Just finished installing the Torklift EcoHitch as well. I, too, had issues inserting the crossbar behind the bumper and ended up just removing the bumper altogether which was very simple to do thanks to this YouTube tutorial:


Doing this along with using the included scissor jack to hold up the crossbar made the installation less of a struggle.

Uh....the install doesn't need bumper removal at all. We inserted the bar first then placed the bracket at the sides, then securing the screws first without tightening so that you can align everything, and from then just tighten the bolts/nuts. But this does need a 2nd person to hold the bar before the bolts are in place.

I tried that as well but was not able to get the bar behind the metal tabs that the bumper struts attach to. Perhaps having a second person assisting to hold the bumper away would have helped but removing it allowed me to install it without having to lift the vehicle or crawl underneath. I realize this isn’t needed but it took less than 5 minutes to get the bumper off and was a lot less of a hassle since I could install the brackets first as well.