TRIMAX TRZ12AL 12" Premium Aluminum Adjustable Hitch with Dual Hitch Ball and T3 Receiver Lock

My 2016 BMW X3 is not compatible with bumper guards (the type that mount to the the chassis rails that connect the bumper to the car). The alternative is to install a trailer hitch, which is much more robust than the chassis rails, and then insert a typical hitch mounted bumper guard / step (see photo). The trailer hitch that I chose has a 2“ x 2“ receiver. The problem with this approach on the X3 is that the trailer hitch mounts very low. As a result the hitch mounted bumper guard bars wind up being completely below the height of the bumper belonging to the car behind you and offers no protection whatsoever! I discovered this the hard way (and my wife pointed it out when I was parking in front of a Subaru Forester😳). However, the Trimax 12” adjustable hitch vertically crosses the bumper of the X3 all the way to the top of the bumper and is a VERY SOLID product made from forged aluminum. It offers protection similar to that of a hitch mounted bicycle rack but is much more attractive and not in the way of the rear hatch. This set up doesn’t protect the corners but it does a good job protecting from straight on bumps from behind. I didn’t mount the adjustable ball because I’m being kind to the vehicles behind me. Without the ball the adjustable hitch offers good protection without causing any damage to the bumper of the vehicle in back. So far it’s a great product for this purpose!

Awesome hitch so far, looks great and is easy to adjust according to your height needs. Quality is there and the over all finish of this hitch really stands out. I don’t give it 5 stars because the hitch has alittle bit of play in the hitch receiver sleeve and that bit of play causes scoring to the hitch it’s self. Eventually the scoring will probably get a lot worse over time but we shall see what happens over time. I pull a 16ft car hauler and I trust it completely, I just hope the scoring won’t get too bad to where it hurts the integrity of the hitch.

I used it for a month before my TRUCK caught on FIRE...The truck was FRIED but the Hitch looks like new..was able to get it off truck before they took it scrape yard!

I was using the larger 2 5/16" ball which means the 2" ball was on bottom during use, (i.e facing downward). Despite having a lock washer and "hand checking" the tightness of the balls before use, it vibrated loose and fell off somewhere along my journey. Since the trailer was still hooked to the larger ball on top, I never new I had a problem, but there are any number of scenarios that could have made the unsecured ball fly up and out of the hole in the hitch. I have no idea where the 2" ball is or if it cause an accident or damage to another vehicle as it bounced down the highway. To make matters worse, the thread pitch on the stem pf the larger ball is an odd ball pattern so you can't just buy a replacement female 2" ball or put a nut on the larger ball that I still have. I called customer service and found it very easy to get on the phone with a human being. He was also very cordial in our conversation but did not offer a free replacement. Had I known this unique design and proprietary thread pattern was a known issue, (see other reviews), I would have pushed back a little but I accepted responsibility for the problem and ordered a replacement ball. It cost about $12 plus shipping so a little over $20 overall. I received it within a few days. Other than this issue, I have been very happy with the product.

As described

This is much nicer than I thought it would be. I don't know about longevity, but it is super shiny and has smooth edges, somebody took some time smoothing out the edges. Locks are easy to use and they fit well. Hardest part is joining or screwing the balls together it takes 250lbs of torque as per instructions. I had to borrow a torque wrench from my mechanic, but it was easy. I would buy again and I can recommend.

Box says both made in USA and made in China. Now I understand “designed in USA” or “assembled with global materials”, etc but this was a disappointment. Also the 2” ball is only rated for 8K though nothing in the description derates the 2”. That said, it does it’s job and longer than most any for when I have the little trailer on my big truck.

I loved this at first, by now I don't love it anymore. My original application was to tow my off road toys behind my lifted Land Rover. I need a long drop and have two different trailers with two different tongue heights, so this fit the bill perfectly - at first.Fast forward to my recent purchase of a Toyota Sequoia. For this application, there are two key issues. One, obvious to the buyer so no points removed, but one not obvious at all, so I could have dropped more stars that what would have originally been a 5 star rating.First off, the design of this hitch is great if you don't need to adjust the ball where it is not adjustable with this hitch. If you want close to no drop or rise, it simply wont work by its design. The "wrap around" design of the ball mount makes it stop. If I could to do this again, I would have found a model where you can adjust the ball more to little or no drop. No way to do that with this hitch, making it less versatile as a long term, don't know what the future holds, kind of purchase. However, my bad for poor planning, just putting this out there for others.Now, what is not "my bad" is the locking pin. It is simply not long enough to lock onto the stock hitch of my Toyota Sequoia,l which has another layer of metal "wrapping" the hitch so it is about a total of 1/4" wider than a standard hitch. That is not "my bad" by a bad design by the manufacturer. So, I have to use a different pin that did not come with it. If I would have originally bought this for my Toyota I would have sent it back or asked the manufacturer for a pin that fits with a matching key.

I would recommend this hitch to anybody in need of a 12" drop. Great hitch.

I use this hitch everyday and it is by far the best hitch I’ve owned.

Like it. Very good fit for my f350 with the added height. Dont recommend 12" unless you truck is high. They sell shorter ones as well.

Should have bought this a long time ago!!!I have a dodge 2500, 12” is ok, 8” would be perfect

The "safety screw" that you are supposed to install with an allen key had no hexagonal hole cut into the head. The only way to install it was to use a saw to cut a slot in the screw and use a screwdriver.The lock washer that came with the screw was such soft metal that it squished out from under the screw head, so I had to use thread locker instead.The hole that the screw goes into was packed full of rust, and because it is left hand thread, I could not clean it out with a tap, and had to resort to chipping the rust out with a thin pick.Seems unreasonable to spend 2 hours fixing something that I just unboxed.