When we last left off, the trailer was together, and only awaited a way to actually pull it…

That took the form of a Class I (wheelbarrows, Radio Flyer wagons, and kids on skateboards, age 10 and under) Hidden Hitch from etrailers.com, which goes under the part number 60887 for my particular Mustang. This same hitch is also sold as Reese part number 77029 and Draw-Tite part 24687, which says something about the stranglehold the international hitch cabal has on the market.

The hitch mount uses two existing bumper mount bolt holes, plus two new ones in the bumper core itself. To figure out where to drill, step one is to prop the hitch up in position to mark where the holes will go. Here, I am using the world’s oldest 15mm wrench to pull the factory bolts so that I can temporarily secure the hitch.

A step drill makes the job easier, but the bumper core is made of very hard sheet steel. ProTip: wear safety glasses, and sweep up all the little bits of steel before continuing or spend the next 24 hours picking them out of your scalp.

To actually secure the hitch to the bumper core, the kit uses two carriage bolts with rectangular backing plates dropped in from above. In order to actually do this, you have to enlarge a couple of the existing holes in the bumper, then fish the bolts and plates into position. Dad made quick work of the holes with the sabre saw, which turned out to be the easy part. We ended up using some mono-filament fishing line to pull the bolts over to the holes, then stood them up and dropped them through with the help of a powerful magnet.

To prevent the heartbreak of accidentally pushing the bolts back up into the bumper as we lifted the hitch into place, we threaded the nuts on as a preemptive strike.

Tada! The hitch is installed. We stuck the supplied spacers underneath the back two bolts to drop the receiver down at the rear to clear the bumper valance, and ended up with the drawbar exactly where we wanted it.

With the drawbar out and the receiver plug in place, it’s hard to even notice the hitch if you’re not looking for it. Very inconspicuous…

I have a feeling that the clock is ticking until I jam the trailer tongue against the bumper, but I’m going to be as careful as I can be.

The wiring kit I bought along with the hitch simply plugs into the taillight harnesses in the trunk, and rather than drill another hole, I just ran the plug out and gently closed the wire between the lid and the weatherstripping. Two hours of cursing and chasing circuits with a multimeter later, and the lights were working - to cut to the chase, I’ll just say, “always check your grounds first” and leave it at that.

With the War Wagon done, all that’s left is to get the tires balanced and take it out on a shakedown cruise to Fontana this coming weekend.