Trailer Hitch Installation - 2003 Saturn Vue
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How to Install a Trailer Hitch on a 2003 Saturn Vue
Today on this 2003 Saturn Vue we are going to be installing Curt hitch part number 13591. We are underneath the vehicle, we are going to point out the mounting holes for our trailer hitch. Starting at the center of the vehicle, just below the bumper we have two existing holes, these are going to provide our two center most attaching points for our trailer hitch. Into those two hole we are going to be mounting the 1/ 2 inch carriage bolt along with the 1-1/2 by 2 inch block. If we move to the outboard side of the frame, we have two existing weld nuts here at the end of the frame rail, one on top of each other, these are going to provide the two attaching points on the side of the frame. That is going to be the same on both the driver and passenger side. :37
There is a good chance that these weld nuts are going to have some corrosion built up into them. This is on any vehicle that has seen one winter. The first thing we want to do is clean those out thoroughly. To do that I am going to be using a spray lubricant, like a WD-40 and a wire brush. You may need to do that a couple of times to ensure the road grime and debris is broken and loosened up inside there. It might not be bad idea to test fit the bolt a few times to ensure it will not give you any trouble when you go to put the hitch up in position. You will want to do this for all four of the weld nuts. 1:06
In the two weld nuts on the side of the frame we will be using the new 12 millimeter nuts along with a conical tooth washer that is provided in the hardware kit. Again, to fish wire we want to take the threaded end of the bolt leader and start with one of the square holes here at the bottom of the bumper structure. We are going to feed that all the way out to the end of the bumper structure, we will start with the block, slide it on to the bolt leader, followed by the carriage bolt. We are going to take the threads of the carriage bolt and wrap it with the threads of the bolt leader. We will take the other end of the bolt leader here and pull it and start feeding the carriage bolt and block through the frame and into position. If you are having trouble getting the block to align inside the frame, it could be because this block has an offset to it. If the block ends up sitting inside the frame like so, its likely not to align with the hole in the bottom of the frame. What you want to do is orient it so it is sitting sideways like so, so it will align properly with the hole in the bottom of the frame. 2:15
We will go ahead and put our hitch up into position now. We are going to attach the hitch to the carriage bolts here at the bottom of the frame first. We are going to attach the hitch to those carriage bolts using the 1/2 inch flange nuts provided with the hitch installation kit. We want to leave these loosely installed until we get all our hardware in position, and then we will go ahead and tighten them up. We will go to the side of the frame and put our 12 millimeter bolts in. With all the hardware in place we can start tightening down our bolts. When we tighten down our bolts you want to tighten the center ones down first then the ones on the outside of the frame. With all the bolts tightened down we are going to go through and torque them down. You want to check with the directions to verify the appropriate torque rating for each individual bolt. 3:04
Now that we have our trailer hitch installed we want to give you a couple dimensions that might make choosing your hitch accessories a little bit easier. From the top of the receiver tube opening to the ground is going to measure 13-3/4 inches. From the center of the pin hole to clear the rear edge of the bumper is going to be approximately 4-3/4 inches. This will conclude the installation of Curt hitch part number 13591 on a 2003 Saturn Vue.
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Frank G.
10/10/2012
Hello,I just saw your trailer hitch installation video for Saturn Vue and it looks easy. How long will it take to ship to Lodi, CA, 95240 and how much is the shipping?