Rx350 Trailer Hitch Facts

[Janice M]

 

I purchased my hitch and electrical adapter kit from HitchFinder.com. Hitch was 140, adapter kit was 45 and tax/shipping was 32 for a total of 217.00. The only downside I see right now is that the adapter kit is not plug and play (needs hardwired) which is a bummer. The hitch installation took 30 minutes max.

Accessing the electrical seems very excessive! I'll give it a shot this weekend and report back.

My Lexus dealer in Plano, TX quoted me $795 parts and labor installed!

jml

Hi! I'm late to the party, and want to install a trailer hitch to my RX350. Thinking of getting one from HitchFinder. I just want to know if the one you purchased held well? I really only need it to transport mountain bikes. Not planning on hauling anything big, but would like to know if these after-market trailer hitches hold well. I don't want to spend $400 for a Lexus part to go on my RX that's almost 10 yrs old. Thanks..

JM

[1990LS400]

 

Hi! I'm late to the party, and want to install a trailer hitch to my RX350.

This is a very old thread and I doubt that people who have participated in it will reply.

Aftermarket trailer hitches last at least as long as OEM hitches and as long as a vehicle lasts - they are probably good for 20+ years!

I've towed with almost every vehicle I've owned over 50+ years and have bought and installed a number of aftermarket hitches including on Lexus LS sedans.  I bought the last three hitches from etrailer.com which is in a suburb of St. Louis.  I've also bought lots of other items from them including trailer light harnesses and bike racks.  I see two hitches for your RX on the etrailer website for less than $131 including shipping.

Be sure to get a hitch with a 2" receiver opening and NOT a 1 1/4" hitch!  There are a lot more bike racks and other products designed for 2" hitches than for 1 1/4" hitches and the ones for 2" hitches are usually more stable.  

IMO, Curt hitches are the highest quality of all I've had but I've bought Draw-Tite hitches too.  I've had a lot of bike racks and my favorites are the hitch mounted bike racks ones from Pro-Series - simple, cheap and rock-solid.  We use a 4-bike Pro-Series rack on our Sienna on which I installed a 2" Curt hitch and a 2-bike Pro-Series rack on our Prius v wagon on which I installed a 1 1/4" Curt hitch.

Give the etrailer people a call if you have questions.  It's one of the best companies I've ever dealt with.

I particularly like how the 4-bike Pro-Series rack attaches to the hitch receiver with a threaded bolt that can accept a standard hitch pin lock - zero rattle when driving.  A wrench must be used to tighten the threaded bolt but the extra 10 seconds of work is worth it.  The rack tilts away to allow opening the rear hatch door.  I use the 4-bike Pro-Series hitch several times a week in the warmer months including last night when I rode my mountain bike 26+ miles.

 

 

[Broc Luno]

Excellent thread on installing nice hitches on RX models 🤠

[Kenmare]

I just bought my brother's 2008 RX350.  I need to add a hitch and have been looking on Youtube for some information.  It seems that some models are pre-wired with some type of two package that does not include the hitch itself.  I do not have the original window sticker.  Is there an easy way to determine if my model has the pre-wired system or do I have to disassemble the back in order to find out?