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Today on this 2004 Ford Freestar we are going to be installing Hidden Hitch part number 87107. And this installation will also apply for Draw-Tite hitch part number 75158. We are underneath the vehicle and the first thing we want to do is go ahead and lower the exhaust down off of its rearmost hanger. This is going to give us a little bit more working room when we go to put the hitch up into position. To remove the exhaust from its hanger, I am going to use a spray lubricant like WD-40 and go ahead and stray the stud down. And then with it sprayed down, we just want to go ahead and take either a pair of pliers or a pry bar and separate the two pieces. 0:41 And then starting over here on the driver side of the vehicle, we are going to go ahead and point out the mounting holes we are going to be using to attach the trailer hitch to the vehicle. Looking at the outboard side of the frame, nearest the bumper, you can see we have two existing holes. Those are going to provide our two attaching points over here on the driver side of the vehicle. And then moving over to the passenger side, on the outboard side of the frame, we are going to be again using the same two holes that we are going to us on the driver side. But, there is a third attaching point over here on the passenger side, at the bottom of the frame. When we get the hitch up into position, we will be using the hitch as a template to drill this third attaching hole. 1:14 To start with, we are going to fish in the carriage bolt and block for the forward most attaching point on the side of the frame. And to fish it inside of the frame, we are going to be using the 1/2 inch bolt leader. So what we want to do is take the threaded end and it into the attaching hole and back out this large access hole here. We will next take the block and feed it onto the bolt leader, followed by the carriage bolt, which we will wrap the threads of the carriage bolt with the threads of the bolt leader. And just feed them inside the frame. What we are going to do is, we are not going to fully pull that through yet. Because if we do, when we go to put the hitch up, the hitch is going to hitch the bolt and it will not go into place. So what we want to do is take the fish wire and go ahead and feed it through the hole in the hitch. And then we can go ahead and put it up into position and then finish pulling the bolt through. So, we are just going to leave the fish wire attached. We are going to go over to the driver side and do the same thing. And then we can just use the bolt to hold the hitch up into place while we undo the fish wire. And at this attaching point, we are going to be using a conical tooth washer and hex nut. And you just want to repeat that again for the driver side. 2:33 Next we are going to move to the rearmost side mounted hole and basically do the same thing. At this attaching point, we are going to be using a different block. We will be using the 2 by 2 inch square block, along with the 1/2 inch carriage bolt. And that will be the same on the driver side as well. And again, we are using a conical tooth washer and hex nut to attach. I am going to go ahead and repeat that for the driver side as well. With all four of the carriage bolts in place, we are going to go ahead and hand tighten them down, just enough so when we go to drill our 1/2 inch hole in the bottom of the frame the hitch does not move around. When drilling the hole, I am actually going to start with a 1/4 inch pilot bit and then go ahead and enlarge to the 1/2 inch. With the hole drilled, we are going to go ahead and fish the carriage bolt and block into the drilled hole. And at this attaching point, we will be using the 1 by 3 inch block, along with the 1/2 inch carriage bolt. And on this one we will actually be using a lock washer, instead of a conical tooth washer, along with a hex nut. 3:43 And with all of the hardware in place now, we can go ahead and go through and torque our bolts down. You want to verify with the directions the specific torque rating for each of the bolts. I am going to start by torquing the bolt in the bottom of the frame first and then we will move out to ones on the side of the frame. With all of the bolts torque down, we just want to make sure we out our exhaust back up on its hanger. And our installation will be complete. And now that we have our hitch installed, we are going to go ahead and give you a couple of final install dimensions. From the top of the receive tub opening to the ground is going to measure 12-3/4 inches. And from the center of the pin hole to clear the rear edge of the bumper is going to be approximately 5 inches. This will conclude the installation of Hidden Hitch part number 87107 on a 2004 Ford Freestar.
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