LX470 Towing Setup is Dumb (1 Viewer)

[zackro]

Lexus had a great idea: Integrate a towing receiver that was rated for moderate duty and didn't hang down to obstruct off-road clearance. Great! The only problem is they didn't make the "hole" for the hitch a standard size, which requires one to order the actual Lexus hitch ball mount. And then guess what? When you order that part -- the official part -- the "ball hitch mount" doesn't include the actual ball. And then guess what? The ball off of all of my other ball hitches won't fit it.

Seriously, this truck is one of the best-engineered vehicles in the world, and I love every aspect of it.....except for this. It's almost like they took all of their engineering power and decided to make the process of wanting to tow a Uhaul trailer as difficult as possible.

Sorry, this is just a rant.

 

[thebeedeegee]

Wait is there 2 different hitch setups? The receiver on my LX fits the hitch off my Colorado.

 

[saucebox]

Weird. Off the shelf Reese and Uhaul hitches have both fit in mine.

 

[zackro]

I've heard that it depends on the shape of the corners of your hitch. Various people on the forum have said their existing hitches fit, but others have said theirs didn't. Neither of mine -- one hitch and one cargo carrier -- fit. The corners were too square, whereas the receiver on the LX has rounded corners. One person speculated that Lexus actually designed a 50mm hitch rather than a 2" hitch. I don't know if that's true, but this is a silly problem to have. And when I order the "ball hitch mount" from Lexus, it should include the ball. If it doesn't, it should at least fit other balls from other hitches. It seriously is like they tried to make the whole thing as hard as possible.

 

[JunkCrzr89]

One person speculated that Lexus actually designed a 50mm hitch rather than a 2" hitch. I don't know if that's true, but this is a silly problem to have.

Not speculation. Everywhere in the world outside of the US uses 50mm hitches. It is a 50mm I.D. sleeve. Buy a 50mm hitch. Problem solved.

 

[hoser]

Nobody has compatiblity issues with the "under the bumper hitch" because I believe those are all port/dealer installed and made/sold in the USA.

 

[MJK]

2" tongue fits fine in my stock in-bumper hitch just fine? My OEM receiver opening is 52.1+mm wide and just slightly taller. The pin spacing and tire clearance can be a bit tricky, but wasn't anything a tape measure and a grinder won't fix up quickly. I trimmed away the sections in yellow below for the tongue I use on the LX.

As for the square corners thing - I haven't run in to that. I have lots of hitches for my ford truck and any will slide in just fine - even a Reese 21330 which is rated for 16000lb. They won't pin with the spare in place and the drop is not what I need, but they fit in the sleeve.

Pure speculation: I can see Mr T having two different inserts for different markets. You guys claiming the 50mm standard is on yours, you didn't get them from an overseas vendor or something did you?

 

[bamabrock]

You can get a ball mount at Walmart that fits.

I've posted pics of the labels from the hitch I bought there that works with the in crossmember hitch

 

[2020 Rocks]

Lexus had a great idea: Integrate a towing receiver that was rated for moderate duty and didn't hang down to obstruct off-road clearance. Great! The only problem is they didn't make the "hole" for the hitch a standard size, which requires one to order the actual Lexus hitch ball mount. And then guess what? When you order that part -- the official part -- the "ball hitch mount" doesn't include the actual ball. And then guess what? The ball off of all of my other ball hitches won't fit it.

Seriously, this truck is one of the best-engineered vehicles in the world, and I love every aspect of it.....except for this. It's almost like they took all of their engineering power and decided to make the process of wanting to tow a Uhaul trailer as difficult as possible.

Sorry, this is just a rant.

Maybe a Lexus with a UHaul out back was not exactly the image/rep Lexus was after?

 

[terrapin]

As for the square corners thing - I haven't run in to that.

The problem I found is with the solid heavy duty ball mounts like the one on the left. The hollow one on the right fit my LX470 but like @MJK I had to grind it down a bit. The one of the left would not fit. FWIW I also have a 200 Series with an integrated hitch and the solid/square ball mount fits it just fine. So the obvious solution is to buy a 200

 

[J1000]

What is the tow rating of the in-bumper hitch? Can it be installed on an LX with the under-bumper hitch?

 

[hoser]

I believe the rating is 5,000lbs... because it not rated for a weight distribution hitch. Your '07 likely has the in-bumper crossmember underneath the bumper skin.

