Thanks for video Jeff. One comment regarding pre-testing the bolts to determine any resistance. When I tested, I found 2 wouldn't go in properly but it felt grainy. Rather than re-threading like Kia recommends, I simply took an air-can and blew the compressed air into the socket and solved my problem. It seems as though sand got into mine and was creating the resistance preventing the bolt from being able to properly screw in.
Thank you for the video. This installation looks pretty easy and straight forward. I have installed many hitches over the years and I like the idea of no drilling AND Kia provided tapped holes in the frame for mounting. My Acura RDX has tapped holes, my wife’s CX-30 does not. Fishing bolts, nut plates etc. through boxed frame rails is a huge pain. As a suggestion, don’t torque a bolt at the head, particularly if there is no washer under it. The rotation of the hex head WILL scratch the powder coating and that scratch will be the first place rust will appear in the future. The flat washer beneath the nut (also installed with the burr on the washer facing up) will protect the powder coat finish. Perhaps rust is less of an issue in VA rather than in New England. This hitch is an impressive design. I like the idea of removing the receiver during the “off season”. The safety chain mount part is of the towing package, I assume. Can it be purchased separately? If so, is there any place to mount it to the receiver? I will be carrying a hefty bicycle rack on the car. I don’t plan on towing with my EV6, that’s what my 1995 F150 is for. 😁. If I don’t need to buy the towing package, I can save a few $$. Thanks again for the detailed video. 👍
Glad to help! Yep you're correct. Pretty simple. Love the fact there is no drilling or welding necessary. For torquing the bolt at the head, honestly it was a little tight so I was just trying to get to everything lol. Good tip though! I am a huge fan of the design. It will work great, is very sturdy and high quality, and when it's not installed there are no issues with clearances and you can't even tell it's installed. Yes the tow kit is a separate kit with the wiring harness. It can be purchased together or separately. I got them together but I'm doing two videos showing both installations.
😊Sorry Jeff ,that comment was U haul video on the EV6 .Yours was the one I followed, brilliantly presented and great instructions. Please except my apology. 👍
Nice video, Jeff! One suggestion for getting the spacers lined up and threaded in, use two-sided body tape to hold the two pieces together before putting them up to the frame. And use a spring clamp to help hold the main cross-arm up while inserting the bolts. Looking forward to the wiring harness install.
Good tips! The only issue for the spacers is the holes for the spacers aren't perfect. Some are elongated so without having it on the car, it's be impossible to get it exactly right to tape it together unfortunately.
Great helpful video with good view of all the detailed items. Since I live in the Northeast, woud you recommend using graphite lubricant or grease when inserting the lockable/removable receiver? It seems to be such a nicely machined (bare metal?) close tolerance fit that it wouldn't take too much salt/oxidation to make that connection hard to remove.
Thanks. I think I've watched this vid 3 times to clarify the steps and the one with Active wiring details. I use a 'quiet hitch' to reduce sway with a receiver (I've seen some comments about sway). I managed to cross-thread one of the frame bolts. Stealth Hitch was so nice to send a new one. I need to use a thread chaser to clean things up.
Great video Jeff. Also used your free shipping discount. Thanks. If it weren't for your video, I would have never found those holes!!!! I was looking on the INSIDE of the frame. I came back inside 3 times before I figured it out. LOL.
I've cut the cable tie clip the tube is guided through at 7:30 and ran it along the /left/ side of the mount there instead, not sure if that's better or worse. Would've liked to see how you tighten the passenger side as well but otherwise a great overview of how it's done!
Perfect video, really sold me on the Stealth Hitch vs. the more standard Draw-Tite 76592 model. Thanks for showing the narrower hole as well, as you can always cut more, not less, and a 1 foot slot in the gravel guard seems a little excessive (which you showed was). Question: now that I have seen the Stealth locking mechanism in action, seems like you'd be able to leave a 2-bike rack attached to the receiver tube and just take the combination on-and-off the car using the Stealth Hitch locking mechanism. Have you tried that yet? That would make taking on and off the bike rack just as quick as a standard receiver hitch!
Finally did my install yesterday. Only piece that’s different is on driver side I had to “split” the wiring with the larger bundle going behind the bracket and the tail light bundle going into the notched cutout. The space is pretty tight for some of the install (not a lot of radius for a ratchet). But everything installed just fine. Took about 90 minutes with very little help (mostly just handing me parts, and helping hang the hitch from the brackets).
