Hi all,
I am thinking about adding a hitch to my 09 sport with tow prep and can't decided which one to go with.
It seems like there are many different kinds out there...
round tube,
square tube,
over exhaust,
under exhaust,
4way,
7way....
I like the fact that the 4-way is integrated right into that hitch... pretty cool. I don't know if you've seen my write-up, but I installed a tow hitch onto my 09 Sport w/ Tow Prep last august and posted up the install. Check it out if it helps your decision at all. I really stand behind etrailer.com... great company.
I should also mention, as a follow up to my thread, that I succeeded in towing about a 2200 pound trailer with an additional 500-600 pounds in the car 1000 miles with no incidents on that package. Everything held up great.
The Following User Says Thank You to conradcbrown For This Useful Post:
I installed the factory hitch myself and it looks much better than any aftermarket one.It comes with a new lower panel and is fairly easy to install with instructions included.The bad part is the price 525$ total , with harness (order seperatly).If you can stand the price check it out.
I installed the factory hitch myself and it looks much better than any aftermarket one.It comes with a new lower panel and is fairly easy to install with instructions included.The bad part is the price 525$ total , with harness (order seperatly).If you can stand the price check it out.
+1.... The factory hitch receiver will also give you more ground clearance as it mounts much higher, about three inches, than the aftermarket hitches. The under the exhaust hitches will significantly reduce your departure angle clearance going over a railroad crossing, or other grade. Put a heavy load on the under the exhaust hitches and you could hang up way too easy....
+1.... The factory hitch receiver will also give you more ground clearance as it mounts much higher, about three inches, than the aftermarket hitches. The under the exhaust hitches will significantly reduce your departure angle clearance going over a railroad crossing, or other grade. Put a heavy load on the under the exhaust hitches and you could hang up way too easy....
I agree completely. I got the factory hitch and do not regret it one bit. I know I would have regretted any after market hitch. The finished look is much better in my opinion. The only drawback is the cost. Mine was $700 to $800 Canadian installed at the dealer, including the wiring harness.
One thing worth noting, however, is that the factory wiring harness is only a 4 pin, so if you tow anything with a brake or anything requiring more than a 4 pin (most trailers over 2000 lbs have brakes and a 7 pin harness), you will need to run three extra wires and install a new plug. Not a big deal, just an annoyance.
__________________ 2009 Highlander Limited
2005 Corolla CE, Canadian Edition, Silver with grey interior, automatic transmission, CD changer, cruise control, rear bumper protector.
I bought a Valley and had some clearance and fit issues. I sent it back (shipping paid for by eTrailer) and ordered the Curt hitch from eTrailer (http://www.etrailer.com/pc-H~13534.h...cleid=20087981 ) and it fit much better and cost less. I would recommend both the Curt hitch and eTrailer.
I bought from eTrailer and installed it myself, a Valley hitch. It took about 45 minutes and I was alone to do the installation. Surely it does not look as good as the OEM, but the price premium for the OEM is too much money IMO.
__________________
2009 Blizzard White Highlander V6 Sport
2004 Infiniti G35 Coupe M6 (Summer toy)
The Following User Says Thank You to gturcotte For This Useful Post:
I bought from eTrailer and installed it myself, a Valley hitch. It took about 45 minutes and I was alone to do the installation. Surely it does not look as good as the OEM, but the price premium for the OEM is too much money IMO.
Do you know the part # for the wiring box?
I did install the Valley hitch but not the wiring.
Thanks.
Last edited by TrailDust; 02-18-2010 at 03:04 PM.
Reason: Picture removed from quote.
Surely it does not look as good as the OEM, but the price premium for the OEM is too much money IMO.
Same school of thought... I paid, shipped and installed, less than half the price of the OEM hitch by itself. The only real benefit of OEM I see is the looks. I don't buy the clearance argument. I never came close to the road under any conditions.
Same school of thought... I paid, shipped and installed, less than half the price of the OEM hitch by itself. The only real benefit of OEM I see is the looks. I don't buy the clearance argument. I never came close to the road under any conditions.
My friend and I have 2009 Toyota Highlanders with the Sport Package. I have the factory hitch and he has the aftermarket Valley hitch. We have the exact same bike rack from Allen. He basically saw my car, liked it, bought the same stuff except for the hitch because he didn't want to pay for the difference. When he leaves the driveway at his house with the bike rack on it it scratches the end of the driveway. Mine does not. He kicked himself in the a** because I already told him it was going to happen. Just an example.
Last edited by konde.koma; 02-18-2010 at 04:34 PM.
My friend and I have 2009 Toyota Highlanders with the Sport Package. I have the factory hitch and he has the aftermarket Valley hitch. We have the exact same bike rack from Allen. He basically saw my car, liked it, bought the same stuff except for the hitch because he didn't want to pay for the difference. When he leaves the driveway at his house with the bike rack on it it scratches the end of the driveway. Mine does not. He kicked himself in the a** because I already told him it was going to happen. Just an example.
Got pictures? I'm curious, as a reference, how extreme the slope of his driveway is in order to do that. It would help those of us with aftermarket hitches to judge the driveability of questionable areas.
Got pictures? I'm curious, as a reference, how extreme the slope of his driveway is in order to do that. It would help those of us with aftermarket hitches to judge the driveability of questionable areas.
Another thing to keep in mind if you want to tow a camper...many campgrounds have all kinds of interesting terrain, where dragging could happen.
In any case, my main reasoning was, since I plan on keeping my HL for the long haul (pardon the pun), I didn't want to settle for something that would bother me every time I looked at it, just for the sake of saving a few hundred dollars. The cost difference between OEM and aftermarket is equivalent to less than 1% of the cost of the vehicle. Basically, if you are willing to spend over $50K for a vehicle, whats another $300 (cost difference of OEM vs. aftermarket). Just my 2 cents.
__________________ 2009 Highlander Limited
2005 Corolla CE, Canadian Edition, Silver with grey interior, automatic transmission, CD changer, cruise control, rear bumper protector.
Got pictures? I'm curious, as a reference, how extreme the slope of his driveway is in order to do that. It would help those of us with aftermarket hitches to judge the driveability of questionable areas.
I don't have a picture of his driveway nor do I have the time to take a comparison of both of our cars with bike racks on them at the same driveway anytime soon. I will take a pic of my car on my driveway with my bike rack mounted in just a few weeks when I head up to Bishop, CA. My friend lives 212 miles away from me so it isn't exactly convenient to snap a shot of my car there. I can also tell you that his car scratched at just about every single gas station driveway that we had gone to in Mammoth, CA. It doesn't take a whole lot of angle to get it to scratch. Remember that those racks stick out about 16-20in from the hitch to try and provide tailgate/hatch clearance. I told him he was just going to have to redrill the pin hole on the rack to mount it in closer to the car which should take care of it.
FYI: If someone wants to compare the difference between round and square hitches the main difference is in the towing capacity. Look carefully at the specs. I don't remember which was higher or lower but I remembered when look at mfg who offered both that the difference was in capacity.
I will repost once I have a chance to get some pics.
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