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Curt Trailer Hitch Receiver - Custom Fit - Class III - 2"

29 reviews

Code: 13551

Retail: $314.32

Price:  $201.35

• Trailer Hitch
• Custom Fit Hitch
• Class III
• 500 lbs TW
• 5000 lbs GTW

• 2 Inch Hitch
• Visible Cross Tube
• CURT

This fully welded trailer hitch receiver bolts onto your vehicle's frame with no welding required. Powder coated steel is sturdy and corrosion resistant.

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How to Install a Trailer Hitch on a 2012 Ford Flex

All right, today on this 2012 Ford Flex, we're going to install part number 13551 from Curt. All right, this is what the hitch looks like once installed on the vehicle. Next, we'll give you some measurements that will help you out in selecting some accessories such as a ball mount, a bicycle rack, or a cargo carrier. From the top of the receiver opening down to the ground will be about 13 inches, and from the center of the hitch pin hole to the edge of the bumper will be about 3-3/4 inches. Now, we'll go ahead and show you how the hitch is installed. First thing we're going to do is go ahead and loosen up the exhaust and get it out of our way.

Also, we're going to strap underneath the exhaust and support it while we do our work. We'll go ahead and spray down the rubber hanger closest to the axle with some lubricant to make it easier to remove, and then we'll go ahead and pry it off. All right, next we'll go up by the muffler and there are two bolts that hold the muffler bracket in place. We're going to go ahead and remove those two bolts, but we'll save them for reinstallation later. Our exhaust is lowered and out of our way, now we can go ahead and start installing the hardware into the frame of the vehicle.

We're going to start off on the passenger's side and we'll show you where the hardware installs on the hole going towards the front of the vehicle. We're going to use 3-inch long block and the carriage bolt and we'll also use a bolt leader to pull the whole assembly through the frame. First off, we'll go ahead and run our bolt leader to the hole we're going to use and out the access hole at the end of the frame. Now, we'll go ahead and thread in our block and push into the frame, and then we'll go ahead and thread our bolt onto it and pull it through the frame as well. You may have to pull the wire back and forth a few times because that are welded inside the frame will interfere with the assembly being pulled through.

Just be careful with it and pull it on through the frame. Okay, we're done for our passenger's side. Let's go ahead and repeat the same process over on the driver's side. Once the hardware is installed, we'll go ahead and clean up the threaded weld nuts on the passenger's side. There is one way to clean out.

We'll spray it down with some lubricant and then clean it out with a tube brush, and that will be part number 814092. We'll go ahead and test out one of the hitch bolts and make sure that we can thread it in easily. On the driver's side, the hardware from the exhaust bracket will be reused to attach the hitch. For an extra set of hands, we can go ahead and lift the hitch up in position. We'll install on the two bolts that are installed into the frame and then install the two flange nuts. Okay, we're leaving the hitch loose for now and then we'll install our hardware on the passenger's side. This will pull the inaudible 0:02:19 block between the frame and the hitch bolt and the conical toothed washer. When we install the washer, we'll make sure that the teeth in the washer are always facing towards the hitch. We'll go ahead and push the hitch up in position and then thread in the bolt, but we're still going to leave everything loose. Before I install the final two fasteners closest to the bumper, we'll install the hanger bracket for the muffler. We'll install the hardware closest to the bumper and leave the other one open because the exhaust and the hardware will go through the hitch, and then through the exhaust bracket and into the frame. With all our hardware loose and installed, then we'll go ahead and tighten down the bolts and then torque them down as specified in the instructions. Then we can go ahead and reinstall the exhaust hanger going towards the front of the axle. We'll remove our strap and that will finish it for our install. There you have it for part number 13551 from Curt on our 2012 Ford Flex.