Do the Access Holes On a 2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek Need To Be Enlarged To Install a Trailer Hitch
Updated 06/10/2026 | Published 12/05/2019
Question:
Hello, I have watched your installment videos for the 2013 and 2015 crosstrek’s. Which video pertains to the 2014. The 2013 video shows expanding the holes and the 2015 video does not. Thanks
asked by: Thomas M
Expert Reply:
In order to install a trailer hitch on a 2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek you may or may not need to enlarge the frame access holes to feed the hitch hardware through. That said, I know may or may not is not very helpful but the issue is that we cannot say for certain if it is required on any one particular vehicle because the size of these access holes can vary sightly from vehicle to vehicle. Therefore, some vehicles will have the access holes large enough for the hitch hardware to slip through just fine and others will require the access holes to be enlarged to slide the hitch hardware through.
That said, there is a way to open the access holes up without drilling/filing. I ran into this issue myself on a similar vehicle and did not want to drill/file into the frame so all I did was take a pry bar and placed the end into the hole while applying pressure to open it slightly. This option was pretty easy to do and there were no modifications to the frame.
The Draw-Tite Max-Frame Trailer Hitch Receiver part # 76084 is a great option for the 2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek and one of the easier to install choices so you can do this yourself at home no problem
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on Trailer Hitch
David L.
6/10/2026
So you were able to deform the metal enough to slide the parts inside? Wow! What kind of rust protection do you suggest for the raw metal exposed when enlarging the access hole?