2017 Tow Hitch

Installed mine yesterday. Took about 30 mins, mainly due to removing the exhaust donuts incorrectly. Here are my notes as they apply to my hitch from etrailer. Your results may vary.

1) spray some penetrant on the 4 exhaust donuts and they come off really easily.

2). Remove the donuts from the exhaust such that the donuts are left on the car. With the hitch I had purchased for etrailer, the other way around wouldmake it such that you would not be able to get it back on.

3). The hitch fit tight left to right. Having two people was really helpful here.

4). My hitch came with some great wires to feed the bolts through. Very cool.

5) I didn't need a universal joint but had it handy.

6) upon reassembly, the last exhaust donut was a main to get on. I used a screwdriver to pry and it then went right on.
 
Installed mine yesterday. Took about 30 mins, mainly due to removing the exhaust donuts incorrectly. Here are my notes as they apply to my hitch from etrailer. Your results may vary.

...

3). The hitch fit tight left to right. Having two people was really helpful here.

...

Question for those of you that have installed the Draw-Tite 76138. I'm trying to install mine this weekend and I just can't get the hitch to fit over the rear-most muffler hangers. GTScott -- I noticed you said the hitch fit tight left to right. Was it getting over the muffler hangers that caused you difficulty? On mine, the width of the hitch is literally not wide enough to clear the muffler hangars. Not sure if it the hitch was manufactured incorrectly, or if the muffler hangers on my car are a bit further apart than typical. My inside-to-inside dimension on the hitch at this point is 34 1/4". Anyone have the ability to measure that dimension on theirs? Or have any other tips/suggestions? I tried bending the muffler hangars inwards a bit with a pry bar, but they're pretty stiff and didn't seem to move.

Edit: Pics of the problem. With the hitch right against one muffler hanger, it won't clear the other one.

9SAloN2.jpg


StRPugb.jpg
 
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Just in case anyone stumbles on this thread and is in the same situation, I ended up finding out I got a hitch that wasn't manufactured to specifications. According to Draw-Tite, the inside-to-inside dimension should be 34.814" - 34.934". After a bit of a back-and-forth with etrailer, they eventually got a properly manufactured hitch sent to me, and it slid right up into position as it should have. Not sure how common these sorts of manufacturing issues are, but if you buy this hitch do yourself a favor and measure the dimension before you spend a whole morning trying to install like I did.
 
Damn sorry about your luck. Talk about when DIY goes wrong.

That's honestly the first time I've heard of that or seen it. Must have been a pre-production or early production unit that slipped through QA on a friday afternoon before a long weekend.

Glad you got it sorted. I would've been properly frustrated
 
Must have been a pre-production or early production unit that slipped through QA on a friday afternoon before a long weekend.

It wasn't a pre- or early production unit since it was manufactured April 2017 and is the same model that has been used on the 1st gen CX-5. But, yeah, definitely slipped through QA.
 
Well, I installed the hitch receiver at the weekend.

It was pretty straight forward as I watched the videos for installing the hitch on the etrailer website for the pre-2017 model year. A video wasn't available on the website for the 2017 MY but the install was very similar.

The only difference was that the 2017 has a small piece of trim under the bumper that needs to be removed to install the hitch.

I installed it by myself which wasn't too difficult. I propped up one end with my knees as I maneuvered the near end with my hands. Once you get one bolt partially tightened it supports itself. It certainly would have been easier with someone assisting.

The rear most bolts were difficult to torque up due to the shape of the hitch. The instructions mentioned a universal joint to help get the job done. I didn't have one in a ". I grabbed a smaller wrench and was able to get it done without the joint, though it was more fiddly.

Thanks to everyone who provided input.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Any particular version you went with a 2" hitch?
 
Anyone install the OEM hitch part # 0000-8E-R06. I'm getting ready to install in the next couple of weeks and I'm a bit intimidated because instructions says I the bumper has to be cut, it has a template for the cut. I was reading most of you that have installed are mentioning removing or lowering the exhaust. OEM hitch comes in 3 parts, L&R side brackets the the bar that cross contains the receiver. The instructions does not mention the exhaust. Anyone have any pictures of OEM hitch installed on a 2017. I would appreciate it.
 
Anyone install the OEM hitch part # 0000-8E-R06. I'm getting ready to install in the next couple of weeks and I'm a bit intimidated because instructions says I the bumper has to be cut, it has a template for the cut. I was reading most of you that have installed are mentioning removing or lowering the exhaust. OEM hitch comes in 3 parts, L&R side brackets the the bar that cross contains the receiver. The instructions does not mention the exhaust. Anyone have any pictures of OEM hitch installed on a 2017. I would appreciate it.