Excellent video, very well done! It looks like a very straightforward process to install the hitch, not necessarily easy but it can be done by one person. I actually like that you had an issue that you were able to resolve with the right tool. So, having that tool available at the start is excellent advice. Using the torque wrench, it seemed like you really had to put a lot of pressure (torque) on the nuts to really tighten them. So, do you really think that a torque wrench is necessary if you tighten them about as much as you can? When I get my hitch, I was thinking of just taking it to Uhaul, but now, I’ll probably just do it myself. Thanks again. You have been very helpful.
Thanks! Yes it's very simple and straightforward. If you're a little mechanically inclined you'll be fine. And yes I'd have that ahead of time to be safe. As for the torque wrench, yes I'd say it's required. It's very hard to get to 150 ft lbs without one.
Great video. Clear and easy to follow instructions. I'm not sure I have the strength to use the torque wrench... Can you go into a little bit of detail about this whole thread tap thing? What exactly was the problem? Why did you need it? After you found the part/tool, how did you use it to remedy the problem? Thanks
You do need to really push it hard. You might be able to though. The problem was the bolt wouldn't go into the threads in the frame. There probably was some paint in it. You turn the thread tap into the hole and it cleans it out. It worked great.
@@TechnicallyJeff Thanks. So the thread tap was not a big deal - just clearing out the threads, not creating new threads. Regarding using the torque wrench, I'm an older guy with not the best upper body strength. I would just need to borrow someone's arms for the torquing part. Doable.
@@eurosteve50 yeah it's easy but without the thread tap I couldn't move forward. And yeah you could install everything then get someone to do the torquing.
Happy to help! Definitely recommend Stealth Hitches. Make sure you call to order and mention me so you get free shipping. The promo code expired but they still honor it.
@@TechnicallyJeff love the car. My 1st EV and a good choice it was. In eastern Canada so I'll be interested the cold weather performance. Guessing the heat-pump system will help.
Glad to help! Possibly but you'd need to figure out a way to secure it. I'm not sure it'd be worth it. The hole doesn't really impact aero that much and the latch system has covers that protect it from getting debris in it.
I was thinking of making something. Don't really think it's necessary though. There isn't going to be much drag caused by the hole and the components are sealed so dirt and rocks wouldn't get in there.
@@TechnicallyJeff can you just use the cut-off piece as the cover? drill a few small holes on the cut-off piece and the big cover and zip-tie them together when receiver is not installed.
Jeff, do you use the cap back on to protect the latch block from the elements? At the least would keep dirt out of it. Maybe you could can find a piece of plastic or 3D print something to serve as a door. Keep out dirt, water and maybe help a little with the aero.
I installed the hitch last night (too 🔥 during the day). Installation went off without a "hitch". Only prob, was borrowing a torque wrench from AZ, and they gave me 1/4 torque wrench in inch pounds. Luckily my cousin lives around the corner and the proper ft pound wrench.
Appreciate it, once it cools down here Socal, I'll be able to try out the my 60 lb Kuat bike rack with an electric bike and regular bike. Thnx a lot, you saved me on the shipping, lol.
I would have purchased the thread tap ahead of time... lol. That cost me the most time. I went to and checked several local stores - advance, autozone, oreillys, lowes, home depot, harbor freight, walmart, carquest, and finally napa had it. Otherwise not really.
I just did this in my July 2022 build and I had a really hard time with the black wire looms on the driver's side. It was really difficult to route them through the cutout on the bracket because it pulled on them way to tight. I was inches away from being able to use your tip of holding them back with the stud. I'm thinking they have shortened the looms or routed them slightly different on newer builds. I ended up needing to remove the clips that held the wire looms onto the bumper area and then I zip ties them to a different location.
@@TechnicallyJeff Thanks. I wonder what the drag is from the bicycles and impact on fuel economy On the waiting list to order Probably by next winter according to dealer so suppose will be 2023 or 2024. Not sure if you have front plate laws but looking for a solution for EV6 that doesn’t involve drilling holes in front of bumper, under the edge may be ok but they’re toying with getting rid of front plate but not holding breath
I spent an hour trying to ge tthe bolts to thread into the frame with no luck. I gave up for another day. I bet if it was on a hoist it would have taken all of ten minutes
Gotcha. May want to get some from a place like advance. Mine give me around 8 inches of height I think and work well and aren't very expensive. 5 inches isn't much to work with haha.
