[igzekyativ]

Originally Posted by mabrahams

Bumper removed:


Right side where bumper slides out. You can see where there are a couple places where the bumper 'snaps' in. In the wheel well, you have three bolts that need to be removed, and once those are removed you have one under the felt panels that secures directly to the bumper. So total of four bolts, three exterior facing and one underneath. Make sure you get all four out before you start to pull. As noted on page 1, you also have bolts mounted on the bumper below, remove all of them.



I had to remove the 9mm exhaust bolt and also the rubber exhaust holder, in order to have enough clearance. Curt hitch is a pretty tight fit.
Photos of the hitch installed, and clearance between the hitch and exhaust.


Note the room between the hitch and exhaust. This is the same place where others were having issues with it rubbing.


Hitch installed, torqued down to 65 ft/lbs.


As you can see, the hitch is installed OVER the bumper support bolts, per instructions. There is no rubbing between the hitch and exhaust.

Tips: Be careful when pulling the bumper back. I read the directions to pull the bumper forward (ie: towards the front of the car) when it should have be read pull towards the rear of the car, to slide out. Installation was quick.

I removed the rear tail-lights and the felt covers; just so I had a bit more room to work with. I'm sure having both just a bit loose would be fine as well. Instead of cutting the small plastic piece that mounts to the underside of the car and the bumper, I just removed it. I was worried that there would be some flex in the middle of the bumper, but it's a pretty solid unit once everything is snapped into place.



EDIT: Here are two photos of the hitch being used:

nice write up and thanks for the pics!