Trailer Hitch Cover Removal

[RICKBETTY]

How do you remove the rear trailer hitch cover to hook a hitch receiver.. I've tried sliding brackets on underside and pulling off. Its not coming off. 2015 AI

[Pahaska]

I think you have to slide the brackets and then push in and down, not pull. You have to get the cover off the pins.

There is a good video here

[Titus]

Getting the pins disengaged is the easy part. With the pins out of the way you then pull down. But the top of the cover has a strengthening rib that faces towards the front of the vehicle. This rib hits the top of the hitch as you pull it down. So you have to pull it back as you pull it down, including perhaps prying it with a screwdriver or flat pry-bar. After fighting it several times I decided to to use a utility knife to remove the forward-facing rib in between the two tabs that stick up into the bumper cover (you will see these tabs once you finally get the cover removed). This allows the cover to more easily clear the hitch as you pull it downward.

[2016TourExt]

To be as complete as possible for future posters (since I almost missed this thread while searching), we have a 2016 Interstate Grand Tour Ext (the hitch cover is part of the Sprinter Van).
We completed Step 2 of the attached instructions for how to remove the hitch cover, but Step 3 (pull straight down) failed.


This link will skip to the relevant clip at 4:12 of Pahaska's video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRtvWtcB3pM&t=4m12s

...but it doesn't really work as shown (possibly due to individual variation in warping of the plastic?).

When we pull down on either the left or the right of the hitch cover, it pulls the other side up, suggesting that something is caught on the center, not on the side lips.
As such, it looks like Titus has the best suggestion so far, so we'll have to use some more brute force on it.

[Pahaska]

When I posted before, I had not removed mine yet. When I tried to remove it, I got a big surprise.

There is a lip on the top of the hitch cover that hangs on the receiver. Mine was just like yours, impossible to get off. In order to get mine off, I had to lay under the AI and insert a broomstick through the receiver, front to back. I used the broomstick to push the cover back, away from the receiver, so that the lip would not hang up. It took a lot of pressure to get it free; I actually had to distort the fiberglass bumper a bit to get enough clearance. Once I pushed hard enough on the broomstick, the hitch cover came down easily.

Once I had the cover free, I could see the lip on the cover and I could see a line of dirt that showed me what part of the cover was out of sight inside the bumper. I took a utility knife and carved the lip away the width of the notch in the top of the cover, using the dirt line as a guide so I would not carve away too much. I widened the notch a bit to make sure it was wider than the receiver. The plastic cover is very easy to cut.

Mine goes on and off very easily now. The Airstream video probably works for some AI, but it is a matter of just how close the bumper is on some units.

[UKDUDE]

I currently have mine off ready for a trailer. Pictures attached.
The problem is the two lips are a tad too large; I had to insert a cloth covered screwdriver from the outside between the removable cover and the fixed part, and apply pressure to lower the lip sufficiently to remove the cover. It worked without damage.