@@TechnicallyJeff I managed to get it installed, it just took me many many hours :) When I put the cross bar in it was hitting a bolt coming from the trunk, so I could not get it into the other bracket. I ended up removing the passenger side bracket and had to fight the bolt threading again :.). In the end I got it done though. My ramp was actually 4 - 2x8s so taller than I had stated prior.
Do you know how this compares to the factory/dealer installed hitch from Kia in the US? I know in Europe they have a factory hitch that is removable and lockable plus they have a special tow mode enabled in the software. You can see it here: ua-cam.com/video/2hJJSyHoKF0/v-deo.html
Thanks for video Jeff. One comment regarding pre-testing the bolts to determine any resistance. When I tested, I found 2 wouldn't go in properly but it felt grainy. Rather than re-threading like Kia recommends, I simply took an air-can and blew the compressed air into the socket and solved my problem. It seems as though sand got into mine and was creating the resistance preventing the bolt from being able to properly screw in.
Oh interesting. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for the video. This installation looks pretty easy and straight forward. I have installed many hitches over the years and I like the idea of no drilling AND Kia provided tapped holes in the frame for mounting. My Acura RDX has tapped holes, my wife’s CX-30 does not. Fishing bolts, nut plates etc. through boxed frame rails is a huge pain.
As a suggestion, don’t torque a bolt at the head, particularly if there is no washer under it. The rotation of the hex head WILL scratch the powder coating and that scratch will be the first place rust will appear in the future. The flat washer beneath the nut (also installed with the burr on the washer facing up) will protect the powder coat finish. Perhaps rust is less of an issue in VA rather than in New England.
This hitch is an impressive design. I like the idea of removing the receiver during the “off season”.
The safety chain mount part is of the towing package, I assume. Can it be purchased separately? If so, is there any place to mount it to the receiver? I will be carrying a hefty bicycle rack on the car. I don’t plan on towing with my EV6, that’s what my 1995 F150 is for. 😁. If I don’t need to buy the towing package, I can save a few $$.
Thanks again for the detailed video. 👍
Glad to help! Yep you're correct. Pretty simple. Love the fact there is no drilling or welding necessary. For torquing the bolt at the head, honestly it was a little tight so I was just trying to get to everything lol. Good tip though! I am a huge fan of the design. It will work great, is very sturdy and high quality, and when it's not installed there are no issues with clearances and you can't even tell it's installed. Yes the tow kit is a separate kit with the wiring harness. It can be purchased together or separately. I got them together but I'm doing two videos showing both installations.
😊Sorry Jeff ,that comment was U haul video on the EV6 .Yours was the one I followed, brilliantly presented and great instructions. Please except my apology. 👍
Whaaaat?
Nice video, Jeff! One suggestion for getting the spacers lined up and threaded in, use two-sided body tape to hold the two pieces together before putting them up to the frame. And use a spring clamp to help hold the main cross-arm up while inserting the bolts. Looking forward to the wiring harness install.
Good tips! The only issue for the spacers is the holes for the spacers aren't perfect. Some are elongated so without having it on the car, it's be impossible to get it exactly right to tape it together unfortunately.
Great helpful video with good view of all the detailed items. Since I live in the Northeast, woud you recommend using graphite lubricant or grease when inserting the lockable/removable receiver? It seems to be such a nicely machined (bare metal?) close tolerance fit that it wouldn't take too much salt/oxidation to make that connection hard to remove.
Yeah I think they mention that in the instructions. I'll have to pull that up and take a look.
Thanks. I think I've watched this vid 3 times to clarify the steps and the one with Active wiring details. I use a 'quiet hitch' to reduce sway with a receiver (I've seen some comments about sway). I managed to cross-thread one of the frame bolts. Stealth Hitch was so nice to send a new one. I need to use a thread chaser to clean things up.
Glad it helped!
Great video Jeff. Also used your free shipping discount. Thanks. If it weren't for your video, I would have never found those holes!!!! I was looking on the INSIDE of the frame. I came back inside 3 times before I figured it out. LOL.
Glad I was able to help!
I've cut the cable tie clip the tube is guided through at 7:30 and ran it along the /left/ side of the mount there instead, not sure if that's better or worse. Would've liked to see how you tighten the passenger side as well but otherwise a great overview of how it's done!
Ah yeah I'm not sure. I'm glad it was helpful!
