UCLABryan

Greetings,

I know I'm out in left field with this but anyone have any experience or knowledge with a trailer hitch for a 2015 ES300h FWD? If there are any out there, I'm thinking warranty issues.

Thx,
Emery

Mike728

If you do a search you'll find a few threads regarding hitches on ES's. Not sure how different the hybrid fit is, but here's a post where it's installed on a 350:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es-...r-hitch-2.html

What are you looking to tow?

satek

I use one on my '13 ES300h for a hitch mounted bike rack. Works just fine! I think the one I have is made by CURT.

klooney

EddieF

I have one installed, too. Sometimes when the angle of the road incline is just enough, the hitch will scrape on the road, but I've just learned to be a little bit more careful.

92hbhb

Just picked up an ES300h over the summer.. I do a lot of road biking and having a hitch mounted bike rack is a must on my cars. I looked at the Curt hitches and didn't like the fact that you have to use a rope strap to assist with the securing of the rack to the car when loaded with a bike. Instead I went with the Draw-tite hitch. The draw-tite also has a higher load rating than the curt and does not require a strap when used with a bike rack, a + for me... I will not be towing with the car either, just using a bike rack and platform rack from time to time.

Although it is not made to fit the es300H out of the box, it CAN be made to fit the car with some customization. For a direct fit, all draw-tite had to do was re-work the right mounting plate to go around the existing battery support bracket, and add a another hole on the bracket for the bumper-side of the muffler heat shield. As the end user, I had to customize these issues to make it work.

Installation: Only recommended if you the tools and are not willing to get a little dirty and do some metal cutting.
Time: Took me about 3-4 hours to get whole project done, taking my time and not rushing.
Level: 3 out of 4 in terms of difficulty.

Tools:
razor blade (cutting under body plastic covering)
17mm, 19mm sockets & 19mm wrench
10,12,14 mm sockets and ratchet, (impact drill driver helps too)
1/2 " torque wrench
good set of drill bits
Tape Measure
Hole saw (optional) - made cutting the 2 holes out of the under body for the bolt and bracket easier
4" grinder - used to cut the battery mount bracket found on the right side of the rear bumper.
2 floor jacks , one to jack up the car and the 2nd to hold the hitch if working alone.

Now for the pictures:



Rigging the hitch onto the jack



rear jacked up



this plastic piece needs to be removed, there's about 8 bolts - 10 and 12mm in size..



I opted to remove the muffler all together for ease of access and work on this side..



Here's the surprise bracket on the passenger side. It is there to support the battery in the trunk. Not present in the 350



For the trouble on the passenger side, Lexus made the driver side an ease to work on..



here's the modified bracket I had to cut it to clear the hitch. With bare metal present, after cutting, I just went ahead and blasted it with primer and aluminum paint i had left over. Also notice the tapped and threaded hole on the hitch I had to put in for the 2nd heat shield mounting bolt. Lastly, also had to drill a new mounting hole for the bracket further to the edge, as the existing 3 holes did not line up with where I wanted to drill into. I also ended up having to cut one of the supplied brackets that go inside the frame at the notches. This was so it could clear the weld nuts that was close to the hole i ended up drilling. once all said and done, the new hole and modified bracket was able to fit flush and screw up perfectly, as seen in the pic.



heat shield also had to be cut to clear the mount and to avoid vibrations and noises. Also had to drill large hole in heat shield to clear the bolt for the hitch rack. Notice the 2nd bolt on the heat shield that now screws into the tapped hole from previous pic.



Here's the driver side. I opted to drill a large access hole in the frame away from the actual bolt hole, and making it just large enough to clear the bolt., allowing more material for the bolt to grab on to. Also primed the bare metal to help inhibit rust.

Anyway, not sure how this hitch passed QA, as mounting plates were not on the same plane. I had to shimmy 2 washers between the car frame and hitch to take up the gap between the bracket and frame for a snug fit.. At the end of the day, it worked out and all 4 bolts torqued to spec.. I got the hitch on Ebay for about 1/2 price.. Now I know why.....



Another under body shot before the bottom plastic shield goes in.



Had to cut these slots in the under-body plastic to allow for clearance of the hitch and for installation..



A tape measure is your friend.. Not bad... Measure twice, cut once.


The finished product... All in all, it was worth the effort to get this hitch installed.. Happy with the results, clears bumper q/o issues.. Now we have another car to use for biking adventures..

GES

I have another suggestion for those who like to ride a bike and want to be able to cary it with them in the car. The answer is folding bikes. Folding bikes have evolved. The design has improved and there are several options.
I like to ride a bike but didn't want to attach anything to my car. I purchased a folding bike that fits in my trunk and take anywhere I want. for me this was a good compromise.

mackbuck12

I had my hitch installed at one of those truck accessorie places i think its 150 installed. That didn't include the lighting connector.

Tony