Hitch installed. I followed the included instructions and had everything off in 30 minutes. The wear guard in the trunk took the most force to remove. The tabs on the tail lights were a bit of a challenge. I ended up wedging the top one in the unlatched position with a screwdriver while pushing the side tab with my thumb and pulling the fixture rearward.
Installing the hitch and trimming a ~4 1/2” x 4 1/2” square of plastic off the bottom of the bumper trim would have taken about another 30 minutes had I not chosen to remove the hitch and plastic bumper after a preliminary fit and make a modification. I enlarged the alignment hole on the bumper with a file. The way it lined up, the bumper would not have seated flush to the hitch, due to the alignment tab on the car. Not sure if that photo loaded. If not I’ll attach it to another post.
There is a wiring harness that needs to be removed from its original position. I rotated it about 45 degrees and squeezed the tabs with needle nose pliers and opted to re-secure it to the side of the original mounting position with a zip-tie.
It took another 30 minutes to put everything back together. Elapsed time was 3 hours, which included a trip to Home Depot (45 minutes), tool gathering, head scratching, a nature break and clean up.
Here’s a list of required and optional tools.
Required:
Flat screwdriver
Phillips screwdriver
5mm hex wrench for trim screws
Ratchet wrench with 6” extension
8mm socket for taillights
14mm socket for factory bumper bolts
19mm socket for new hitch bolts
Option buy probably necessary:
File
Tape measure
Marker/Silver Sharpie/White grease pencil
Square
Hacksaw/Dremel
Drill motor and drill bit, ~3/16”
Zip-tie
Wire cutters
Needle nose pliers
Utility knife
2-3 furniture pads
Flash light
Telescoping magnetic retriever (only necessary if you happen to drop one of the tail light nuts, but I can’t imagine that would happen to anyone).
The photo of the bumper mod is the last attachment, didn’t load as full image.
