[RubySu]

Installed hitch in about 2-3 hrs between Friday night and Saturday morning. I would give it about a 8 on ease of installation with 1 being extremely hard and 10 being a walk in the park. You WILL have to cut some plastic behind the punch out plate in order to fit female end of hitch - I used a power single blade saw for this. (See pic) You WILL have to enlarge two metal holes on either side of your spare tire in order to feed hardware through frame to attach hitch to the bottom. I just used my drill with a small quarter sized grinding disc. Once the prep work is done you will need a 2nd person to help fish the 4 bolts/metal 1x2" plates and associated washers. You will also need this person to help position hitch in place when attaching said hardware. My smallish wife was more than able to assist in this installation. The bolt fisher is supplied as is all hardware. Directions are very easy to follow but there is one step they don't tell you about that should be included. There are two plastic supports that attach bumper to frame. They have plastic push caps that will need detached in order to get hitch into place. It's impossible not to see these when you are under vehicle. Very easy to remove/reattach. Other than that, very straight forward as you will see in some of the pics.

 

[RubySu]

Re: Torq Lift Invisi Hitch installed

More pics of install. The "Heart" of the back of punch out panel was there from factory! Subaru =LOVE! In last pic is Honda Jetski which is one reason for install.

 

[CJBROWN]

Re: Torq Lift Invisi Hitch installed

Looks good.
I NEED a hitch...still trying to decide on this one or the Curt. The hidden feature is really nice, as is maintaining rear ground clearance. But I'm not going to 'wheel' mine anyway, so that's less of an issue.

I guess it boils down to an extra $100 to have it behind the knock-out plate instead of below it.

 

[RubySu]

Re: Torq Lift Invisi Hitch installed

Looks good.
I NEED a hitch...still trying to decide on this one or the Curt. The hidden feature is really nice, as is maintaining rear ground clearance. But I'm not going to 'wheel' mine anyway, so that's less of an issue.

I guess it boils down to an extra $100 to have it behind the knock-out plate instead of below it.

I know exactly what you mean CJ - not like you need every last inch of clearance. After having a "visible" hitch on everything else I've driven, it's nice to leave that back end clean. Now that its installed and only I know it's there, I really like that aspect. You do kind of throw away a C note for form over function though...eh.... I saw a good point you raised on another post about not wanting to crawl under every time to knock out the cover and I couldn't agree more. I'm thinking l'll just wrap up a small, thin flathead with gorilla tape and keep it in the back to pop it out of place when needed.

 

[suuichi]

Re: Torq Lift Invisi Hitch installed

Hey the instuctions they gave me with the hitch the pictures on them are hard to see. Would you be able to take a pic and show me where to cut out the plastic? And what are these plastic punch outs you speak of would I by chance trouble you of a pic of that? Sorry Im not normally this sqeemish about doing work on a vehicle but this is my first brand new car and I dont want to mess it up lol!

 

[RubySu]

Re: Torq Lift Invisi Hitch installed

Hey the instuctions they gave me with the hitch the pictures on them are hard to see. Would you be able to take a pic and show me where to cut out the plastic? And what are these plastic punch outs you speak of would I by chance trouble you of a pic of that? Sorry Im not normally this sqeemish about doing work on a vehicle but this is my first brand new car and I dont want to mess it up lol!

...the plastic punch out is the piece on the bumper itself where the hitch will ultimately call home. It pops out of place from the rear and has tabs on it for reinstall. This will be your cover to make hitch "Invisi". The plastic you cut is directly adjacent to the pop out piece I just described - you will see it the minute you pop out the cover. You have to remove some of it so the female part of your hitch can rest in its place.
In the pic I just have the pop out/cover resting on top of the ball. When you remove the male end of hitch- reinsert this cover. Hope this helped. I really think once you crawl under XV, you'll see where you need to cut to put hitch in place. You do NOT have to cut out cover/pop out at all just to be clear. The cutting is about an inch behind cover (toward front of car) and near the tabs that hold the cover in place. Make sure not to cut these tabs or your cover won't reattach after hitch is installed.

 

[chasem]

Re: Torq Lift Invisi Hitch installed

Hey the instuctions they gave me with the hitch the pictures on them are hard to see. . .

I emailed the Torklift guys to request an email with the install instructions in color. They were happy to oblige, so I'm passing that on to you as well.

 

[RubySu]

Re: Torq Lift Invisi Hitch installed

That's much better than the jibberish of me trying to explain!

 

[Xtrekr]

Torq Lift Invisi Hitch installed

Looks good Bob! Nice job! I may look into this hitch later on.... But for now... The jeep does all my towing as I need it


Sent from my iPhone 4s using Tapatalk

 

[RubySu]

Re: Torq Lift Invisi Hitch installed

Thanks Todd, I am very happy with the way it turned out- even better- the way the Crosstrek tows! So solid....have a different thread for that 8)

 

[cedreca]

Re: Torq Lift Invisi Hitch installed

I didn't know about this hitch and I went with the Curt one. Price was great and not hard to install.

