Trailer Hitch Installation - 2010 Ford Focus - Draw-Tite

Products Featured in this Video

Draw-Tite Sportframe Trailer Hitch Receiver - Custom Fit - Class I - 1-1/4"

96 reviews

Code: 24805

Retail: $362.64

Price:  $214.65

• Trailer Hitch
• Custom Fit Hitch
• Class I
• 200 lbs TW
• 2000 lbs GTW

• 1-1/4 Inch Hitch
• Visible Cross Tube
• Draw-Tite

This fully welded, corrosion-resistant vehicle trailer hitch receiver is perfect for your light-duty towing needs. Draw-Tite's Tested Tough guarantee ensures that this hitch exceeds industry standards. Drawbar sold separately.

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How to Install a Trailer Hitch on a 2010 Ford Focus

Today on our 2010 Ford Focus we're going to be installing the Draw-Tite Trailer Hitch Receiver, part number 24805. Here's what our hitch looks like installed on our vehicle. Now we'll go ahead and give you a couple measurements in helping you choose some accessories for your hitch, such as a bicycle rack or a cargo carrier. From the top of the opening in the receiver to the ground we have twelve inches. From the center of the hitch pinhole to the outermost edge of the bumper we have five inches. Now let's go ahead and install our hitch. We're going to begin here underneath the vehicle over on the driver's side.

We're going to need to remove two rubber exhaust hangers in order to gain access to one of our mounting locations. We'll need to remove this rubber exhaust hanger as well as this rubber exhaust hanger. To do that we'll use a little bit of spray lubricant and either a large flat head screwdriver, a pry bar, or an exhaust removal tool. Next we're going to need to loosen the heat shield. In order to do that we'll need to remove these fasteners right here.

There are several of them that you'll need to remove because we'll need to pull the heat shield down a little in order for us to a little trimming on it to open up a mounting location. The heat shield does not come completely out and you will need to remove enough fasteners that you can pull the heat shield down far enough so that you can do your trimming. With our fasteners removed we'll go ahead and pull our heat shield down a little bit. You'll notice when we do that, right here is our mounting location. You'll also see how there's an indentment right here in the frame, we want to make sure that we trim enough of the heat shield out to expose this whole area. We'll be cutting from here to here.

We'll go ahead and take a paint marker and mark out our area that needs to be trimmed. To do that we'll just be using a pair of tin snips. Once we have both of those lines cut we can go ahead and trim it off. Now that we have our heat shield trimmed we can go ahead and re-install the fasteners, securing it to the vehicle. Now that we have the heat shield back up in place let's go over all of our mounting locations.

There will be a total of six mounting locations, three on each side. We'll go ahead and start over here on the driver's side. There's one here, one here, and one here. We can then move over here to the passenger's side. There's one here, here, and here. Next, let's go ahead and point out the hardware that we'll be using at our different mounting locations. For the forward mounting location we'll start over here on the passenger's side. For this one, as well as the forward mounting location on the driver's side, we'll be using a seven-sixteenths carriage bolt, a square hole spacer block. These will be fish wired into the frame using a fish wire or a bolt leader. Then with these installed in the frame we'll install another square hole space block like this here in the indentment of the frame, followed by a seven-sixteenths conkle tooth washer, making sure that the teeth face towards the hitch, followed by a seven-sixteenths hex nut. This will be the same hardware for both the passenger as well as the driver's side forward most mounting location. Now for both of the rear mounting locations on each side, here and here, we'll be using, again, the seven-sixteenths carriage bolt, we'll be using this smaller square hole spacer block, there will be a flat washer, a split lock washer, and a hex nut. Now in order to install our carriage bolt and spacer block in the vehicle's frame we'll take the coiled end of the pull wire, go through the mounting location, we'll come out the end of the frame here. We'll then slide the spacer block on, followed by threading on the carriage bolt. We'll push both pieces back in through the end of the frame, pulling it down into position. We'll go ahead and repeat this same process over on the driver's side. Next we're going to need to install the forward mounting location square hole spacer block here in the recessed area of the frame. Now to help keep it in place we're just going to use a little electrical tape until we put the hitch up. It's a good idea to get an extra set of hands to help you get the hitch up into position. Now that we have each of the forward mounting locations hand tight, now we're ready to install the rear mounting locations. Go ahead and put our carriage bolt and spacer block through the frame, and then through the hitch. One quick thing here, on the rear mounting locations we'll need to make sure that when the blocks are installed that they look like this, they're in this shape, and that they do not overlap on top of each other. Over here on the passenger's side you'll see that we have an L shape, again going to the out. Again, you want to make sure that the blocks are not overlapping. It is important how these spacer blocks are oriented to the vehicle. Now that we have all of our hardware loosely installed we can go ahead and tighten everything down and then torque it to the manufacturer's specification. Now that we have all of our hardware torqued down we'll need to re-install the two rubber exhaust hangers that we removed earlier. That'll do it for the installation of the Draw-Tite Trailer Hitch Receiver, part number 24805, on our 2010 Ford Focus. .