[STL FXT]

Just got the Valley 2" receiver hitch for my wifes 2010 FXT. The Curt was less expensive, but I like the flat plate where the safety chains attach rather than the bent round rod. The 1-1/4" Curt has that, but the 2" was round rod. In hindsight, I could make the round rods work for my planned mods but oh well. The Valley is 1/4" plates for the attachment to the frame (looks the same on a Curt). The Valley is two separate pieces of 2" square tube that meet at the receiver. The Valley has holes on each end where I see that the Curt is sealed. If the prep work is good, sealed is better. I may round up some silicone grommets to seal the holes in the Valley after shooting some extra Rustoleum inside. The hitch came in a cardboard box from Southwest (that's who you buy from if you start out on the Valley Hitch website), but still had two spots where the coating (looks more like paint than powder coat) was chipped and bare metal exposed. Looked like good clean prep work on the metal, so I wiped it down and hit with the shaker can of enamel.

The Valley instructions are very generic and the vehicle applications for the wiring kit don't specifically say 09-10 Forester. The Curt site has actual instructions that show a Subaru wagon and the two different locations for Forester and Outback. I printed them out to help with the Valley install.

In hindsight (again looking backwards out my a$$) the Curt would be the better choice (less expensive, equal or better quality, better instructions, similar shipping issues). However, I will have a 2" hitch (able to use all my 2" drawbars/accessories) for about half the cost of a factory/dealer installed 1-1/4" model.

 

[NormSubie]

I just had a Curt 2" hitch installed on my FXT by a local hitch place. Cost me $174 for the hitch and $45 for the install. I know....I could've gotten the hitch for around $50 less (etrailer.com), but I didn't want to deal with the install myself. The installation required 4 existing holes to be bigger in order for the bolts to fit. I didn't want to deal with that under the car, and the cost of getting a strong drill bits/dremmel was not worth the extra dollars I paid for my hitch.

So far, so good. I only carry a bike rack on it.

 

[STL FXT]

All done

Did the install this morning. Relatively easy. The instructions said to detach all five hangers and support the exhaust system, but I saw on another post where someone removed just the two mufflers. Being only 2-1/2 weeks old, the bolts were not even rusty. It was very easy to drop the individual mufflers and leave the Y pipe hanging on its support. Plus more room to work around. Dremel with a stone wheel to make a rectangular slot big enough for the carriage bolt plates. The small bolt hole size was OK. Only lost a very small piece of knuckle skin. Plus I found out that Rally Armor makes a great mirror!

 

[Alp4388]

Class III Valley hitch interfering with muffler supports

Just installed a Valley Class III hitch on my 2010 forester which was pretty easy to install, but when I raised the muffler back into place the hangers closest to the bumper are touching the sides of the hitch. Right now I only have one support on each muffler. Does any one know what the fix is?