Here's a shot of the hidden hitch that I got from etrailers.com installed on the GreyGhost.



No cutting, no drilling, no scraping, and (most importantly) no blood

david

 

Thanks, I appreciate the photos and your input!

 

Just to add more pain to the mix, Thule says they do not recommend using a 2" receiver with a converter to hold their hitches made for a 1.25" receiver. They say it will throw off the fulcrum point of the hitch and that some converters are not deep enough to hold the "stinger". Since my (expensive) Thule bike rack is made for a 1.25" receiver, I am pretty much forced to go back to Ford for their 1.25" hitch, or buy a new bike rack. That means going the more expensive Ford route to save myself from the need to buy a new bike rack. Now let's see....save the cost of a $200 bike rack, but need to buy a $300 hitch instead of a $140 hitch. But now I also need to make a cut out on my rear bumper area (somehow) and have it look good. Hmmm... $140 (plus shipping) + $200 for a new hitch is $340 and no cut out of bumper.

Anyone want to buy a slightly used Thule Expressway 4-bike rack with integrated locking system? Fits 1.25" receivers only.

 

The dealer did not know anything about it because Ford did not list a Hitch for the Hybrid. So, we had to look at the way my bumper / frame was attached, and that of a non-hybrid Escape to determine if it would work or not. The Ford Hitch has the bumper built as part of it and replaces the standard bumper that is on the Escape. The one advantage I can see over the other Hitches is that the bumper ends up a lot stronger then the standard bumper. The cost is alot more compared to the other hitches esp. if the dealer installs it (if you can even get them to)

 

Well that is a good reason for the cost hike. How did you get the dealer to go the extra mile? Mine was not interested. I thought you had to make a cut-out on the old bumper, but if you got a new bumper in the process then I am sure it looks better than hacking away at some pretty robust plastic. I still think Ford has dropped the ball here. People who buy these things are also interested in biking, hiking, boating, etc and would naturally want to hook stuff up. They should make it standard vs. optional anyway.

 

The plasic on the outside is the bumper cover, and you do need to cut a notch in that cover to allow for the hitch. You first have to remove the cover and the old bumper, intall the new hitch and replace the bumper cover after cutting the notch. The area that needs to be removed is marked on the backside of the bumper cover so making the notch is easy.


I got the dealer to compare the two bumbers, because I have friends there. I doubt that most dealers would allow you to do this. Also, I ordered the hitch from the dealer but did the install myself.

 

Ah, I had forgotten about the difference between the bumper cover and the bumper. To me, a bumper is one of those heavy chrome plated things that have been replaced by those expensive plastic monstrosities. The plastic thingies are the bumper covers. At any rate, good work on getting your FEH outfitted with a Ford hitch. How did you cut the hole?

 

I used a saber saw with a plastic blade in it. I cut just inside the line marked on the bumper cover then cleaned up the cut with a file. It looks good, but may be more then most people want to do.