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Full transcript: https://www.etrailer.com/tv-install-e...
Hey, everyone. Ryan here at etrailer. Today on our 2023 Subaru Forester, we're gonna be showing you how to install the etrailer.com trailer hitch receiver. Before we do that though, let's take a minute, check it out, and make sure it's going to work for you. So when it comes to these Subarus, people use them to do a lot of different things. You see 'em pulling trailers around, using accessories, and just about everything in between.

So by adding a hitch back here, it's really going to help open up your opportunities on what you're gonna be able to do with your Forester. There are several hitches available for the Forester and I guess you can categorize 'em in a couple of groups, one of 'em being visible like this one. So you'll be able to see the whole cross tube underneath the vehicle, which honestly on something like the Subaru I don't think looks too bad at all. Sits kind of further up, especially with the etrailer one. It has this matte black finish, almost matches the plastic on the bumper and doesn't look out of place by any means.

But if you're looking for something even more clean, there are a couple hitches available that actually sit behind your fascia here, and really the only thing you'll be able to see is the receiver tube opening. So that's always an option for you as well. This is gonna be a class three hitch, so it has the two inch by two inch receiver tube opening, which is a good thing. That's a really common size. A lot of different things will work with it.

It is going to use that standard 5/8 pin. Keep in mind though, pin and clip doesn't come included with the hitch. If you need one, not a huge deal. You can always grab it right here at etrailer where a lot of times too if you end up buying a new accessory, they'll come with one. There's something to look out for there.

The safety chain openings are easy to get to, and they're pretty big. So just about any style of hook that you might have on your trailer should work out just fine. As far as the hitch's weight capacities go, it's gonna have a 525 pound maximum gross tongue weight rating. It's gonna be the amount of weight pushing down on the hitch. It's a pretty good number. Should be able to use pretty much any size bike rack or cargo carrier you want to, just to give you an example. As far as the maximum gross trailer weight rating goes, that's gonna be 3,500 pounds. That's the amount of weight pulling on the hitch. So that is the weight of your trailer plus anything you might have in or on it. I do always like to recommend though it's never a bad idea just to grab your Subaru's owner's manual. That way you can check in there and make sure that your Forester can handle that much weight safely. We'll grab a couple measurements now. These will help us figure out what type of accessories will work best. From the ground to the top inside edge of the receiver tube opening, it's gonna be about 14 1/2 inches. So if you plan on towing, you could probably use a ball mount that has a straight shank or one with a slight rise in it. Probably an inch or two would work in most scenarios. From the center of the hitch pin hole to the edge of the rear bumper, that's gonna be about 4 1/2 inches, which is pretty good. You shouldn't really run into any issues here, but if need be, you can use that to help figure out exactly if any of those folding style accessories you might have can be stored upright without hitting the back of your Forester. So at the end of the day, if it we're me and I was going to put a hitch on my Forester and I was okay with having one that is visible, this would be the one I would go with, hands down. I think it looks the best outta all of 'em. I'm just a fan of the matte black finish, honestly. And it'll handle pretty much whatever you wanna throw at it too. Can't ask for too much more there. As far as the installation goes, really not too bad. You take a panel down, small panel down, on this side, which is easy, and then you do have to lower your exhaust some, which isn't a big deal, nothing really to it there. Get the hardware in the frame and bolt the hitch up, so it shouldn't really run into too many issues. But if you'd like to hang around, feel free to, we'll go ahead, pull into the garage, and get started on it now. To begin our installation, we're gonna be underneath the back of our Forester, and we're gonna start by removing this underbody panel here on the driver side. So along the edge, we're gonna have three push pin style fasteners. With these, you can just take a flathead screwdriver, pry down on the head, and then you're ab