[kenais]

I saw the pictures on the forum showing that the after market hitch interferes with the bumper on the '09s. Has anyone installed a hitch on their '09? Success and which brand?

Picking up my EX either today or Monday and need a hitch to pull my boat.

 

[2KIRKS]

What type of hitch did you end up getting? I need to get one also.

 

[buttermilk]

I got the Hidden Hitch brand for my 09 LX and had to cut the bumper a little to install it. It's not noticeable, was easy to do, and shouldn't matter if you plan on never taking the hitch off. The book says drive it 600 miles before towing anything.

If you need the light wiring harness, it's T-One part # 118465. Just plug one part into the wiring under the dash and the pigtail to a connector in the spare tire area. Takes about 2 minutes. Thhey sell for around $40.

 

[kenais]

I installed the Draw-Tite and it fits tight on my EX bumper but I did not see the need to trim the bumper at all. It flexes the bumper 1/4" at most.

I've been pulling my boat and the Element has worked great. Its nice to have 4wd on most of the boat landing where I live.

 

[buttermilk]

I noticed after I bought mine that there's a link to a site sponsor who makes and sells hitches at the top of the page. They say trimming is required on the SC models. If I had seen that link before buying, I would have gotten mine from the site sponsor (valleytrailerhitch.com) who helps make these forums possible.

 

[2KIRKS]

I had the 2" hitch installed at U-Haul today. It does push in on the bottom of the plastic bumper, but not a lot. I don't think it's hardly noticeable... except to those who know there is a slight amount of interference. The installer did say the plastic could be trimmed, but didn't think it was necessary.

 

[Moyza Frank]

No Problem with 2009

I just installed a Draw-Tite Class III receiver hitch (75659) using the
T-One 4 pole wiring harness (118465) from Etrailer.com. Very straight forward, no drilling or enlarging of holes required. Just a slight depression of the flexible covering on the bumper, not really noticable. Used my wheeled jack to support hitch while fastened the bolts (or need to use wire to pull bolts through holes). Good idea to use a torque wrench when tightening the bolts.

I did not like the idea of pulling trailer connection wire out of spare tire well and over tailgate each time, so I pulled one of the rubber groument/plugs out of the outer tire well, cut the trailer wire, snaked it through that hole and one just below the tailgate hinge, then soldered and used heat shrink tubing on each of the wires. When I snugged up the wire, I cut a silt in the groument for the wire and pushed it back in the hole to seal the tire well. I have attached a few pictures of the process.

 

[FireBrick]

My 09 U-Haul hitch

does NOT impact the bumper.
Instead it installed quite easily
I did it myself, plus the wiring in about 1.5 hours.
(I have air powered tools, so that helped)