Curious on your reasoning for going OEM? By most accounts the DrawTite 76138 is the class of the available hitches. Strongest, lightest, easy install etc.
 
Curious on your reasoning for going OEM? By most accounts the DrawTite 76138 is the class of the available hitches. Strongest, lightest, easy install etc.

I have OEM because it cost me less than $80 bucks from dealer with a promo from Costco auto buying program combined with dealer promo. But more work is needed because of the bumper cutting :(
 
**Update** I ended returning the Mazda OEM hitch 0000-8E-R06. The picture on mazdausa.com shows the hitch right under bumper in two different pictures but it wrong, OEM requires a cut on the bumper. The cut is much bigger than 2016.5, it was like a 5 inch cut vertical and 8 inch horizontal. After some great help from you all at forum I went with draw-tite. Thanks for all your help.

newcx5ext.jpg2017-cx5-trailerhitch-mde-cx5-accessories.jpgIMG_7162.jpg
 
Had the draw Tite 76138 2 class III installed. Perfect fit. No wiring harness as I just needed it to fit my heavy duty bike carrier.
 
**Update** I ended returning the Mazda OEM hitch 0000-8E-R06. The picture on mazdausa.com shows the hitch right under bumper in two different pictures but it wrong, OEM requires a cut on the bumper. The cut is much bigger than 2016.5, it was like a 5 inch cut vertical and 8 inch horizontal. After some great help from you all at forum I went with draw-tite. Thanks for all your help.

View attachment 217514View attachment 217515View attachment 217516

Good call ;)
 
Any reason you guys picked Draw-tite over Curt? I have no preference, just curious.

Bought Draw-tite on etrailer.com for my 2017 CX-5. IIRC 8X reviews, good overall ranking & slightly lower price. I also liked better that hitch attached vertically rather than horizontally to the car (notice top vs side "flaps" on etrailer pics). Probably moot point but I just liked it better.

Although was able to install w/o help and no jacks/ramps, if I had to do it again would make sure to have someone helping out, especially lifting and positioning hitch frame. As only intending to carry a bike rack, did not buy the wiring harness. Got the 2" version as moving existing bike rack from my older car.
 
Bought Draw-tite on etrailer.com for my 2017 CX-5. IIRC ˜8X reviews, good overall ranking & slightly lower price. I also liked better that hitch attached vertically rather than horizontally to the car (notice top vs side "flaps" on etrailer pics). Probably moot point but I just liked it better.

Although was able to install w/o help and no jacks/ramps, if I had to do it again would make sure to have someone helping out, especially lifting and positioning hitch frame. As only intending to carry a bike rack, did not buy the wiring harness. Got the 2" version as moving existing bike rack from my older car.

Thanks - i already have some 2" accessories so that is also my reason for going with the Class 3. I appreciate the feedback.
 
Does anyone have the PDF that shows how the factory harness got wired? A new one is coming out, and I wanted to see how the old one got installed. I can't find pdf for the factory hitch or harness

0000-8E-R06
0000-8E-R07

New harness has A suffix
 
I just got the Factory wiring harness that got re-released. 0000-8E-R07A

It uses taps into the signal wires going to a breakout box that is powered separately off the wiring harness - no reason to string a wire all the way to the front. Will install this weekend hopefully and share some pictures.
 
If I go with the Drawtite, should I go with the OEM wiring harness that is now available or one of the two sold on etrailer? I'm not familiar with setting it up at all so I plan to bring the wiring harness + hitch receiver to my mechanic and ask him to attach all to the car.
 
If I go with the Drawtite, should I go with the OEM wiring harness that is now available or one of the two sold on etrailer? I'm not familiar with setting it up at all so I plan to bring the wiring harness + hitch receiver to my mechanic and ask him to attach all to the car.

There is another thread where that point is debated. I prefer OEM harness, another user prefers one of the aftermarket ones from etrailer. I don't think you can go wrong with either. Maybe see if your mechanic has a preference.

The OEM harness instructions are here:

https://www.mazdaparts.org/mazdaq-cx...rness-kit.html

I think etrailer has instructions for the ones they sell

Keep in mind that the drawtite and other after market hitches do not have bracket for the wiring plug. I fabricated one in the other threads (2 other trailer harness threads) below this one.

We debated the wiring harness here https://www.mazdas247.com/forum/sho...CX5-which-trailer-wiring-kit-Curt-or-Tekonsha
And a picture of my install is here: https://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123863592-2017-CX-5-Trailer-hitch
 
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