Does anyone have a hitch on their 2nd gen Rodeo with the underbody spare? My search didn't really find much useful info. I was considering the Hidden Hitch and the one on eBay by Quality S. The Draw Tite looks identical tube-wise to the Hidden Hitch by the photographs, and is a few bucks cheaper. Won't the HH be a more discrete fit though? Has anyone seen one of these Quality S hitches? I see the crossbar is bolted onto the side flanges (the others appear to be welded) and thought this may promote rust and/or failure.... it is substantially cheaper tho. Anyone have any photos to show of their hitched 2nd gen Rodeo?
TIA
-Eric

Well, I had the factoy hitch on my 00 when I bougth it...

Rodeos...

The hitch is on my 99 in this pic.. adn still for that matter...as you can tell, poor pic, but its not totaly tuckecked up...but its alot better than most I have seen on some second gens...

I migh teven be willing to part with it...depending on how soon you need it..(its in MA right now)..with the factory trailier wiring harness, plugs right in....

Chase

I've got the factory as well. It works quite well, and installation with the factory harness was a breeze. I like the step it provides, too. I'll look for some pics...

Is the factory harness different from the T-connectors you get from most of these hitch places that plug into each side of your tail light connectors?

Yeah, if you look behind the rear fender,up behind the rear wheel, there is a body plug. The harness feeds up through there, adnplugs into a plug...Even has its own body plugs to seal the hole


Chase

I do but its in the shop right now getting Teras installed. I went with the hitch from U-Haul which is drawtite I think. All 3 you are looking can be bolt mounted, which is the usual way of mounting them. The bend in them is designed to accomodate your fullsize spare. But if you have tires bigger than about 30.5's, the spare probably wont fit. I have a 30.5 spare on and had to remove a few bolts attaching the plastic bumper guard so the tire could snug up against the hitch and not hit the rear cross member. If I get my rig back today I can take some pics to show you what I'm talking about..

Down the road do you plan to remove your spare from underneath? If you plan to go with larger tires, you're going to need a matching spare that might not fit under there. Also (I don't know, my spare is on the rear door) but it looks as if the spare must sit quite low, won't this affect rear clearance?

My point is, if you plan to move your spare then don't limit yourself to hitches that accomodate for the underbody spare.

Ashby

FWIW: Im running the Drawtite, its been great as a hitch and a rear bumper protector. I've given it quite a beating on trails.

Down the road I do intend to remove the spare from underneath, but that's a while off right now. When putting on the 265/70/16s I plan on getting a 215/85/16 (Oleg's idea originally) for the spare. The rim and section width are both 2 inches narrower while still retaining the same diameter. At least when I go offroading it can be easily tossed into the trunk. This is all great in theory, but we'll have to see if it all pans out with the hitch under there. Oleg seemed to think there was adequate room, but that may all be voodoo once I throw a hitch on.