Let's talk Fiesta ST hitches

[RAAMaudio]

I would only be making this for myself as do not have a regular place to work on cars, projects, etc....it would be outdoors in the RV park and they would not be happy if I started building parts.
That is why I would give the plans to whomever wanted to build them

 

[slappy76]

I took delivery of the Draw-Tite 24855 hitch today. I notice the box was partially ripped (so it must've dropped somewhere along the way). I noticed one of plates was bent and saw that it wasn't perfectly square. I measure the holes in the front and back and saw a difference of roughly 3/4 inch. How big of an issue is this? I'm mostly going to tow a bike. I called E-Trailers and they said UPS isn't the best at handling the packages and that it's fairly easy to bend back into shape. Here's their response:

"Tony,

I am sorry to hear about the issue with the hitch installation.

The manufacturers of the hitches design them so that the frame attachment arms are made of mild steel so that they can flex. They do this to prevent stress fractures from occurring over time due to changes in temperature or impact from potholes, etc. Because they are made to flex, they can sometimes get knocked out of alignment causing the holes not to line up properly.

To fix this, I usually hold the arm firmly in a table vise and use the cross tube like a lever. You can think of the connection between the tube and the arm as the pivot point, and you would basically be opening up the angle. If a table vise is not available, an open step can also be used for leverage on the arm. If the hitch is only off by a small margin and you can get the bolts in on one side, you can also attach the one side and use a pry bar or board to push the other arm into place. Once the holes line up, get a bolt in place to keep the arm from moving back.

You should be able to tell which side has been flexed if you lay the hitch flat on the floor and look down on top of it. If it looks like both arms were knocked toward each other, you can use a jack and a board to spread them apart.


If there is anything I can assist you with or if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email or call 1-800-298-8924 ext 79341.

Thank you,

Hally C"

Haven't really encountered this in the past hitch installation on other cars. Didn't think the steel plate could be manipulated so easily. Hate to have a hitch mount bike rack that's cockeyed. Thoughts?

 

[thePete]

That, or a bfh will work just fine. Stuff gets bent in shipping all the time, that's what the shop would've done if they installed it for you and it came like that. Just do it with a bit of care and you should have no problem getting it back into shape.

Sent from my SM-G870W using Tapatalk

 

[RAAMaudio]

When I first started reading this I was going to say send it back!
But read the rest and thought it over for a moment, unless it was cracked it would be perfectly fine to bend it back and use it.

 

[RAAMaudio]

Just took a look under the car, I can use the bumper beam and very little metal to build a very sold hitch and make it a bolt on unit.

Have to pull the bumper cover off but that is not much of a job and I could likely make the hitch in just a few hours at the most.

Weight would be VERY LOW and it would not be prone to flexing, vibrations, etc nor even be near the exhaust so any exhaust would fit except if you wanted a center exhaust which I would never do as just adding weight and making the exhaust more restrictive for style is not my idea of what to do on a performance car.

 

[AnArmyOfJuan]

I apologize in advance for the dumb question, but is a hitch something I can install myself without a lift? In other words, would it be worth it to pay U-Haul to install it?

I'm planning on moving back to Detroit from Long Beach in June, and I'd like to install a hitch and pull a 4x8 enclosed trailer with my stuff in it. Not much weight, but after packing everything into my regular Fiesta moving out here in 2015, I think it'd be nice to have a little bit more space in the car and to have less stuff visible, especially since I have a couple more guitars and basses going back.

 

[Im_Zee11]

Yup I just installed mine yesterday. I did it on two jack jack stands and had my GF jack up the hitch with a car jack while I threaded the bolts. You will prob need a stiffer or longer exhaust hangers. There's a a great install video on YouTube that uses an actual ST model

 

[Im_Zee11]

I apologize in advance for the dumb question, but is a hitch something I can install myself without a lift? In other words, would it be worth it to pay U-Haul to install it?

I'm planning on moving back to Detroit from Long Beach in June, and I'd like to install a hitch and pull a 4x8 enclosed trailer with my stuff in it. Not much weight, but after packing everything into my regular Fiesta moving out here in 2015, I think it'd be nice to have a little bit more space in the car and to have less stuff visible, especially since I have a couple more guitars and basses going back.

