thats awesome

 

i just got done installing a curt hitch for my 07 AWD. got it from etrailer in 4 days which surprised me at first, since they sent me an email telling me it wouldnt ship for 7 days. great service there!! anyway, i started the install by deciding not to take off the muffler. i began bolting it from the open side, and hoped to end on the muffler side. this turned out to be a bad idea. after working on it for a few minutes, i realized that the holes didnt perfectly line up with the holes in the car chassis. the difference was only 1/16", but thats enough to throw a thread off quite a bit. i unbolted the open end, and put a stand under it to hold it up off the ground. i then gently pulled the holes into alignment over the muffler. i installed all 3 bolts but didnt fully tighten them. after the muffler end was secure, i then put on the tow hook bolt. i didnt tighten it all the way either, but ended up very close. once i knew the hitch wouldnt fall down and smash my head in, i wiggled my way under the car and began working on the open ended side (drivers side). i noticed that the once again the holes didnt align all the way. however, i expected this and got myself a little crow bar that i have at home. 12" long, and 2" wide. i grasped the top of the crowbar against the top of the hitch side extension lip (where the holes are) and used the spare tire as leverage to put the holes into alignment. after a little bit of finickling around, i got the first bolt set. once it was in, the rest of the holes lined up nicely. all the bolts went in smoothly and tightened up on the driver side. moved over to the muffler side and and finished tightening those next. last was the tow hook/hanger bolt. wasnt exactly 30 mins to install, but now that ive done 1, im sure it wouldnt take more than 10 mins to install another one.

tomorrow im taking on the wiring. i got the OEM cable hook up from mitsuaccessories.com today. the instructions look pretty simple to follow, with unhooking the battery and removing it being the most complex part to install. hopefully, all goes well and im gonna be able to move this weekend up north to the bay area. i gonna be towing a 6x12 trailer from LA to SF and see just how well the car can handle it. definitely will be taking it nice and slow so i dont hurt anything in the car.

EDIT:: Well, i installed the electrical system in 1 hour and 30 mins. i took my time to make sure i dont screw anything up. i also came into an unexpected situation. i started out by removing the battery from the car. i unscrewed the terminals, then the tie down, and pulled out the battery. i was a bit curious about my air filter, so i reached over and was about to unclip it. to my surprise, the bottom of the box was open. at first i thought it was just loose, but after looking closer, the bottom clips were NEVER inserted at all. for over a year now, ive been driving with a free floating filter, only held in place by luck, and the 2 top clips. i couldnt believe it, i was so damn pissed. im guessing it came that way from the factory which makes me question mitsubishi build ability. i think this will be my first and last mitsu. after i got over the issue, i started to complete the install. the parts that come in the kit, along with the instructions are pretty straight forward. there are 3 simple hookups, and they take only a few minutes to complete. the biggest obstacle is fishing out the wire which comes into the car through the fender wall. you have to reach pretty far into the well where the jack is. i also skipped the part about removing the muffler. there is no need since you can reach the grommet and install the wiring by simply removing the lower valance on the car. i must say the oem kit is very thorough, recommend it to anyone no questions asked. i ended up using industrial strength velcro to attach the trailer hookup plug to the trailer hitch. i didnt dare drill holes in the Curt hitch to make sure i dont void any warranty.

 

hey jsrd..... Did I understand you correctly? The hitch shown in the pictures you posted is manufactured Spain or available in Europe? I would really be interested in knowing if that hitch can be purchased there and shipped to USA. Do you have any more information on the "completely hidden" hitch for our USA Outlanders???? I'm really surprised that everyone on this string didn't jump on this one. Please let me know if you think this hitch can be had in the US. Thanks....

 

Hi FiremistSLK. This hitch is sold in Spain by Enganches Aragón (http://www.enganchesaragon.com/en/Default.aspx). I contacted them because had the intention to buy it, but the final cost was too much for me, but they could send it to Mexico, reason why I do not believe that it exists problems so that they send it to USA. The installation process is simple and I can be installed by yourself.
Look E4204BM model (http://www.enganchesaragon.com/en/De...&mod=OUTLANDER), and you can contact them for quote

 

Good day all,
I just picked up an OEM trailer wiring harness and a Draw-Tite hitch from my local Mitsu dealer yesterday. The harness was quite expensive ($110CAD), but the hitch was quite reasonable ($210CAD).

I decided to launch myself into the wiring installation yesterday, and I have a few observations I hope will be useful to someone else.

First off, I had to remove the battery to find the grey coupler in the engine bay. It was taped to the wiring which goes to the driver's side headlight. No big deal once I'd found it.

The wiring inside the cargo area was a piece of cake; what was really fussy was feeding the outside wiring into the body. I don't think that one could actually feed the wiring into the vehicle without removing the lower valance. It's just too tight. Once I'd found the grommet, and fed the wiring in, I had to have my wife come out and get her arm into the space, because I just couldn't get in there myself; it's not easy to get into.

Although the last bit was difficult, I have to say that I really appreciate the thought that Mitsu put into both designing the harness and the actual installation instructions. They did a fantastic job, and it's truly ''plug and play''.

I'll be doing the hitch today, and will follow up.

Kent

 

Nice write Ken. Some pics about your installation process?

 

Has anyone installed a hitch for a 2009 outlander? Are there any hitches that don't stick out so far?

 

Mine is a 2009. From all of the hitches that I looked at, they seem to stick out a bit at the back. I suppose that it's a fact of life as far as the bumper design and the hitch design goes.

That said, I have to say that there is one advantage to having a hitch stick out that much...A couple of weeks ago, some yutz drove at low speed into the back of my outie in a parking lot. Yep you guessed it; no damage whatsoever to the tailgate of my outie, but a lovely 2 inch square dent in the bumper of the guy who bumped into me. I looked at the guy, shrugged my shoulders and carried on.

 

So guys, I bought a 09 Outlander about 2 months ago and I love it.

Been debating the hitch, but it is a lot of money...my local dealer wants $700+ for the hitch and harness installed.

I don't consider myself a mechanic, but I can handle some of the basic stuff. From my understanding, the wire harness is plug and play? Are the only steps clipping in the harness over the wheel well...then plugging something into the battery?

then you need to run the wires down behind the jack and underneath the car? I assume this takes the most time?

thanks

 

2009 that is. Just wondering if any other 2009 owners have installed an aftermarket hitch on their vehicle? Think I will get the factory wiring harness to avoid the hassles of rewiring the car!