Alfa Romeo Stelvio Forum banner

Stealth Hitch Installation and Tips

9K views 21 replies 9 participants last post by  UomoTigre 
#1 ·
Installed my Steal Hitch from etrailer.com on my 2021 Ti Sport. etrailer is less expensive than stealth hitch plus you can usually get 5% off everything. Sometime 10% flash sales.

Extras recommended (links for illustrated purposes as some don't shop from the galactic empire):
Steps
  1. BUMPER REMOVAL
    • Mask outside of bumper
    • Place towels and cloth on ground under back of car so if bumper falls it doesn't get marked!!
    • Remove wheel well
      • BUY THE CLIPS, they break and 90% of them do not come off the body of the car, they rip out of the wheel well trim, oof.
        • MOPARONLINEPARTS.com
          • 68418112AA​
            Genuine Alfa Romeo Pin-Push​
            $1.51​
            18​
            $27.18​
            68095315AA​
            Genuine Alfa Romeo Clip-Retaining​
            $1.97​
            6​
            $11.82​
      • Start at the front of the well trim, it has a small hook on the bottom so start there, once the first pop the rest follow.
      • TIP, In order to get them out with out breaking you must squeeze them from behind, I used a curved pliers. Using a trim tool just breaks them.
      • Once both sides were removed I put all the clips on the wheel well trim parts, removed all clips that remain on the car body which is almost all but the green larger ones at the back. Put the clips on properly, they have an arrow for direction of install
      • Bumper has a hook at the front of it by the tail light, i worked from just behind the light and pulled the 3 tabs out than the clip at the front.
      • I marked the cables just in case. Be careful with the 2 cable plugs, one of them is attached to a mount on the car. Mark which one attaches to the car.
      • Use 2 people to remove the bumper, teenagers work well.
  2. HITCH INSTALL
    • Removal of the aluminum cross bar is straight forward, 6 nuts for me, not bolts as per instructions.
    • there are 4 plugs that must be removed from the chassis as bolts will go through the holes for the chassis brackets
    • There is plastic sticker on the end of the chassis frame which must be cut for the chassis brackets to go through and line up with the holes.
    • I did use the heat shield bracket for the wiring connector as there is no harm.
    • I used the hook looking chain hooks instead of the circle ones, kit came with both.
    • Cutting the Fascia is straight forward, Measure at least twice because the instructions show you from the inside and its easier to work from the outside so it is reversed. I used a sharpy marker, made a mistake, but alcohol erases sharpy and reversed my drawing. I cut it with a dremel tool very slowly. Measure at least twice.


 
See less See more
#7 ·
I am ready to pull the trigger on this install…..but the electrical side is concerning for me as it requires pulling a lot of paneling ……is there a simpler way to tap into lighting ? I believe there is a YouTube using the rear light at the light itself….anyone used that method ? Appreciate the help.
 
#8 ·
I pulled no panels for the electrical. Once the rear bumper is off you can feed the wire through the passenger side rear lower wiring boot then retape the boot back up. feed the wire down the bumper to the left side of the hitch.

For the driver side i also fed it through the boot for the wiring or a blank grommet. I was able to get feed my short wire snake using my hand jammed behind the panel.

I did not remove any of the side panels, snake a plastic electrical snake from the outside of the car indward and tape the wire or a string to it and pull the wires through.

 
#11 ·
Correct, I tapped into the left and right wire with a posi tap. I only use posi taps when doing that kind of work. I was able to get to the wiring I believe from the inside. On the driver side you have the fuse access panel that gives you plenty of access. The other side was tricky and I may have pulled the light off and worked again outside to in. I recall pulling both lights to tap. I forgot to take pictures of the taps.
 
#12 ·
Great post! Thanks for putting this write-up together. The clips holding on the rear wheel flares are a must to buy when removing them. To clarify, the rear wheel flares need to come off to get the rear bumper off on a Stelvio (the wheel well liner can stay in place). Most likely, these red and green clips will break when you take them off. Try to work slowly from the front by opening the rear doors and working off with a trim tool. Be careful not to break the female end on the flares. More than likely, the entire or part of the red clip will be left on the body needing to be removed. It sounded like there was some confusion, but you can grab one of these trim tools to pull them off. They either pull out or break off, either way, you can put the new clips (install following arrows) onto the flare then press the flare back onto the body when done. The trim with the handle (one on the left) is the best for pulling the red clips out.
Product Gesture Font Office supplies Finger
 
#17 ·
Thanks for all the tips. I'm a very happy Stealth Hitch owner. Doesn't affect the aesthetics of the car at all.

Car Vehicle Photograph Automotive tail & brake light Motor vehicle


What it looks like when you crawl underneath and hitch port is detached.
Hood Automotive tire Motor vehicle Vehicle Automotive lighting


It's pretty easy to install the port when needed, outside of the need to get down on your back to see what you're doing.
 
#19 ·
Thanks for all the tips. I'm a very happy Stealth Hitch owner. Doesn't affect the aesthetics of the car at all.

View attachment 31325

What it looks like when you crawl underneath and hitch port is detached.
View attachment 31324

It's pretty easy to install the port when needed, outside of the need to get down on your back to see what you're doing.
Did you break any clips.
 
#20 ·
Assuming you have the right tools and extra clips, how difficult would you say this is? I'm only installing the rack, not the tow. Or maybe I should ask, how easy is it to screw this up and break something?! 😅
 
Top