tecman

Yes, sometimes a thread goes into a different topic and future researchers will not see the discussion on wheels. Post a new thread with a link to this thread to continue any discussion.

R3loader

Thanks Randy for the write up. My spacers will arrive sometime this week. BTW, how do you lower the spare?

Eppieguy

We have a new forum moderator I see.

GregE34

Thanks Randy! Great write up. I will be installing one soon on my 2012.

jepva

Thanks for taking the time to do the write up Randy.

The Lexus dealer ended up giving me a fair price on the tow hitch and install - $420 all in, so I decided to have them do it. It was basically $250 for the kit and they charged about 1.5 in labor, at their (pretty ridiculous for a non-german car) rate of $118/hr. Either way, it wasn't really worth saving the $170 for me to do it on my own.

tecman

Yea I thought I might get a comment on that.lol

Sewell

iTrader: (9)

...this was strange to us as well. Your (R3loader) hitch in this case came directly from Lexus so we too are questioning how/why all the hardware as well as the spacers were not included with your kit. In any case, Kerry has the final spacers being shipped to you today.

Darrel Diller

R3loader

Thanks Darrel. Kerry has been awesome in taking care of the sending the missing parts.

Randy B

Thought I would see how your install went?

Randy B

R3loader

I totally forgot.... The spacers arrived from Sewell and I installed it last weekend. The installation was pretty straight forward as you described. I decided to go a little overboard with the electrical tape around the new flex tubing that was provided to extend the wiring down low. I was pleasantly surprised that the spare tire was same design and color as well. For those that do not have a jack handy to hold up the hitch on one end, I used a carton box

jfgentile

The Lexus towing specs for the GX indicate a max capacity of 6500 lbs. This spec assumes you have the factory (official Lexus) hitch installed, which is a Class IV hitch.

My new 2014 GX came without a hitch, and my dealer wanted to install an aftermarket hitch (of course, so they could install a $115 hitch and pocket the difference). I made them research the hitch and discovered it only was rated for 5000 capacity. In the end, I told them either install the Lexus hitch, or I'll do it myself.

Many people only need a hitch for bicycle racks, etc., so if that is your situation, an aftermarket hitch might be OK.

However, if you have a serious towing need (I pull a 5,000 lb boat & trailer, not counting 420 lbs of gasoline and the weight of other gear), then you only want the Lexus hitch. I haven't seen any Class IV aftermarket hitches out there, although there might be.

Bottom line...buyer beware!

zhenya

I am trying to get a hitch for my 2012 Lexus GX460. The car has a build in towing prep package but didn't come with the hitch itself. I am trying to choose between an OEM version ordering it through Sewell or get one made by Curt.

Right now I don't care for towing capacity much because it will be used for a bike rack, but later I envision towing something heavier. The difference in price is pretty much 3x including shipping, but more importantly I am concerned about installation.

Can someone share how difficult it was to install an OEM hitch. It looks like Curt one is very straight forward by pretty much attaching four bolts. The OEM one, on the other hand, seems a lot more involved including splicing wires and reconnecting them.

Is my understanding not correct on the process or why is their such a difference in installation?

Thanks for your help/advise.

AMFERS

Check this thread out
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gx-...ight=Tow+hitch

Randy B

How about this thread:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gx-...h-install.html

Randy B

waiman3

thanks, was thinking about doing this for bikes.