Receiver hitch suggestion

[shorod]

Last night I installed a Hidden Hitch round tube hitch on my 2000 Mercury Mountaineer. My Mountaineer has the 16" spare, so I was a bit concerned that the spare may not fit again. To my delight, the hitch was very easy to install (took 13 minutes, including the time to lower the spare out of the way) and looks fabulous. Per the instructions, I had to bend the forward spare tire guide approximately 1/2 inch forward to allow the spare to seat somewhat properly.

The spare does not fit flush against the underside of the cargo area like it used to, but the leading edge is still higher than the rear axle, even if the suspension is compressed fully, so it should not be a problem. It may collect a bit more road grime, but I'm not terribly concerned about that.

I have no connection to Hidden Hitch, other than I'm a satisfied customer and wanted to let others who may be in the market for a hitch know that the round tube style will work with the 16" spare.

-Rod

[rivguy]

all hitchs I have installed do the same thing with the spare on these vehicles. so not a big drawback to the hidden hitch

[shorod]

From the little research I did online, it sounded like the square tube hitches would not require a modification to the spare tire guide, but the round tubes did. Is that not the case? The square ones require that mod as well?

-Rod

[rivguy]

hve installed a few diferent ones and no the square ones don't tell you to modify the lift but the tire still hits on them causing the uneven stowage of the spare - every time you lift the tire you have to reach under the vehicle and guide it up on an angle around the hitch on the same angle as if you just modify the lift