So we have the Model 3 hooked up to this 1700 pound trailer. That is not my Model 3 so I'm
totally fine doing whatever!
[Music playing]
So Tesla's are some of the coolest cars on the planet. But, allowing a car to accomplish
more things is always a good thing. Today we're going to install a hitch on the Tesla
Model 3 that will allow it to tow, carry bikes, and just be an all-around more productive
vehicle. Let's get started.
[Intro]
So this isn't my Model 3, obviously. It took me a second to find someone brave enough to
let me teardown their vehicle.
[Ben] Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey. Wait a minute. Tear down?
[Zack] This is Ben from Teslanomics. He has a whole channel dedicated to the economics
of Tesla vehicles. Why do you want a hitch on your car?
[Ben] Well, I think that these cars are beautiful, but they are not as functional as they could
be. So adding this hitch is going to give me a whole new capability of, you know, carrying
bikes around, and little things like that. And while the Tesla's aren't rated to tow
anything yet, we did see a performance model that was pulling something recently. So I
thought this was just a great way to get that same functionality without having to buy an
$80,000 car.
[Zack] That's true. And the thing that I like about this hitch is that it does nothing to
change the aesthetics of the vehicle. You can't see it's there when it's installed.
It's totally hidden – 100%. Let's go around to the back of the car and show you how to
install it.
Alright, so we have to get this hunk of metal behind the bumper inside of this Tesla. So
we're going to tear off the whole back end to get it installed, but it's not as hard
as it sounds. This is called the Eco Hitch – I'll have it linked down in the video
description. This video is not sponsored. But this thing has a towing capacity of 2,000
pounds, and a tongue weight of 200 pounds.
Now, obviously, like we mentioned before, Tesla's not actually rated to tow stuff. But
at the same time, Tesla's are super powerful vehicles with electric motors and, you know,
large batteries inside. So it's not like it's going to hurt the car to throw a couple bikes
on the back or to tow a trailer every now and then. It's probably not the best idea
to put like a mobile home behind this thing. But, you know, 2,000 pounds is 2,000 pounds.
We'll test it out here at the end.
You nervous yet? Alright, for this little plastic piece over the top of the light, this
little guy is kind of hard to unscrew and we don't want to scratch it up because the
Tesla is kind of nice. So we're going to take these pliers with a cloth over it and then
grab it and twist it like that because the pliers are longer than your hands are. And
once it's started, it will come off the rest of the way.
Let's keep going. Alright, so there are 2 little plastic pins on the inside that you
just pop off this top and then the whole thing collapses inside allowing you to pull the
whole contraption out from underneath, allowing this felt piece to pull away, giving us access
to the taillights. And then to pull the taillight out, there are 2 bolts holding it in and both
of these are 8 millimeters.
Alright, after those 2 nuts are released from the bolts, the whole thing comes away. There
are 2 little pins: one here and one here. And the way that they're shaped, they go inside
these little plugs. So just a little bit of force pops the whole light out of the housing.
So the other...the passenger taillight is the same way. It has those 2 little nuts inside.
And then hopefully...yep, same 2 little clasps right here. So now the taillights are out
and now we can work on the bumper.
[Ben] So we've got these 2 pushpins that hold this side of the bumper into the wheel well
And then just one torque screw that holds it all together.
[Zack] Okay, so we are underneath the Model 3 right now and there are...these are all
10 millimeter bolts. There are 3 over here on this end and we're moving this bottom plastic
plate. And then there are 2 more clips right here on the very end right next to the bumper.
And these can be pulled down with just a screwdriver popping out this plastic piece and then you
have full access to the bolts right there. So let's pull off this plastic chunk.
Remember, throughout this whole process it's probably a good idea to keep your screws organized,
as with any project. There are 2 more bolts up here at the top of the bumper underneath
where those headlights used to be. And by headlights, I mean taillights.
So the bumper itself is all made of plastic and it's got these little clasps right here.
So I'm going to unclip all of these. [Snapping sound] Oh! This isn't my car! And then all
of the rear sensors on the bumper are attached to this little guy. And then the whole thing
comes out. Looks like Ben's been collecting rocks under here for a little while. You been
taking this thing off-roading? Where have you been going buddy?
[Ben] Ha ha! I've just been jumping it, you know!
[Zack] And this is what a Tesla looks like without the whole bumper or taillights. How
are you feeling about not having your car in one piece anymore, Ben?
[Ben] Ha ha! I feel alight. I'm a little worried about the Ikea nature of the assembly, but
I know where to go if we lose any of these parts.
[Zack] Those plastic push pins are impressive.
[Ben] Yes! You know, get some cinnamon rolls while you're there. It's cool.
[Zack] Okay, so all the plastic bumper stuff is off. There's this metal piece right here
called the crash bar, and there are 3 bolts on either side. Three where Ben is at, and
then 3 right here inside of these little holes. And each of them are 15 millimeters. And then
the whole crash bar pulls up and away from the frame.