Yup I just installed mine yesterday. I did it on jack jack stands and had my GF jack up the hitch with a car jack while I threaded the bolts. You will prob need a stiffer or longer exhaust hangers. There's a a great install video on YouTube that uses an actual ST model

 

[antikid]

what he said. not hard and if you aren't a weak person, you don't need help

someone posted a part number for some hangers, I got them from amazon, and they aren't great. the holes are too big and they are loose. they work, but I would think the other options are better.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0019IA99O/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I think I will go with Cobb or Mountune. I put some foam padding on the hitch to help reduce the noise from the exhaust hitting the hitch.

pulling my dirtbike (pic is above) I got around 25mpg running about 75-85mph

instead of running the trailer light power wire all the way to the battery, mine goes under the back seat and I have a 12v plug. works great and saved a lot of time/effort.
when I am not using the trailer, i can stuff the plug under the seat, and you don't even know it is there.

 

[slappy76]

.. I have a 2015 Fiesta ST, Curt hitch, stock exhaust.

.. The Curt hitch fits well...no issues with the install.

The exhaust was clunking against the hitch with the stock hanger during normal driving.

I tried the 12mm kartboy hanger, and that did not work at all. It is a hard polymer, maybe polyurethane, and it starts transmitting noise into the cabin as soon as the car is started, before you are even moving. Once you are moving, the exhaust still hits the hitch. The kartboy hanger is shorter than OEM from hole centerline to centerline.
Finally I got a Walker 35229 from Smyth Automotive, and it is the best option so far. It is a little longer than OEM and made from similar material. No noise at startup or during normal driving, and no noise doing my simulated autocross driving on a local road (we'll see next year how it does with actual autocross driving on stickier tires). This one is 3.5" long overall, 1" wide, and ~2" to 2-1/16" from hole centerline to centerline.

I purchased the Walker mounts as recommended. Maybe there is clearance difference with the Curt hitch but on my Drawtite it clunks pretty often. Any substantial bump in NYC will make a clunking noise. The mounting holes for the Drawtite to the car have a about 1/2 inch of lateral play and I shifted the hitch over as far as I could and I STILL get the clunk. I purchased 3 pieces from Advance Auto but only ended up using 1 towards the rear of the vehicle. I tried installing the other rubber hangers further in but they aren't actually holding anything.

I would NOT recommend the Walker hangers for the Drawtite and a stock exhaust. I will probably return these.

 

[angrychicken]

Thanks

I'll post what worked for me since it took me more than one try. I have a 2015 Fiesta ST, Curt hitch, stock exhaust.

The Curt hitch fits well...no issues with the install.

The exhaust was clunking against the hitch with the stock hanger during normal driving.

I tried the 12mm kartboy hanger, and that did not work at all. It is a hard polymer, maybe polyurethane, and it starts transmitting noise into the cabin as soon as the car is started, before you are even moving. Once you are moving, the exhaust still hits the hitch. The kartboy hanger is shorter than OEM from hole centerline to centerline.

I tried a Nickson 17160 that I found at Autozone and it was better than stock. It is longer than the OEM and a similar material, but it is a little too long and it's more flexible than the OEM due to a big cutout in the middle. No noise at startup or under normal driving, but if I flick the car back and forth to simulate autocross driving, there is some clunking. This one was 4" long overall, 0.725" thick, and ~2.175" from hole centerline to centerline.

Finally I got a Walker 35229 from Smyth Automotive, and it is the best option so far. It is a little longer than OEM and made from similar material. No noise at startup or during normal driving, and no noise doing my simulated autocross driving on a local road (we'll see next year how it does with actual autocross driving on stickier tires). This one is 3.5" long overall, 1" wide, and ~2" to 2-1/16" from hole centerline to centerline.

This worked great! Was getting so sick of the banging noise on my Curt hitch, super cheap remedy.

Cheers!

 

[idealsociety]

Only hauled this a couple times across town to my buddy's house where we loaded it on his bigger trailer for getting to mud bogs etc with the other toys. Worked like a charm and all the math and checks on it are under the tow ratings for the hitch. 120lb on the tongue, wildcat is 1000lbs, trailer roughly 250 so I'm under the 150/1500lb hitch ratings.

