Hitch height?

unsub1 said:

So here's a burning question for me and my elaborate bike rack to anyone going to a auto show with a tape measure.... what is the distance from the ground to the bottom of the receiver opening?

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If you don't get an answer by then, I will try to get you one early April. Only problem is, I've yet to see one where the hitch is clearly visible at car show. Always covered by the cover. :crying:

Yeah, I was thinking that too. Even an estimate would do. I got a Kuat Pivot swing-arm for my rack and it's heavy and a tad low. Too much for my Outback.

Thanks!

When I went to the Cleveland auto show last week, there was only a Limited edition on display and there wasn’t a hitch on it under the cover. I’m not sure how the hitch will fit, as the spare tire seemed to be directly behind the bumper cutout where I thought a hitch would go.

Oh interesting. Huh.

How large is your bike rack where you need more than 8 inches of ground clearance? I have platform rack that holds 4 bikes and I can't imagine it being an issue.

Well, I scrape my hitch without a rack, add to it a Yakima HoldUp2 and Kuat Pivot onto your 2012 Outback and you've got troubles. I left a gouge in the street in front of my house yesterday. Good times. I'm estimating the Ascent hitch to be about 11 inches and the better towing specs should clear that all up.

unsub1 said:

Well, I scrape my hitch without a rack, add to it a Yakima HoldUp2 and Kuat Pivot onto your 2012 Outback and you've got troubles. I left a gouge in the street in front of my house yesterday. Good times. I'm estimating the Ascent hitch to be about 11 inches and the better towing specs should clear that all up.

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Does the one on your Outback go under the bumper? because the one on the Ascent will have a cutout in the bumper. My parents have that same issue on their Odyssey because it is aftermarket.


I'm more curious if I will be able to get my impact driver into the area to tighten up the bolt for my bike rack. If I can't I'll just have to do it by hand but it might wobble a bit more. Also I checked out the Pivot and didn't know these were available I might need to pick one up for when we travel with the bikes so I don't need to take them off to get in the hatch!

Yeah, it's the typical Curt hitch that mounts underneath. Only eats up a couple inches but just too much for these kinds of things. I drive my Outback offroad a decent amount and need everything I can get. Looking forward to the way it is on the Ascent and along with a 2-inch lift should be awesome. But yes, also wondering about how mounting will work. Looks like a pain.

I do lots of car camping so having everything swing out of the way with the Pivot will be welcomed.

unsub1 said:

Well, I scrape my hitch without a rack, add to it a Yakima HoldUp2 and Kuat Pivot onto your 2012 Outback and you've got troubles. I left a gouge in the street in front of my house yesterday. Good times. I'm estimating the Ascent hitch to be about 11 inches and the better towing specs should clear that all up.

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I think it will be more than that for the Ascent (bigger wheels/tires). I have a 2" receiver hitch on my 2018 Crosstrek, and center of the receiver is 14" from the ground, or 12.5" clearance from the bottom of the hitch. This is a Curt "hidden" hitch, with the crossbar up behind the bumper. Can only see the receiver portion from behind.

Since the Crosstrek and the Ascent are both on the new SGP frame, I wonder if the hitch mounting will be the same. It was very simple for the Crosstrek, and even had a pre-wired factory connector for the wiring harness. I would expect the Ascent to be the same.

Yeah, that would be great. Thanks for the input. The Kuat Pivot hangs down maybe an inch or two below the receiver and then the giant bolt it pivots on hangs lower than that. I would love for that to not be an issue.

unsub1 said:

Yeah, that would be great. Thanks for the input. The Kuat Pivot hangs down maybe an inch or two below the receiver and then the giant bolt it pivots on hangs lower than that. I would love for that to not be an issue.

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This might help you, too.
https://www.etrailer.com/Hitch-Adapters/Curt/D-192.html

OOOOOOOOH. Nice!

Odd. My 2010 Ob sits at 12 inches vs my 93 Land Cruiser on 33inch tires was 10inches. I run a tray style bike rack but only 2bikes on the OB given 4 bikes plus hitch rack levered on tip of that is far over the rated numbers for the OB. Not a drag issue but I don’t pack 230lbs of levered bike gear on the OB either.

The Ascent hitch will be mid bumper behind the center bumper cover so figure at minimum 15inches or more ground to reciever. The load rating will be in the proximity of 500lbs.

Well, my 12 has been driven pretty hard and already had a little bit of a saggy butt, but that swing-arm is pretty darn heavy and sticks out quite a bit. I only had one bike on the tray when I scraped the pavement turning into my driveway so it would only get worse from there. If I were keeping it I would get some beefier rear springs with all the roof top camping I do.

And yeah, much more excited about the Ascent situation.

I guess it was about 130 pounds hanging off the back (pretty far). Not sure why it was sagging so low though.

unsub1 said:

I guess it was about 130 pounds hanging off the back (pretty far). Not sure why it was sagging so low though.

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My 10 OB is way done on the rear springs. The Ascent delayed my RalliTEK new struts plan for it. But no Bench 2nd row Touring and recent discovery of my wifes HOV sticker ending in 2019 has further delayed the OB replacement/upgrade plan.

So next month I’m probably doing Rear RalliTEK stock height struts on the old OB. Which means another 2-3yrs possibly ish, maybe before the Ascent is back on the radar. But I’m still going to follow the Ascent closely. Given I have two cars it would replace not just the OB. Which does save me money!!! We shale see.

Yeah, if I weren't trading the 12 in I would absolutely get the RalliTeks as well. You'll surely end up with a refined Ascent!

OB forum member was just told by a sales rep 500lb Tongue max weight for the Ascent.

Subiesailor said:

OB forum member was just told by a sales rep 500lb Tongue max weight for the Ascent.

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Yeah, it's normally 10% of towing weight.