Well I finally decided to spend the $$$ and buy the hitch and harness for my ride. I used the install pdf's that I found here on the forum and it took about an hour and a half to do the job. It was fairly easy and straight forward, especially with the help of the directions. Definitely looks better than aftermarket IMO. Here's some before and after shots.
nicely done. how much for all the parts if you don't mind?
Cheapest I found on the Internet was from Toyota parts of Nashua, shipped to my house came to be $575 and that was everything I needed. I actually just checked again and they raised the price like $6 from what I paid, doesn't seem like much but that's a gallon of gas and a pack of gum these days.
Can you measure how the distance from the bottom of the 2" hitch reciever hole to the ground? Curious how much higher the OEM hitch is compared to my aftermarket.....
gchu, it's just over 15 1/4 inches from the bottom of it to the ground, what's the distance on your aftermarket?
WilliamJ, I did the install with a friend of mine. If you're mechanically inclined, one person can handle the whole install, but I would definitely recommend grabbing someone to help get the hitch into place. All they would need to do is be under the car for a few seconds to hold the hitch up and screw in one bolt just to hold the weight of it up. Then you could go and screw in the rest. I myself held one part of the hitch with my arms and then the receiver part with my knee to stop it from flipping down as most of the weight is by the receiver.
gchu, it's just over 15 1/4 inches from the bottom of it to the ground, what's the distance on your aftermarket?
WilliamJ, I did the install with a friend of mine. If you're mechanically inclined, one person can handle the whole install, but I would definitely recommend grabbing someone to help get the hitch into place. All they would need to do is be under the car for a few seconds to hold the hitch up and screw in one bolt just to hold the weight of it up. Then you could go and screw in the rest. I myself held one part of the hitch with my arms and then the receiver part with my knee to stop it from flipping down as most of the weight is by the receiver.
Thanks - I broke my nose once working upside down like that trying to lift something into place without any help and sure don't want to do that again.
Nicely done! I ordered the hitch and kit and was intimidated by the instructions so I ended up having a dealer do it. I'm un-handy enough that I would have broken something, or myself. I called around to a few of the nearest dealers and the least expensive was $195 and they had a 10% discount making it a bit less. I ended up at about $710 installed with parts from Gary/toyopartsman.
Here's a photo with a measuring stick. It looks to be about the same 15". It's a hybrid, but I know the hitch and wire kit are the same part number.
I have the tow package and the car was already wired for it, I don't know if the car comes pre-wired without the tow package. All I had to do was connect the harness that I bought with the harness in the car.
I don't think there's a difference between the Base vs. Limited/SE w/19" wheels as the overall heights w/roof rails are listed as the same, as well as the ground clearance and approach and departure angles. Guess the difference in the wheels are made up by the tire sidewalls... which I'm sure is the big driver in the difference in ride.....
I actually would have gotten the SE if I had known all the goodies that came with it for relatively little $$... but that's what I get for an impulse buy (deal for a 2010 Hybrid fell through at a dealer that was trying to rip me off and stopped at another dealer on a whim as I was driving home). I think I got a good deal on my Highlander sell price and trade in value on my truck but still wished I spent the extra $$ to get the SE extras.... Oh well.... It's only for 5 years :-S LOL
Well I finally decided to spend the $$$ and buy the hitch and harness for my ride. I used the install pdf's that I found here on the forum and it took about an hour and a half to do the job. It was fairly easy and straight forward, especially with the help of the directions. Definitely looks better than aftermarket IMO. Here's some before and after shots.
Hi, could you point me to where the install PDFs are on the forum? I'm considering getting the OEM hitch as well, but want to see how difficult the install might be.
Also, what part numbers did you use? Were they PT228-48100 and PT219-48111-WH? And if I already have the V6 tow prep, do I need to order the harness?
Many thanks!
Last edited by TrailDust; 06-02-2011 at 07:32 PM.
Reason: Images removed from quote.
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