I wouldn't haul it across country but across my little town she did just fine with my 2011 ses. Don't think I could possibly do it again now though, my ST is much much lower and I think the chains would just drag nonstop lol

same hitch transferred over to my ST, installed it right there in the parking lot on the ground. zip ties on the hangers keep the exhaust from hitting all the time, worked great!

 

[RivMan]

Does anyone make a completely hidden hitch for the FiST? Something like the Hard Dog hitch I had on my Miata?

Thanks
-Rob

 

[RAAMaudio]

That would be a nice option which I considered when I was going to build my own but I then decided to build an ultralite hitch instead but just was to busy on other things, now I wish I had taken the time when I had my shop before going full time RVing.

I ended up buying the Kurt hitch to use until the car sells, nice unit but like most aftermarket hitches it is super heavy, miner would of been 5-6lbs and came out through the rear fake grill and I would of given the design to any decent shop that wanted to produce them.

It does not stand out that bad even on a silver car.

Rick

 

[CanadianGuy]

That would be a nice option which I considered when I was going to build my own but I then decided to build an ultralite hitch instead but just was to busy on other things, now I wish I had taken the time when I had my shop before going full time RVing.

I ended up buying the Kurt hitch to use until the car sells, nice unit but like most aftermarket hitches it is super heavy, miner would of been 5-6lbs and came out through the rear fake grill and I would of given the design to any decent shop that wanted to produce them.

It does not stand out that bad even on a silver car.

Rick

You need to pen that design down and share with someone that can fabricate it so we can he it! I want a truly hidden hitch when not in use.

 

[RAAMaudio]

I wish I could, it would be designed on the car to maximize fit and strength and reduce weight as much as possible. It would be attached to the bumper beam to as it would be a part of the hitch to save weight and make a simpler design. I wanted to just fortify the beam and have the hitch only mounted to it but it is bolted on with very small bolts through thin sheet metal, not strong enough so I would had to add sections going back to the "frame rails" where the Kurt and others mount to as well. Then it would be better mounted than those hitches as they only have four bolts into very thin frame rails.

Speaking of those frame rail mounts, they are horribly inadequate compared to the load the hitch can see, I was shocked to find it so poorly mounted and advise those with hitches to at least inspect them occasionally if not every time before and or after pulling any kind of a real load on this car.

The Kurt hitch is nicely built, great welds, cleanly finished, etc but the mounting is a joke as is the weight which is two to three times what it needs to be with a better design but customers do not want to alter their cars by drilling into the bumper beam, cutting through the rear fake grill, etc(down aiming behind the bumper cover hidden like the Miata one shown above would take care of that and some of the weight)

I bought the Kurt because I needed to haul a small trailer around for now since I no longer have the dually, once the car is sold I will get something a bit larger to haul things with but the car tows the trailer very very well, helps having a full suspension setup, BBKs, power, cooling, etc....climbed the Western side of the Sierras two days ago, 102 degrees at the bottom, trailer, couch, two 100lb dogs, wife, tools, misc....oil temp hit 218 once, stayed below 210 the rest of the time, I had to keep slowing down to keep near the speed limit, the car just wanted to run right up the mountain

 

[HardBoiledEgg]

Just bumping cause I got my hitch installed and it bounces off the exhaust constantly


I bought the stiffest exhaust hangers I could find right after the first rattle. Will update once they come and are installed

 

[JDG]

Just bumping cause I got my hitch installed and it bounces off the exhaust constantly


I bought the stiffest exhaust hangers I could find right after the first rattle. Will update once they come and are installed

I had the same issue with the drawtite hitch and stock exhaust with Cobb hangers. I JB welded some heater hose to the hitch, squeezed between it and the muffler and haven't heard a noise since. I've Had it like this for 3K miles with no issues.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[HardBoiledEgg]

Your talking rubber heater hoses like for inside your engine bay? Just JW welded to the hitch around the exhaust so it hits rubber instead of metal?

And pictures?

 

[TyphoonFiST]

Just bumping cause I got my hitch installed and it bounces off the exhaust constantly


I bought the stiffest exhaust hangers I could find right after the first rattle. Will update once they come and are installed

Why am I not suprised you put a hitch on a performance car....you of all people should know better that these are not meant to be utilized for towing....then again you've been working on cars since you were 12.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk