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Receiver hitch help needed

8K views 33 replies 20 participants last post by  FL Soul 
#1 ·
Hey everyone,
I am seeking a receiver hitch for my Soul, so that I can use a bike carrier with it.
A local hitch dealership, that I trust, will sell me a 1.25-inch hitch, installed, for $240.
Trailer lighting, which would be nice but isn't essential for my use, would be another $100 installed.
A U-Haul dealership is cheaper: $192 for the hitch, installed, and $263 for the hitch and lighting.
My Kia dealership wants $450 for a hitch and lights, which seems high given the other estimates.
All that said, what would you do?
Many thanks for your thoughts on this!
Drive safe.
 
#9 ·
Hello. I am recommending you use the sight below as a reference to you needs. they are one of UK best.. and the fitting and reference for the type of use is all within the web sight. Tow bars must fit into approved mounts with no drilling.
Wiring must adapt to all of cars systems and plug in.
These will keep within warranty as far as possible.
Kia Soul Tow bars.
Bike carriers may not fit all types of hitch that goes onto tow bar so bike carrier research should be done first.
The 50mm is standard size ball hitch and will give you best selection.
The Thule carriers with 7 pin wiring to the rear lights mounted will make legal almost anywhere.
Having 7 pin wiring will allow you to tow small trailers in the future.

Jeff
 
#13 ·
What bike rack are you using? All of the hitches that I have seen for the 2015 are 1.25" Class I hitches. Many of the hitch mount racks I have seen state that you can only load 2 bikes on a Class I, even if they are made to carry 4 bikes. I am trying to determine if this has to do with the tongue weight of the hitch or if it is just the racks I am looking at!
 
#18 ·
Yes there are and I have one. Problem is by using one you cut the capacity down by 50% because it is now cantilevered out quite a bit.

Mark
 
#23 ·
On my 2013, I found that the bolt holes on the driver's side were pre-drilled and threaded, but there was dirt and debris in the holes that would make installing the bolts (that came with the hitch) a bit difficult.
So I used a small shotgun cleaning brush, to clean out the holes, before I started the install.

I got my Curt hitch off of the internet, complete with wiring harness for $159 with FREE shipping.
I and a good friend, had my hitch installed in less than an hour on a nice day. I didn't install the wiring yet, because I don't own a trailer and have no intention of pulling one. It's still sitting here in the original packaging. :)

I've pulled some really heavy loads with my Curt Hitch and it's still rock solid. I did however bend one ball mount. ( lol )

Cheers Mate!
TechnoMage :cool:
 
#24 · (Edited)
I installed the Curt hitch yesterday on my 2015. This hitch bolts into six weldnuts pre-installed by kia, two on each side of the frame members, one on the bottom of each frame member. I figured I'd attach the hitch with the two bottom bolts first to hold it in place while installing the side bolts. I did this - tightening the bolts hand tight. I then installed the two side bolts on the passenger side. One hole was just a little low, but I managed to get the bolts threaded. Then over to the driver's side. I look at the holes and the front hole is about 1/16 too low and the back 1/8 inch or more! I think ****, I'm going to have to drop this thing out and grind the holes larger, just as others have mentioned. The problem is that the horizontal flange the the bottom bolt goes through was not quite bent fully horizontal. Not wanting to take this thing out, I take my motorcycle lift, which had two rubber topped arms, and put it under the drivers side of the hitch and I jack it up a few inches. Low and behold, that was enough to deflect the hitch flange and the holes lined up, I inserted the bolts, torqued everything (which was a pain) and the hitch is in. No grinding the holes out! :)
 
#25 ·
I pt the hitch in a vise and to oblong the one hole that was off 1/4". Did not take long then installed the hitch without issue. It's a good hitch and should serve well.

Mark

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Motor vehicle Kia soul
 
#27 ·
It's called a Diamondback trailer. It tilts and it is nice and small. I don't think they make them anymore but I found mine used for just under a grand. Really nice trailer and super easy to load the bike.

Mark

 
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#30 ·
Oh man, it looks awesome, but I'd rather spend a grand on accessorizing my Soul, maybe I'll just install the hitch and rent the trailer for when I potentially move in a few months. I did a quick search online and couldn't find any for sale though, seems like people are just not selling them now that they don't make them anymore.

Thanks for the info though!
 
#32 ·
I installed my hitch and trailer wiring harness today.What a ba$t@rd that was.30 minutes to install for a pro.60 minutes for a novice.I used to be a professional mechanic.It took me 4.5 hours to install the hitch, and an hour for the trailer wiring harness.It my defense,the hitch was twisted on the muffler side.I think the welder didn't allow enough cooling time between welds.I tried several different bolting orders, before I found one that got everything close enough to force it to fit.To get it to fit,I placed my floor jack under the driver side of the hitch,but didn't jack it up.I pushed the passenger side up,and rotated the hitch using the floor jack.This put the hitch on an angle,both down and forward,on the driver side.This allowed me to put in the rear most side bolt on the passenger side.Then I jacked up the driver side,and put the bolts in.I used the jack to twist everything into place to get the bolts in.Then back to the passenger side to put in the last two bolts.I used the downward facing bolt to force the passenger side hitch up, so I could put in the forward bolt in.I left everything loose,until I had all the bolts in a few turns.Then I went around and torqued everything to 48ftlbs,per the instructions.

The trailer wiring harness took so long, because I had to fish the connector back up through the passenger side bumper.There is not enough room on either side of a 2015 to force those connectors through.I really should have removed the rear bumper cover.It took a couple tries to get the wiring correct from the driver side over to the passenger side.A really good flash light is needed here.

I had help through this.I feel bad for my significant other.She tried her best to help with the hitch install.We just aren't strong enough to twist steel into shape.
 
#33 ·
Yup. As I mentioned earlier, I had to use a jack to install mine as well. It took me about 1.5 hours, but I was able to install all three bolts on the muffler side without issue, then the jack moved everything into place on the driver side so I was fortunate. I could have done it in an hour had my wife been there to hand me tools.
 
#34 · (Edited)
I did mine myself with no help and didn't remove the bumper cover.

Luckily everything lined up. I loosely bolted one side then moved to the other then tightened everything up.

The wiring wasn't too terrible. I had to find a way to get it down into the bumper but it worked eventually.

I did spend more time on my back than I would have at a Vegas brothel though.
 
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