Troubleshooting Exhaust Rattle After Installing Curt Hitch on 2015 Subaru Forester XT

Updated 06/26/2019 | Published 06/25/2019

Question:

I have a 2015 Subaru Forester XT two mufflers, and just installed the Curt 13399 hitch, which is tucked into the rear bumper. Ive done a few hitches of this nature before. The overall install was just a bit trickier, due to having to tuck the hitch into the bumper. A FYI - I had to trim the plastic fascia more than the instructions showed - maybe 1/2inch deep, not side to side. No biggie. B Im having an issue with the exhaust hangers interfering with the hitchs welded gussets. Theres not much extra room for the hitch to move around, given the mounting hole sizes. It can really only go in place where it is, and cant be adjusted around. The curved round bar that makes up the mufflersfoot hangers goes thru the rubber isolators is interfering with the welded gussets on both sides. In the attached pic, theres a welded gusset right next to the Curt label, and the mufflers mount bar is touching. This is happening the same on both sides, and is introducing a pretty good vibration/hum into the chassis at certain engine speeds particularly, when under load. Neither the exhaust or the hitch can really be moved, at all. It took a bit of work to get them back into position. It would seem that the gussets could be welded at a slightly different angle, to get them out of the way of the mufflers bars. Any suggestions on what I can do?

asked by: Rik P

Expert Reply:

Normally when a hitch install causes exhaust rattle the solution is to move the exhaust hangers or get longer or shorter isolators to allow the exhaust to be held at a different height. Worse case scenario the best solution would be to take the vehicle to a muffler shop and see if they can manipulate the exhaust in a way to allow it to be free of vibration.

expert reply by: Jameson C