[Scooter Scott]

Lookin to buy a hitch anybody got any information on them. I have a 2007 V6 XLT. Here are 3 pics of some of the brands I'm looking at. I also noticed that almost every hitch you see is rusty looking. I'm thinking I'm gonna get it Rhino Lined or Line-Xed anybody ever see one coated like that?

Reese

Hidden Hitch

Draw-Tite

They all look like they have different mounts. Any of them easier to install than the rest?

What about a U-Haul Hitch? Anyone tried one of those yet?

 

[Scooter Scott]

I found someone's review:

Here is my review of the hidden hitch and trailer harness from http://www.etrailer.com The hidden hitch arrived from etrailer.com some 14 days after I ordered it. It was free shipping so I can live with two week wait. etrailer. com did provide timely e-mails about my order and shipping tracking numbers. The packaging was poor as the mounting flanges were sticking through the cardboard box. Unless they use a pallet to ship it I'm not sure how you ship a 50 pound hitch through the mail without that occurring. The trailer harness was in the wrong package and had half a roll of packaging tape holding it all together. Upon opening the box I noticed the hitch was scratched a couple places. Looks when they placed it in the box and it caught some of the big shipping staples. Not a problem with me since I'm having the hitch coated with Rhino Lining. As I wiped off the hitch I noticed the Hidden Hitch paint job is no more then a poor powder coat that when any pressure is used to clean it the paint comes off very easily. Again not a problem with me because it's going to get coated with plastic. So I peeled off all 4 stickers (Hidden Hitch, GVWR rating and part numbers) and off to get it Rhino Lined after $100 they coated the new hitch. I had them not coat the mounting flanges and inside of the 2inch square. In the bolt package is more then enough bolts one set of 6 to use for escapes with factory hitches and a set of 6 for escapes that do not have oem hitches. They include these things called bolt leaders and they work great. You thread the bolt on feed it through an access point pull the wire through and the bolt thread is now pulled through the oem mounting hole. Only thing I had to do was file one hole a little bigger which is mentioned in the instructions. Other then that no drilling. It used the oem holes. No where is it mentioned to drop the spare tire. I read in other posts to do so and I did. I recommend doing so as it makes more room to work. I also read that if you have a full size spare you might not be able to mount an after market hitch. Not sure about that as I have the small spare. I also found when you go to place the hitch under the vehicle start the drivers side first then the passenger's side. I never had to remove any muffler hangers by doing this. The hidden hitch has bolts that mount vertical and horizontal. Also has some supports welded in the corners. Some of the other escape hitches did not have supports and some only bolted on by vertical bolt mounts. I think that hidden hitch may be stronger by having both of those features. I'm sure they all do the same job though. As far as mounting it. Instructions say 40 minutes give your self more time then that and call a friend to help. Much easier to position it in place with two extra hands.
Ok now for the wiring harness. This was very easy and a great idea. All you do is unscrew both taillights and connect two harnesses on the driver's side and one on the passenger side and run a power wire to the battery and drill one tiny hole for a ground screw and your done. No wire splices and the harness has its own power supply so no dim taillights or burned up escape. You can buy the harness without the direct power supply. I recommend you get the one that get its own power. If you try to supply too much power to your trailer lights you could burn some wires or have dim lighted taillights. All the wires are neatly hide away from view behind the taillights. The only visible wire on mine is the 4 pole harness that goes to the trailer harness. You can even just tuck it under the bumper so everything is out of view. I will tuck mine away after the novelty of it where's off. I also used the electrical grease that etrailer.com sells. You put this grease on all the electrical connections and it helps prevent corrosion of the connections. I got the rubber hitch cover that hides the 2 inch square and it was very cheap and simple to install. You can even tuck it up when you tow no need to remove it and it also has a place for the trailer connector to go but I would rather leave mine behind the bumper and out of view. Hidden Hitch is not very hidden but I like the fact it's not real close to the bumper. Easier to load bikes. I have some pics of my new bike rack I haven't used it yet so you will have to wait for the review on that. I hope this helps if anybody had any ?'s

 

[Scooter Scott]

More info I found:

Hi - I installed an after market hitch on my 2007 Escape that I purchased without a factory towing package and here's what I did with the wiriing:
Wanted to draw power from battery and also didn't want to splice into car's wiring, so purchased a powered converter (Hopkins model #46365 but any will do as long as it draws power from battery) and then a T-connector (Valley model # 30130). This allows you to just uplug your connectors from rear tail lights.
I spliced the Valley T-Connector into the Hopkins powered converter, connected ground to frame and ran wire up to battery and was done. A little more cost and trouble but this way the factory wiriing was untouched and I protected the car's electronics. This was a must for me because my previous car - a jeep grand cherokee - developed electrical problems and they were a real pain - just wanted no part of that. And because I tow a small boat and knew with trailer submerged in water potential for shorts exists. Another plus is by drawing power directly from battery like this, the trailer lights are brighter.