Perfect video, really sold me on the Stealth Hitch vs. the more standard Draw-Tite 76592 model. Thanks for showing the narrower hole as well, as you can always cut more, not less, and a 1 foot slot in the gravel guard seems a little excessive (which you showed was).
Question: now that I have seen the Stealth locking mechanism in action, seems like you'd be able to leave a 2-bike rack attached to the receiver tube and just take the combination on-and-off the car using the Stealth Hitch locking mechanism. Have you tried that yet? That would make taking on and off the bike rack just as quick as a standard receiver hitch!
Glad to help! I have not tried that, but yes that seems like it wouldn't be a problem.
Great vid! When do you plan on having the video out with the wiring harness installation? Very curious how on that install went.
Should be released this week! 👍
Finally did my install yesterday. Only piece that’s different is on driver side I had to “split” the wiring with the larger bundle going behind the bracket and the tail light bundle going into the notched cutout.
The space is pretty tight for some of the install (not a lot of radius for a ratchet). But everything installed just fine. Took about 90 minutes with very little help (mostly just handing me parts, and helping hang the hitch from the brackets).
Ah gotcha. Yeah it's definitely tight in a few places. Glad you got it installed fine though!
Excellent video, very well done! It looks like a very straightforward process to install the hitch, not necessarily easy but it can be done by one person. I actually like that you had an issue that you were able to resolve with the right tool. So, having that tool available at the start is excellent advice. Using the torque wrench, it seemed like you really had to put a lot of pressure (torque) on the nuts to really tighten them. So, do you really think that a torque wrench is necessary if you tighten them about as much as you can? When I get my hitch, I was thinking of just taking it to Uhaul, but now, I’ll probably just do it myself. Thanks again. You have been very helpful.
Thanks! Yes it's very simple and straightforward. If you're a little mechanically inclined you'll be fine. And yes I'd have that ahead of time to be safe. As for the torque wrench, yes I'd say it's required. It's very hard to get to 150 ft lbs without one.
@@TechnicallyJeff great, thanks
@@martyptx no problem!
Great video. Clear and easy to follow instructions. I'm not sure I have the strength to use the torque wrench... Can you go into a little bit of detail about this whole thread tap thing? What exactly was the problem? Why did you need it? After you found the part/tool, how did you use it to remedy the problem? Thanks
You do need to really push it hard. You might be able to though. The problem was the bolt wouldn't go into the threads in the frame. There probably was some paint in it. You turn the thread tap into the hole and it cleans it out. It worked great.
@@TechnicallyJeff Thanks. So the thread tap was not a big deal - just clearing out the threads, not creating new threads. Regarding using the torque wrench, I'm an older guy with not the best upper body strength. I would just need to borrow someone's arms for the torquing part. Doable.
@@eurosteve50 yeah it's easy but without the thread tap I couldn't move forward. And yeah you could install everything then get someone to do the torquing.
Looking for a hitch for my EV6. Thank you for this video!
Happy to help! Definitely recommend Stealth Hitches. Make sure you call to order and mention me so you get free shipping. The promo code expired but they still honor it.
Hi, very good video, it would be useful to have a video about the electrical harness installation.
That will definitely be coming soon! 👍
Excellent video Jeff. You make it look straight forward. Same car btw. Color and all.
Thanks Todd. It's definitely a straightforward install. How are you enjoying yours?
@@TechnicallyJeff love the car. My 1st EV and a good choice it was. In eastern Canada so I'll be interested the cold weather performance. Guessing the heat-pump system will help.
@@todddupuis1802 yes the awd and heat pump should help it do well in the winter.
Great install video. Have you installed any trailer wiring along with this? Or any reason you did not do so? Thank you.
That video is coming soon 😉
Well done & thanks! could the rectangle cut from the gravel guard be reinstalled when not using the hitch?
Glad to help! Possibly but you'd need to figure out a way to secure it. I'm not sure it'd be worth it. The hole doesn't really impact aero that much and the latch system has covers that protect it from getting debris in it.
Great video! Maybe make a cover plate to seal the 3x8 hole when not using a trailer?
I was thinking of making something. Don't really think it's necessary though. There isn't going to be much drag caused by the hole and the components are sealed so dirt and rocks wouldn't get in there.
@@TechnicallyJeff can you just use the cut-off piece as the cover? drill a few small holes on the cut-off piece and the big cover and zip-tie them together when receiver is not installed.
