Alpha470

Installed the hitch, and it looks great, especially with the black paint on my GX! The only obstacles I ran into were: 1) Bolts on tow hook were on very tight. Hard to loosen. Penetrating oil helped with that. 2) Working around the exhaust was difficult. Is there a trick to removing the muffler from the exhaust hanger without using the designated remover tool? Now time to get the boat out to the lake! Thanks again, Bob, for the help.

Thanks Bob. Based on your advice, I'm going with the factory hitch. My local Lexus dealer was willing to match the lowest online price, which brought me from $800 dealer installed to $300 self installed. I'll reply once I finish the work. Making sure I have the right tools before beginning.

I recently purchased a 2004 GX470 which appears to have the tow package installed without the receiver. The light harness is there as well as the plate to mount the factory receiver. I was planning to purchase an aftermarket hitch receiver to have the Class III, perhaps save a few bucks, and perhaps the self-installation might be simpler. However, it looks like the lighting harness would get in the way. Has anyone done this type of installation? What hitch did you buy, and did you have to rework the lighting harness to get it to work? The hitches I am looking at are: Curt 13445, Hidden Hitch 70779, Draw Tite 75155, and Reese 44548 Thanks, Tim

I am new to the GX470, and the owners manual mentions that the KDSS light should appear on the instrument panel for a few seconds when you turn the key to the "ON" position. If it does not show, it is not installed.