Trailer hitch installed

[sbbamafan]

I bought a Hidden Hitch #74011 and installed it yesterday. It took me about 2 hours to put it on because I didn't follow the directions. In that amount of time I ended up putting it on 3 times and removing it twice. Each time I realized had to remove it, I looked back at the directions and realized that I had not done all the things they said.

All in all, it was very easy (not as easy as my old Chevy, though) except for a couple of things. First, all the items that had to be removed had been put on "gorilla tight" by Toyota. Second, there are two bolts that attach to the back side of the rear frame crossbar that were just a bear to get to because the rear valence on an '06 is not notched for a hitch. Third, the front bolt on the passenger side is directly over the muffler. At this same bolt location on the interior side is the flange from the hitch and on the exterior side is the muffler hanger mount.

Anyway it is done and looks good. I'm ready for boating season, except for the gas cost.

 

[Uneek]

sbbamafan,

Could you post some pictures of the hitch installed? Did you have to cut your bumper for that notch? If I had known that the non-hitch bumper didn't have the opening, I would've paid Toyota the $430 for that little itty bitty hitch receiver. The factory Toyota rear bumpers for 4Runners with the hitch have a cut out on the center "block". From the picture/diagram that Hidden Hitch has, there's a flange/tab the mounts to the rear cross member and it looks that the bumper needs to be trimmed or cut to get that flange/tab to mount to the rear cross member.

Thanks.

 

[sbbamafan]

Somebody will have to tell me how to post pics - I've never done it.

Anyway- there was no cutting and it looks great. You do have to mount a bracket to the back end of the crossmember. The directions tell you to remove the fascia bracets and remove the brackets from the facia. Once you do that you have enough flex to get your fingers in there to get the srews started and then to have a socket in place to tighten them. Then you just flex the facia back over the receiver. I had to use a really big screwdriver to gently leverage it over the receiver. Its sort of like getting a bike tire over the wheel. Just be careful and it only takes a second. The facia is very durable. Only one caveat - you can only get the driver's side bracket back on. The other side has the light connector in the way so the facia just kind of rests on it.

Another reason I liked this one was that it had higher capacities than others 5000 / 7500. I will never haul that much (or exceed the rated capacity) I jsut wnated to know I was getting the strongest I could.

 

[Uneek]

Thanks sbbamafan.

Create an account at photobucket.com. Then upload your pictures to photobucket and each image will have precoded tags for HTML, blogging and IMG for forums. You can just copy the last tag and paste it into your posting and it'll display the picture on the thread. If you have trouble or don't want to create an account, could you email me the pictures? I'll PM you my email.

Sweet! No cutting of the bumper is what I wanted to know. I figure the bumper would need to be flexed since it also wraps in and under. I like the Hidden Hitch one in particular too because it looks the closest to the factory V8 hitch. I wasn't too excited that Toyota decided to charge $430 for the V6 hitch on the 2006 models, so I passed on the option when I ordered my truck. I don't plan on towing either, just want it for a rear hitch step to keep people from hitting my bumper and maybe get a hitch mounted snowboard and/or bike rack.

Does your 4R have the 7-pin trailer socket in the back? Mine does, even though I don't have a hitch and I also have the pigtail hookup a trailer brake controller. Hidden Hitch's instructions says to remove that 7-pin socket and its bracket before installing the hitch. My guess is that socket will mount onto the hitch instead.

Thanks again.

 

[sbbamafan]

y'all wanted to see it...

Pics

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i220/sbbamafan/DSC01103.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i220/sbbamafan/DSC01108.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i220/sbbamafan/f0b668fe.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i220/sbbamafan/57ab86b8.jpg

As you can see, there is just a little dimpling in the fascia. This didn't bother me but it coud be eliminated with very minor cutting. You don't see unless you are looking for it.

 

[myp1974]

Hi.
I just bought a Hidden Hitch 70779 and will be installing it tomorrow.
How hard was it to remove the rear bumper fascia cover?
Any tips?

Thanks.

 

[Uneek]

You don't need to remove the bumper fascia. I have the 70779 as well. What will be removed are the two brackets that support the bumper fascia with the rear cross member, tie down loop and trailer wiring plug. The bumper doesn't need to be cut either. The bumper will compress slightly when the hitch is fully bolted down.

 

[myp1974]

Thank you for the information and the pictures!