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.

 

Sounds like Gary came in for the big win again.....:Bruce:

 

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.....

Thanks!

 

Looks good - were you able to install it by yourself or did you need a helper to hold the hitch in position?

 

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.:thumbsup:

 

what about the wiring? Is it pre wired on the HL? or only if you have the "tow pkg"

 

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 have the limited, it comes with the 19's. I'm not sure if the limited sits higher, lower, or even with the base Highlander.

 

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!

 

If you have a 2011 Highlander, here is the thread for the posts with the PDF file links:

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=380427

If yours is a prior year, you may find them in an earlier thread pertaining to that model year - do a SEARCH through the Highlander forum using a keyword such as HITCH.

 

Post #25 of this tread has the installation instructions pdf. The last 3 pages of this thread has some good pointers for the OEM hitch install on the '11 HL. You do need to order a harness when you get the hitch if you'll be towing. There are quite a few on the site who just get the hitch just to use a hitch mounted bike rack.

 

This thread is great. I think without it I would be searching for the other aftermarket options that wouldn't look as clean as the Toyota hitch.

 

http://toyopartsman.webng.com/data/t-ai-0727-d.pdf

 

Is that the hitch that would be installed at the dealership? I recently had mine installed and didn't really think about it until now. The hitch sits well below the rear bumper and does not utilize the cutout to "hide" up there. Is this a mistake made by the dealer? I'll try and get a picture up shortly.

Thanks!

 

If it's below the bumper and not behind the fascia, you bought an aftermarket one... I don't see why dealer's wouldn't install aftermarket ones.... I would check the paperwork that you bought (i.e. P/N).

OEM are about $250-350 more than aftermarket. I got my aftermarkt Valley Hitch for under $125 that I installed myself.

The extra $$ cuts you a nice hidden hitch behind the fascia. It looks a lot nicer... just couldn't justify spending that much more just to haul a $70 bicycle around

 

I "bought" it from the dealer. I went in for my first 5,000 mile service and indicated that I wanted to have the hitch installed due to some towing I'll be doing over the summer. I figured it would be OEM parts due to it being, you know, a dealer doing the installation. I would actually prefer it because of the height difference. The trailer I'll be using sits higher than the hitch I have now.

 

I'd check the paperwork to see what you were charged for... how much did you pay for it?

 

$192 for hitch
$54 for wiring (tow prep package came installed, this is for the wiring I'm guessing)

 

Sorry to tell you this, but I have a feeling you now it already but sounds like you bought an aftermarket setup as the OEM prices are almost double for each of those items.

 

Sorry to tell you this, but I have a feeling you now it already but sounds like you bought an aftermarket setup as the OEM prices are almost double for each of those items.

 

As mentioned already you have a third party hitch and possibly wiring. Your hitch will have a dogleg around the muffler, either over or under it. The OEM is straight across.. but to clear the muffler it extends back farther from the original bumper thus Toyota provides a new plastic cover that replaces the original.

I recently installed a OEM and last weekend added my plug in. I wanted a dual / split type and one of the styles I liked was made by Ford. Ford wanted $103 for a new one... so in my infinite wisdom decided to go to the local scrap yard and get a used one for half the price. Except.. when I went to use it I found the clip for the wiring harness had been damaged and would not hold the wiring in place. By this time I had a bracket made and decided to "glue" the plug, replacing the clip part.. But.. the assembly ended up below the bumper where I did not like it.

Being as the wiring harness clip was toast.. and the assembly was too low for my taste.. I decided to make a modified version.. shorten it so that it would mount higher and solder all the wires to the pins.

Here is my plug with the excess cut off. If I had to do it again I would shorten it even more.. as it is it is tight against the trailer hitch.. 1/16 clearance would have been ideal

After soldering the wires to the pins I embedded the whole thing in an electronic grade RTV and then for good measure added a plastic pipe cap
The wires that come out of the plug are three from the Toyota wiring harness.. (lights only) the ground is pulled back and attached to the ground in the car. White 10 gauge ground to car; Blue 12 gauge electric brakes Black 12 gauge power and Red 12 gauge for possible future use.

I placed my bracket against the bumper, marked the outline, removed the bumper, cut the hole. Here is the bracket and bumper reinstalled.

Removed the bumper cover again, and mounted my plug.

And the final job.. I am really quite happy with the built in look.

 

Sweet!