@@rukh79 yeah that should work fine.
Helpful video, but was hoping you show a video of installing the wiring harness
That video should be out later this week 👍
@@TechnicallyJeff 👌🏾 Thnx. I plan on getting the hitch, need something like that for my Kuat NV 2.0, it weighs 60lbs.
@@rolandlwilliamsjr5713 you'll definitely be happy with it!
Jeff, do you use the cap back on to protect the latch block from the elements? At the least would keep dirt out of it. Maybe you could can find a piece of plastic or 3D print something to serve as a door. Keep out dirt, water and maybe help a little with the aero.
I use the caps. There's one for the block and one for the key. Yeah could make a door though.
I installed the hitch last night (too 🔥 during the day). Installation went off without a "hitch". Only prob, was borrowing a torque wrench from AZ, and they gave me 1/4 torque wrench in inch pounds. Luckily my cousin lives around the corner and the proper ft pound wrench.
Nice! Glad it went smoothly for the most part 👍
Appreciate it, once it cools down here Socal, I'll be able to try out the my 60 lb Kuat bike rack with an electric bike and regular bike. Thnx a lot, you saved me on the shipping, lol.
@@rolandlwilliamsjr5713 glad to help!
Anything you would have done differently?
I would have purchased the thread tap ahead of time... lol. That cost me the most time. I went to and checked several local stores - advance, autozone, oreillys, lowes, home depot, harbor freight, walmart, carquest, and finally napa had it. Otherwise not really.
Any concerns about collecting dirt up where you had to cut the 3x8 inch hole?
No I'm not worried. It can come out of the gravel guard in the back and in the hole if any gets up there. And the hitch connections have covers.
Hi Jeff. Your videos are fantastic! The promo code doesn't seem to be working for me. Perhaps it's expired?
Thanks! Yeah it expired but if you call them they'll give you the free shipping
Hi Jeff, do you think you could have installed the Latch Block to the Stealth Frame prior to installing the Frame to the side pieces?
Hmm it's been so long I don't recall. I would think it could be possible though.
I just did this in my July 2022 build and I had a really hard time with the black wire looms on the driver's side. It was really difficult to route them through the cutout on the bracket because it pulled on them way to tight. I was inches away from being able to use your tip of holding them back with the stud. I'm thinking they have shortened the looms or routed them slightly different on newer builds. I ended up needing to remove the clips that held the wire looms onto the bumper area and then I zip ties them to a different location.
Oh really? Interesting. Glad you were able to find a way to make it work!
Where’s the tow portion? Saw the video for bike rack. Don’t have to tow anything necessarily
The tow and wiring harness video should be out this week 👍
@@TechnicallyJeff Thanks. I wonder what the drag is from the bicycles and impact on fuel economy
On the waiting list to order Probably by next winter according to dealer so suppose will be 2023 or 2024.
Not sure if you have front plate laws but looking for a solution for EV6 that doesn’t involve drilling holes in front of bumper, under the edge may be ok but they’re toying with getting rid of front plate but not holding breath
@@BrianOlmsted I don't think it will be too bad, but we'll see. I'll be driving a decent amount in a few weeks with them on the back.
I spent an hour trying to ge tthe bolts to thread into the frame with no luck. I gave up for another day. I bet if it was on a hoist it would have taken all of ten minutes
Ah yeah it can be a challenge. Do you have ramps?
@@TechnicallyJeff Yeah, I have wood ramps made of 3 layers of 2x8. So adding between 4.5 and 5 inches of height.
Gotcha. May want to get some from a place like advance. Mine give me around 8 inches of height I think and work well and aren't very expensive. 5 inches isn't much to work with haha.
@@TechnicallyJeff I managed to get it installed, it just took me many many hours :) When I put the cross bar in it was hitting a bolt coming from the trunk, so I could not get it into the other bracket. I ended up removing the passenger side bracket and had to fight the bolt threading again :.). In the end I got it done though. My ramp was actually 4 - 2x8s so taller than I had stated prior.
I'm glad you got it installed!
Do you know how this compares to the factory/dealer installed hitch from Kia in the US? I know in Europe they have a factory hitch that is removable and lockable plus they have a special tow mode enabled in the software.
You can see it here: ua-cam.com/video/2hJJSyHoKF0/v-deo.html
In the US, the Kia hitch is only 1.25" and nothing is removable. It's also pretty ugly to be honest.