Concealed Hitch Receiver Available Again!

[TheGanzman]

It's done and came out FANTASTIC! It looks totally "factory" - photos here:

[TheGanzman]

O.K. - I added photos above. It took us ~6 hours total. The BIG thing is getting the rear bumper cover cladding cut EXACTLY right - my friend prolly put it on and off (in place, not bolted) 4-5 times, cutting it a bit more each time. I don't think there's any way to make a "template" for this, since each hitch assembly is gonna be slightly different when it's welded up. My buddy also "radiused" the uppermost corners with a drill bit, rounding them slightly to match the receiver tube contours - the receiver tube literally looks like it has "grown" out of the cladding. If *I* was the one doing the job, it would have looked like a 7 year old had cut it!

[TheGanzman]

I gotta say that I'm surprised that NO one has ordered one of these yet, considering the PM response I got...

[tom4bren]

If I didn't already have Tone's, I would have.

[VCrossfan]

Hat's Off Ganz...Looks very, very nice

[circmand]

I would probably get one. But I do not have the skills

[TheGanzman]

I would probably get one. But I do not have the skills

Yeah, it's not for the faint of heart. My man has the chops - he could eat a bushel of apples and sh*t a fruit salad!:bwgr: The tough part to get REALLY right is cutting the cladding. Most pro shops would NOT put the time in to get it dead perfect...

[Leah]

Ugh! I want one of these so badly, it's all I can do not to get my credit card out and order one right now. I don't, though, because I haven't the faintest clue what I would do with it when it got here. My son, on the other hand, may know exactly what to do. I will show him your photos, Ganz, and see if he thinks we could pull it off. By the way, thank you for doing this.
Leah

[TheGanzman]

Ugh! I want one of these so badly, it's all I can do not to get my credit card out and order one right now. I don't, though, because I haven't the faintest clue what I would do with it when it got here. My son, on the other hand, may know exactly what to do. I will show him your photos, Ganz, and see if he thinks we could pull it off. By the way, thank you for doing this.
Leah

There are a number of "keys" to doing this right, after you get the part in:

1. Read and reread the verbal instructions on Tone's site, and look at the photos. They're pretty much "on the money".

2. Have a helper! Pulling the side cladding back to access the "hidden" Torx screws would be pretty near impossible w/o help. Have some gloves on-hand (no pun intended) too - that cladding is kinda sharp! We also replaced the double-stick tape that we had to remove on the side cladding when pulling it back; don't know if it's "necessary" but we did, just to make sure that the cladding edges didn't "curl up" later on down the road.

3. Have a GOOD, new 1/2" drill bit, and make sure to drill the INNER two mounting holes FIRST! The holes on the receiver assembly likely won't EXACTLY align up with these two existing frame holes, so be prepared to have to "hog out" the frame holes a bit. It's good to have a good SET of drill bits, you'll use several smaller sizes before the job is done, for pilot holes, etc.

4. Allot ALL of a day to do this; there's no hurrying this job, especially cutting the cladding. Due to the nature of this job, there's just no way to supply a "template" for the cladding cut, so careful measuring, cutting, remeasuring, and recutting is SOP (standard operating procedure). Use blue tape to "mark off" your cut line parameters after measuring. We used one of those tungsten "cut everything" hacksaw blades with great success. Remember to radius the corners of the cuts - we used a 5/16" drill bit for this, which seemed to exactly match the radius of the "square" tubing of the receiver.

It's not a particularly difficult job, it just needs to be approached with careful, concentrated deliberation to pull off a "perfect", factory-look result the first time out of the gate. Like brain surgery, there ain't no "practicing", unless you've got a spare section of lower rear cladding! Luckily, once you get "close" on these cuts, you CAN "test fit" the cladding over the receiver assembly; it's a slip-fit, so you see how close you're getting to having the cladding mounting holes lined up. Plan on 3-4 "cuts" to get it exactly right. The results speak for themselves - after doing this, I can't IMAGINE having one of those hideous "generic" round tube assemblies hanging down under the back of MY Vehicross!