So this is the hitch right here, and you see how it has this sloping plate? The car also
has a sloping plate. So this piece of metal right here, we actually take off and discard.
We don't need it. But to access this metal, we have to remove this. And these are all
10 millimeter bolts, and there are 5 of them. One here...two...three...four...and five.
[Ben] I'm just going to pull this clip off, and you just set it inside.
[Zack] Man, this is pretty brutal. So these are the same 15 millimeter bolts all the way
around this. And once they are all off, we don't need this piece of metal anymore because
the slope is included on the actual hitch itself. Alright, so you remember that piece
we just pulled off and discarded? There are these little plastic washers that are included
with the kit that we're going to put on each one of these little bolts, and that's to keep
the 2 metals separate from each other. And it could be for vibrations, to minimize them,
or it also could be because 2 dissimilar metals fusing together is a thing and we don't want
that to happen.
So the white washers go on these bolts as well as the 3 bolts right here on the mount
itself, and that's where the crash bars installs once the hitch is on the Model 3. Perfect.
So now the hitch is installed on the back of the Model 3. This part right here is removable.
I'll show you that in a second. And all of these nuts are tightened down to 50 pound
feet of torque. So the thing with torquing down all of these bolts to the 50 foot pounds
of torque is so that the torque wrench, right when you hit the right amount of torque, it
will do this clicking thing. [Click sound] Right there. And that's when you know when
to stop, and the nut is tight enough on the bolt. Then the crash bar attaches right onto
the hitch itself, with the white washers between it and the hitch to prevent that corrosion.
So the crash bar is also installed now, and each of the nuts holding it in place are also
torqued down to that same 50 foot pounds of torque that the base hitch was torqued down
to. This part right here is the hitch. And the whole hitch is hidden except for this
part right here which sticks up inside of the bumper and attaches to the hitch itself
that we just mounted. But in order for that to happen, we do have to cut the only cut
that we're going to make, a hole in the bottom of that plastic piece underneath the bumper
itself. That way, with the hole there, this can slip inside of the hole, and then this
will protrude out, but only when we actually want to tow something. That way when we're
not actually towing something, we can take it out and it's hidden and the Tesla 3 looks
like it has no hitch.
So probably the scariest part of this ordeal is cutting into the bumper itself. But it's
actually a lot simpler than it seems. We have the bumper off of the car, set right here.
And to get the correct measurements, we're measuring from the inside of the car to the
outside where the bumper is at. And right here, measuring along this center line, we're
looking at 26 and ½ inches, which is this line right here. And in the instructions it
says that if we put a dot right here, which is ¾ of an inch, from this one center line,
we can use a 4 inch hole saw and cut right there, and then put another dot over here,
2 and ¼ inches from the center line, and use that same 4 inch hole saw right here.
We don't have a 4 inch hole saw, so we used this pink candle, set it right here and got
the diameters correct. And then we can use a jig saw to cut that hole out and it accomplishes
the same thing.
And there we have it. Perfectly cut for the hitch.
Alright so the bumper is in place. It's clipped in in both wheel wells. We have the little
plastic tacks and both torque screws going up in the top, connecting the bumper and the
wheel wells. And Ben just finished installing all the bolts underneath that plastic skid
plate. So we should be good to go after we install the brake lights. We have to test
out the trailer.
Alright so we have the passenger taillight installed. Remember it has that plastic bit
up top. Then we got the driver's side taillight for the Model 3. Now it's in. And we'll plug
it in and get those 2 nuts screwed in on the backside. And this is what it looks like with
the hitch installed.
Let's get that trailer on.
[Music playing]
Alright, so we have the Model 3 hooked up to this 1700 pound trailer, which is pretty
close to maxing out the towing capacity of the hitch we just installed. But we're going
to give it a try anyway. Like I said, it's not my Model 3 so I'm totally fine doing whatever.
[Music playing]
So I think the trailer did good. I was on the trailer, so how did it feel from the inside?
[Ben] It felt good. It didn't have any kind of hesitation about pulling it. It felt strong.
I was more worried about the trailer kind of bouncing around and stuff, but it felt
solid.
[Zack] Obviously we weren't going super fast in a parking lot testing it out because we
don't have the lights and stuff on the back of it. Depends on what state you're in, you
might need a wiring harness and brake lights and all of that stuff. But for a bike rack
and stuff – I think it would be great.
[Ben] Yeah, for any reasonable amount of needs that you would have for a vehicle like this,
it performs well. So thumbs up.
[Zack] You might not use that hitch all the time, but sometimes it's useful to have on
there.
[Ben] And when you don't need it, it's totally hidden.
[Zack] If you have any questions or comments, leave them down in the comments section. Check
out Ben's channel. I'll leave a link right here. And thanks a ton for watching. I'll
see you around.