 

[suuichi]

Re: Torq Lift Invisi Hitch installed

Hey the instuctions they gave me with the hitch the pictures on them are hard to see. . .

I emailed the Torklift guys to request an email with the install instructions in color. They were happy to oblige, so I'm passing that on to you as well.

OMG thank you so much I totally can see it better now and I now understand what I have to cut basically it is a cubby hole for the rear fog light for the foriegn XVs so you have to make it cut that off so to fit the hitch sweet that helps alot!

 

[bfr]

Re: Torq Lift Invisi Hitch installed

RubySu, Thanks for posting about your experience with this hitch. It is definitely top on my list when I go to add a hitch. Love that it can be covered "invisi" but not a huge deal to me. I like that you can get a 2" receiver as I have a number of bike racks and other hitch mount items that require it for other vehicles...will be nice to be able to use all of them with the XV Crosstrek.

Thought I'd mention that the title of your thread may throw some people off if they're performing a search.

This is NOT a "Torq Lift" product...no "q". It comes from Tork Lift Central out of Kent, WA. (USA)

For those digging for info on it: they include it in their Eco Series Stealth lineup.

They make a 2" and a 1.25" version. The 2" is part # X7203. The 1.25" is part# X7204. Either one is $249.95. You get them direct at tlcentral dot com.

If you'll need lights for anything you're putting in the hitch, you'll need the Curt wiring harness. Part # is 56040. Widely available, I've seen them for about $30 at etrailer dot com.

Maybe someone else knows of the Subaru wiring harness only part number, but I couldn't find it. Curt is probably cheaper anyway.

Although a bit more money, for me, having a solid hitch, that doesn't stick out from under the valence looking all goofy, that can take a bike rack without requiring safety straps...the choice is a no-brainer.

Thanks again for all the pics and writeup.

 

[RubySu]

Thanks bfr for the catch! I corrected the title spelling so it will indeed be more search friendly. I'm sure the model# you included will be helpful too. I really am pleased with this hitch. The people I've "shown"it to are impressed with its design/engineering. Post up your pics when you get yours installed. I've never gone with anything smaller than a 2" because of its multiple uses and overall strength.

 

[bfr]

my 2" has arrived. just need to find a little time to install

 

[Wingnut]

my 2" has arrived. just need to find a little time to install

Sup bfr! Mine will arrive Thursday.

RubySu. Do you think a Dremel will work to "circumcise" the Plastic thingie/Rear Foglite holder deal? I don't have a mini sawsall like you rich guys! lol

 

[RubySu]

my 2" has arrived. just need to find a little time to install

Sup bfr! Mine will arrive Thursday.

RubySu. Do you think a Dremel will work to "circumcise" the Plastic thingie/Rear Foglite holder deal? I don't have a mini sawsall like you rich guys! lol

Ha! That cracked me up! Actually the Dremel is probably a better tool as long as its not too large or on the thinner side. I just put that saw out there because I had one and wanted to look cool- don't really know how to use it!! Hahahahaha ha! ;D. Ok, I used it once

No seriously, you should be just fine....I think you'll be pleased with how easy it actually installs.

 

[Wingnut]

Man the hitch came yesterday. I saw it on the porch but I didn't know it was the hitch. All I saw was something that was wrapped up tighter than the dude in the movie "The Mummy". They don't skip on the shrink wrap!!! Took me 20 min to free Willie!

 

[The Hulls]

If you decide to go with the bumperless install then here are a few words of wisdom and images from our install. Please excuse the 3M undercoating steps that I took while things were apart.

The handful of under bumper clips and the two fender clips can all be removed first. The bumper uses some type of a pressure retainer eyelet combo. I started with the driver and passenger sides of the bumper. Both seemed to come off easier by applying an upward smooth and slow pressure. **Note the taped painted body, I did this to prevent any DAM (dumb-ass mistake) moments.**

The rear top bumper, just under the hatch, was a pain until I figured out a trick. If you look underneath the inside of the skin you will see six smaller push tabs, those eyelet things again. Take a smooth tool you can actually push them up and pop them out. Be careful, when you start getting towards the end the bumper will start to dance on you.

Once the bumper is off the remainder of the install is follow the directions, they are pretty accurate. I spoke with a TLC rep and they told me that it doesn't matter which way the inner frame black metal plates mount. I took the OCD route and put them the short way in the frame.

I did use the largest Dremel cutting wheel that I had in the kit and it did an amazing job with a straight and smooth cut. I did not cut as far as others have, I left a little bit of inner housing for the panel to clip back into. I don't know if this matters but it was something that I chose to do. Two people is an absolute must for getting the hitch in place. I can not figure out how to use a floor jack to get it in place so I asked my neighbor for the 10 minutes of hold time, he obliged.

Dan

 

[The Hulls]

Part Two: A few more images.