommend upgrading to a locking hitch pin just so you have that extra sense of security when you're out on the trail and you have your bike rack back here. Now the safety chain loops are on the sides here, and they can easily accept a clevis style or an S hook.

Something to keep in mind when you're installing this hitch is if you wanting to do wiring, you should do that at the same time 'cause it's a lot easier with the entire fascia removed. I went ahead and park this on level ground so we can get a couple measurements here. So from the ground to the top of the hitch receiver is gonna be about 22 and a quarter inches. So that's pretty high off the ground since it sits pretty much in the center of the bumper. Now that's gonna be important to know if you're trying to determine if you need a drop or rise for your ball mount when you're trying to match up to your trailer.

The next measurement is gonna be from the center of your hitch pin hole to the outside of your bumper, which is gonna be about three and a half inches. So that's gonna be important to know if you have any folding accessories like a bike rack and you wanna make sure that doesn't come into contact with the your bumper. If you decide to get this hitch for your Jeep Grand Cherokee, then please let us know how you're liking it and how it's serving you on your adventures and review our comment. Or send us in a picture. We'd love to see what you're using it with.

Now as far as the install goes, it's pretty straightforward but you will have to remove the entire rear fascia. So if that's not something you're wanting to do, then please feel free to check out our dealer locator. We can find a professional in your area to get this done for you. But if you're looking to get it done, then follow along and I'll show you how to do it. Now we will have to remove the entire fascia. So I taped around all the seams that we're gonna be working with just so it doesn't get damaged. Now everything we do to one side we will be doing to the other. And I'm gonna start here in the wheel well. I got an eight millimeter socket and I'm gonna remove some of these screws. (drill whirls) It's gonna be four total and I'll get these set to the side. I'll now go ahead and get this fender trim piece removed. And I'm just gonna apply light pressure, pull this out, and it should release those clips here. I'm just gonna work my way along. And I got a trim panel tool and I can stick it in there and more easily get this separated. Some of these white clips are still stuck in there. There's no need to worry. You can pry those out and put 'em back in. They just slide right in. But now I'm gonna peel this away and stick some soft towels in here just so I can get to this bolt right there. I got a 10 millimeter socket and I'm gonna go ahead and get this removed. Next, we'll remove the taillights here. And it's gonna be this plastic trim piece. And you should be able to just get this removed. There's just clips in here. Just pull that straight out. There's just two clips going right into there. And I got a T30 Torx bit, and I'll remove this screw. We wanna pull the light directly out because it has two fasteners going in in this direction. So I'll just apply some pressure and get this removed. I got a trim panel tool for the back, just gonna very carefully apply pressure. And I'll unplug it. I'll just pull back on the red tab, push down, and then I'll get this set to the side. A little lower on the bumper here is gonna be a rubber cover. I'm gonna carefully take this off. And then I'll take a 10 millimeter socket and get this removed. (drill whirls) Up under the vehicle now, I'm gonna take my 10 millimeter socket. And there's gonna be four bolts, two on each side, and I'll get all these removed. (drill whirls) We are ready to remove our fascia, and before I grab somebody for an extra hand to take this off, I'm gonna actually start in the wheel well liner area and get this pulled away. Should this unclip. And then up here, as you can see there's along the sides. I'm just gonna pull up on it, pull it out just a bit. You may need a trim panel tool just to help you just get that up. And I'll do this on both sides. I got Scott helping me over on the other side, and we're just going to work our way in the middle. Now this intersection was extremely hard to get out. What we had to do is we put a trim panel tool in here and lifted up on this lip here to get these clips to release. Now there is gonna be two plugs on either side. And just wanna lift down on that gray tab. Push down on that tab and pull it right out. It's gonna be three bolts securing the bumper beam to the vehicle. We're gonna go and get these removed with a 21 millimeter socket. Two on the side here and one on the bottom. We have to lower the exhaust a little bit, so I'm gonna use a strap to get this secured somewhere. Tighten this down so it supports our exhaust as we lower it. Now on either side there's going to be two spots that is mounting the exhaust. One is right under there. And I'm using a 13 millimeter socket. And then one is right on the side of the frame. And I'll do that on the other side. When you're taking out this attachment point, be very careful if you've already taken out the top bolts 'cause this can just slide out. So just keep a hand on it. And now we'll go ahead and get this removed and we will be reinstalling this. You can now lift our hitch into place. I was having a little bit of trouble getting this in so I just used a rubber mallet and got one side hit in and I got the holes lined up. So for the non-L models like we have today, we're gonna want to use these two front holes. And I got a carriage bolt, flat washer and nut. And you can use a fish wire, but my hands are small enough so I can actually just use that. But now I'll put hardware on this side, I'll get one in the back hole. Now on the rearmost hole of the hitch I'll go ahead and put another carriage bolt down through the bottom. And I'll get the same hardware on this one. This exhaust hanger is gonna need hardware to go back up where it was. So where that hole is in the frame, they give you a five 16ths carriage bolt. I'll go ahead and drop this through. I got a 13 millimeter socket and the nut. I'm gonna go ahead and lift this back into place and get our nut tightened down. I'll put this exhaust hanger up as well. (drill whirls) And I'll repeat this on the other side. We can now tighten and torque everything down. And I'm torquing these to the specs in the instructions. And if you don't have a torque wrench at home, you can usually rent one from your local auto parts store, or you can buy one from us at etrailer. Once you torque everything down, you're all good to go. But it's a good idea, if you're getting wiring, to do it now while the fascia is off 'cause it makes it a whole lot easier. So I'm gonna go ahead and do that and then put the fascia back on. And that was a look at the Blue Ox Trailer Hitch on our 2025 Jeep Grand Cherokee.