Hitch installed
I installed a Drawtite 36426 on Sunday. I picked this over the Hidden Hitch 90159 as Draw-tite owns Hidden Hitch and upon inspection they look remarkably similar, and less money. I got it from etrailer.com, which I recommend, for the pricing and helpful videos and stuff. The install was fairly straightforward, the difficulty being that the bolts and plates you fish through the frame have a tendency to turn a bit and get jammed in the frame. Have a few long screw drivers and a flashlight available, as you may have to guide them a bit, watch for them from under the bumper. You get to drill 4 holes in the frame, just make sure that you make them big enough to fit the bolts, and the fish wire. No external modifications are needed.
The hitch looks like a small hitch sticking out beneath the car, maybe 1/8” below the fascia, and maybe ½ below the exhaust tips. (I’ve got a picture in gallery, but I’m not yet advanced enough to add it to a post). I’ve measured up and am going to get a Thule 970XT, which should hug pretty close to the car and is one of the lighter Thule products. I won’t have that for a week or so.
edit: on some steep driveways, you may drag the hitch. More noise than anything.
While the listings don’t reflect a hitch for a CNV, I think that is a liability matter, as they want to follow the manufacturer’s recommendations. I will let you know what happens when I get the rack.
As with any post that involves anything beyond putting gas in the car, use all information at your own risk, YMMV, use your own good judgment as needed, I accept no liability or responsibility for modification to your car.
edit: used a Thule 971XT, it holds the bikes a little higher than the 970XT, Thule has a chart for this. The bikes seemed a bit back from the car, so I drilled a hole about 3.5" forward of the first and that worked out great.
No problems, it's been working great.
Pics in Gallery
Cheers!