Automotively challenged question on trailer hitch ball thingy

[magnoliasouth]

Yes, I'm a woman and I'm lucky that I can put gas in my car. You have to speak to me like I'm two here because I don't know a thing about cars, though I must say proudly that I changed a flat last month. Girl power!

So, I have an '07 Santa Fe 2wd. It's just basic without a trailer hitch or bar (if it needs a bar) or anything. Just a basic SUV.

I want to add a trailer hitch, but my mechanic said he doesn't sell them. He said if I buy one, he'll install it for me. Great. Problem is I have no idea what I need to get for him to install and he's always so busy I hate to bother him to ask and he'd have to write it down for me because it may as well be Chinese speak to me.

I thought it wouldn't be difficult until I went to autozone.com and found that there were bars and balls and light kits and and and. I've no idea what I need. I just want a hitch and I want to be able to attach something to it, like a trailer, and I want it to work. Is that so hard?

So, what all do I need? Can you provide me with examples? Naturally I want to keep cost down as much as possible.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[maxwedge]

Find a u haul dealer, they can do everything thing you need.

[shorod]

Is there a trailer that you have in mind for use with the hitch? What you will need depends greatly upon what you plan to use the hitch with. If you only plan to slide a bicycle rack in to it, you don't even need wiring. If you plan to tow a boat, you need one rated for the weight of the boat and will need a 4 terminal wiring harness. If you plan to tow a small travel trailer / camper you will likely need a 7 terminal wiring harness and possibly a trailer brake controller.

You might get some goodness out of visiting etrailer.com. They have a large variety of products that you can look up by application, with descriptions on what each product is good for.

Whichever source you decide to go with, you're going to want to be prepared to answer, at a minimum, the questions typed out above.

-Rod