Where should I get tow hitch installed?

[jeep78]

I would suggest installing it on the BACK of the car. Easier to pull than to push things. just trying to help......

I have one front and rear on my Heep.

 

[richs]

Personally, I'd install it in the back of the truck, under the rear bumper...

 

[CliffB]

I went to the junkyard. Bought a hitch off a wrecked truck for $100 and bolted it to my truck. OEM quality, fit and finish for several hundred less.

 

[Willy Leadwell]

Some times this is the difference between factory and aftermarket:

Factory:

Aftermarket/Self installed:

Personally I'm going back to the dealer.

So now he needs to get a different bumper? Biggest myth/lie/misconception in the automotive world is that the techs at the dealership are somehow more qualified to work on cars than shops unaffiliated with a dealership. All the best mechanics I've ever know throughout a lifetime in the automotive industry where mom and pop shops.

 

[Willy Leadwell]

Go wherever. Any of those places can put 4 bolts in sufficiently to hold your bikes.

 

[johnglock19]

X4 on Pat Rogers. Also depending on what you are pulling you may want to consider an external transmission cooler if the Highlander transmission cooling is routed through the radiator.

Agreed! A trans cooler is always a good idea no matter what you tow, bikes are probably fine but anything on a trailer id get one, I work at a dealership and install hitches and the wire harness for lights, just be careful with aftermarket places especially with the lights, I've had customers come in with all kinds of electrical problems because the other shop just spliced into the tail lights, it's not cheap to fix that, as far as just the hitch it should be fine to go aftermarket but if they have to cut it might look a little rough from behind, I've installed aftermarket and OEM on odysseys, pilots and cr-v, they are all different but OEM is always a safe route to go. Just my opinion

 

[Lazarus]

So now he needs to get a different bumper? Biggest myth/lie/misconception in the automotive world is that the techs at the dealership are somehow more qualified to work on cars than shops unaffiliated with a dealership. All the best mechanics I've ever know throughout a lifetime in the automotive industry where mom and pop shops.

My post had nothing to do with qualifications of install and more of the point that OEM will LOOK better than aftermarket. OEM hitch might also be designed differently than aftermarket hitches.

Also its not the bumper that needs to be replaced, its a finisher piece. You can either cut it and it'll look the way it looks or you can get a hitch that will mount lower like the one in the pic but that hitch isn't going to be as strong as the OEM because it mounted first to an adaptor and then to the subframe. So while OEM isn't the only option or even the best option it likely is the proper option depending on your vehicle. Now if you have a pick up truck without all the fancy plastic bits then yea who cares, install it yourself.

 

[araomd]

that hitch isn't going to be as strong as the OEM because it mounted first to an adaptor and then to the subframe.

FWIW, every installation video I watched when I was thinking about doing it myself all showed the aftermarket hitches bolting directly without an adaptor.

 

[3clicks_Off]

Order one from Amazon and have your husband install it .

 

[eyemikeb]

Pat Rodgers. Great people. Great work. Great prices. Also you have 2 gun stores near by! Precision Arms and Defence as well as @TruPrep