 

[CBeckFJ]

The in bumper hitch fits a Lock N Roll receiver just fine

 

[bamabrock]

Lexus had a great idea: Integrate a towing receiver that was rated for moderate duty and didn't hang down to obstruct off-road clearance. Great! The only problem is they didn't make the "hole" for the hitch a standard size, which requires one to order the actual Lexus hitch ball mount. And then guess what? When you order that part -- the official part -- the "ball hitch mount" doesn't include the actual ball. And then guess what? The ball off of all of my other ball hitches won't fit it.

Seriously, this truck is one of the best-engineered vehicles in the world, and I love every aspect of it.....except for this. It's almost like they took all of their engineering power and decided to make the process of wanting to tow a Uhaul trailer as difficult as possible.

Sorry, this is just a rant.

You can get a ball mount at Walmart that fits.

I've posted pics of the labels from the hitch I bought there that works with the in crossmember hitch

 

[BEETROOT]

Reviving this old thread because I just ran into this. I have the bumper integrated towing setup and none of my ball mounts fit. Even ball mounts sold in the US as "2 inch / 50 mm" are actually 50.8. Hard to imagine that 0.8mm makes a difference but they don't fit in mine. I have a couple of the 2" Reese mounts pictured above and they don't fit either , so I'm thinking there may be differences in manufacturing tolerances for the bumper attachment. I got a tight one.

I ordered the OEM tow ball mount and ball from the dealer, hopefully that works until I get my new rear bumper installed.

Spent 20 min with a grinder on one of the Reese mounts yesterday and still has a long way to go. I can get it in the first inch or so then hard stop.

 

[w4lks0ftly]

I had to grind down the corners of the quill on our 1*Up bike rack for this same reason. Broke my heart. Walking through Big R and Ace Hardware locally, billet receivers (extensions) generally don't fit, while tube receivers generally do based on corner radius.

The next problem is the hitch pin hole alignment, which hasn't been compatible on anything other than the Toyota OEM receiver (a very nice piece, BTW) and a Yankum Ropes Hitch Receiver Recovery Point. Alan at Yankum is a Land Cruiser guy, so maybe that's why... Toyota allows 1" between hole center and the end of the receiver before spare tire interference is possible. Most domestic products have 2" between hole center and the end of the receiver.

Once you make peace with the specifics of the design, it's a great hitch. Getting there is frustrating, though.

 

[krice118]

Wow just when I thought I knew every nuance of the 100 series.

For the record my 2013LX570 factory in bumper receiver fits a traditional 2” ball hitch that also works on my ‘98 LC 2”

 

[BEETROOT]

I had to grind down the corners of the quill on our 1*Up bike rack for this same reason. Broke my heart. Walking through Big R and Ace Hardware locally, billet receivers (extensions) generally don't fit, while tube receivers generally do based on corner radius.

The next problem is the hitch pin hole alignment, which hasn't been compatible on anything other than the Toyota OEM receiver (a very nice piece, BTW) and a Yankum Ropes Hitch Receiver Recovery Point. Alan at Yankum is a Land Cruiser guy, so maybe that's why... Toyota allows 1" between hole center and the end of the receiver before spare tire interference is possible. Most domestic products have 2" between hole center and the end of the receiver.

Once you make peace with the specifics of the design, it's a great hitch. Getting there is frustrating, though.

Funny my bike rack fits, because it's more like 1.5" and then expands out to tighten when you put the threaded hitch pin through. However it had to go in so far to reach the pin hole I had to ditch my spare tire to use it.

I agree it's a good sturdy low profile towing setup. Just so odd that they would sell it this way. Someone said earlier that the LX470 receiver is a normal size for the rest of the (non US) world. Maybe true - but for a vehicle sold in the US it would have been so easy to just swap out the bolt on towing attachment for the correct one.

 

[BEETROOT]

Unless you really need the high clearance of the integrated bumper receiver, the Curt bolt on hitch is probably the best option for most. Adds a little more tow capacity (6500 vs 5000lbs) and avoids these issues.

 

[w4lks0ftly]

Totally agree. The only additional advantage of the integrated bumper receiver that I haven't seen discussed is weight (not generally a priority on this vehicle, I understand). The Curt bolt on hitch and other similar designs are ~40 lbs heavier than the integrated design. Placed at the maximum rear lever arm of the truck, that's a meaningful amount of GVW that could go toward beer.