etrailer | DIY 2018 Jeep Compass Installation for the Curt Trailer Hitch Receiver

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Full transcript: www.etrailer.c...
Rob: Rob here etrailer.com. And today you're going to be taking a look at the Curt class three custom fit trailer hitch receiver on our 2018 Jeep Compass.So here's what our hitch is gonna look like once it's fully installed. It's gonna have a really nice clean appearance to it, because the cross tube's going to be completely hidden behind the bumper. And all we're going to see is that receiver tube sticking out.Our hitch is going to give us a two inch by two inch receiver tube opening, which will be great for a lot of different variety of things. Whether we needed to tow a trailer, we can find a bomb out, throw a bike rack on there, take them with us on a trip. Or if we need to free up space on the inside of our compass, we can put a cargo carrier in there.Now regardless of what kind of accessory we're going to use.
They're all going to mount up using the hitch pin hole here on the side. Our hitch is going to accept a standard five ace pin and clip. Now these are not included in our kit, but you can pick them up here at etrailer.com along with some locking devices to make sure your accessories are secure.Now if you do plan on towing a trailer. We're going to have to hook up our safety chains. And our safety chain connection point is we welded it to the bottom of the receiver tube.
We'll have plenty of room to get most size hooks on, or off. And that slight offset of the hitch pin hole means that we're going to have less interference with the hitch pin hitting our safety chain loops.As far as the weight capacity of the hitch goes, it's going to have a 600 pound tongue weight. That's gonna be the maximum downward force of the receiver tube. That's gonna be a good amount if you're using a larger cargo carrier, or even a bike rack up to four or five bikes.Now if you are going to be towing our hitch is going to have a 4,000 pound gross trailer weight rating. That's how much you can pull including the trailer, and everything we have loaded on it.
But with those numbers in mind, you always want to double check your Jeep's owner's manual, because you don't want to exceed the manufacturer's recommended weight.I'd like to give you a few measurements. That's going to help you whenever you're looking for accessories for your hitch. Like a ball mount. Bike rack. Or even a cargo carrier.
From the center of the hitch pin hole to the outermost edge of the bumper, right about four inches. And that measurement is going to come in handy when you're looking at folding accessories. Just make sure you have enough room and that they're not going to come in contact with the rear bumper.And the ground to the inside top edge of the receiver tube opening, we've got about 14 inches. That measurement is also going to help you when you're looking for a ball mounts. Make sure you can match up the appropriate riser drop for your trailer.Now that we've seen what our hitch looks like, let's put it on together. To start out, we're going to come to the back bumper and we're going to have two fasteners that are holding the fascia to the body support. So we're gonna want to grab a T-30 torque spit and we'll pull these two fasteners out.Our next step is going to be to lower the exhaust. Now I'm going to put a strap up so that it doesn't come down too far and cause any damage.Now we come to each side of the muffler and we look straight up. We're going to have a bracket that's tying everything directly to the frame. So we'll grab a 13 millimeter socket and we're going to pull the bolt out from each side. Once both bolts removed, we can lower the exhaust down so we have a little bit more room to work with.Now above our muffler we'll have our heat shield.It's being held in place by a couple of these nuts. And there'll be two towards the front here and then one in the center right underneath the fascia. So we'll grab a 13 millimeter socket and we'll pull those out.With all those removed, we'll pull our heat shield out. And we're going to have to do some trimming on this.Now the trigger we're going to be doing on our heat shield, basically we're just going to come to about where it starts to taper down and we're gonna cut straight across. Cut The tab off of each end. You can use whatever you have available, but I'm going to use a pair of tin snips 'cause this is a little thick for a heat shield. And just to make it easy and a lot quicker to cut through.So now that we have our heat shield trimmed where you're going to reinstall it using the hardware that we just removed.Put it in position, then we're going to just loosely put the nuts back in, so it'll hold it up.If we come in to the bottom of the frame at the very ba

[@charleswilson9235]

Tore up 3 step bits from harbor freight before going to home depot. $60 bit worked better but still took 3 hours of constant drilling. Used 6 Ryobi batteries and blew out my arms. ridiculous that Jeep doesn't just provide a larger hole for after market installations. 2 people - 7 hour install time almost got out the cutting torch. finally it is done. The hitch and method was well thought out so thank you Curt - hint- use rare earth magnet to retrieve bolt that slips back into frame

[@etrailer]

Sorry about all the difficulty you experienced, but we're glad to hear that eventually you had a successful install.
www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Hitch/CURT/C13363.html

[@vinnyvasile8025]

I was in the same boat

[@iFunnyV2]

If you take off the bumper cover and bumper you don't have to enlarge the holes in the frame

[@dyllonlexmark94]

Did you actually do this and can tell me what holds the bumper on? Tried to do it their way and their wire pulled off the bolt and lost it in the frame of the vehicle

[@Alex_Friends_Family]

Tyler Henderson .. how hard was it to do ?

[@tomspallone1868]

6.5 hour job my myself, on the floor.
They give you two new bolts and washers to use to reinstall muffler as the original bolts are no longer long enough to take purchase once the the tow package is in place.
Don’t even consider doing this without guide wires. It’s not possible.
6.5 hrs BUT, I saved $700.
Now for the wiring harness. 😢🙄😐

[@etrailer]

We're happy to hear about your successful install!
For a trailer wiring harness, go with the Curt # C56369.
www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Hitch/CURT/C13363.html
www.etrailer.com/Custom-Fit-Vehicle-Wiring/Jeep/Compass/2018/C56369.html

[@greenerry]

Question? is this also applicable for 2018 jeep compass trailhawk?
Cause Im looking to doing it myself, rather than paying $700+ in the dealership.

[@etrailer]

The only thing that might be different is if you have the New Body Style (the letter T will be the 11th character in your VIN for this). If this is the case then you will need to modify the exhaust hangers bracket. Otherwise it will be the same install. Below is a link to all of the trailer hitch options for a 2018 Jeep Compass that you can check out.
www.etrailer.com/hitch-2018_Jeep_Compass.htm

[@oldArmyVet]

Seems like a lot of bs to go through. Think I'll have the shop do it

[@etrailer]

That's fair! Maybe bring along the install manual attached to this product page so the shop can give you an accurate estimate beforehand. www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Hitch/CURT/C13363.html