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looking online for a trailer hitch that i can install to my 2012 panamera to pull my jetski , i have other vehicles that can pull my jetski so it is no stress if no one here has an answer but i was just looking to see if any one here in the forums in the usa has installed a trailer hitch on their panamera. if so where did you buy when looking through other websites i only see people overseas selling it i kind of want to order it from someone in the u.s if available. let me know thanks
Last edited by panamera_lou; 07-15-2018 at 05:57 PM.
Stealth Hitches has discontinued all their Panamera hitches, so overseas is the only vendor option.
Stealth Hitches offered to sell me some parts so I could have a local fab shop custom make one.
being a DIY kinda guy, though, I ordered a 2022 Cayenne hitch for it instead. It fits up pretty easily.
6 new holes in the hitch to match the factory bolt locations, and a 2,5” square cutout at the bottom of the fascia. Make the cut nice and neat and you can use the cutout part to make a cover for the hole when the hitch isn’t in use.
We just got a trailer few weeks ago and was looking for a proper hitch. Should i contact MHSRV (those are their reviews)?
Anyone had experience with them? We are planning a three-four months trip to Patagonia in a few months and want to be prepared well for it.
Any other recommendation where i can get this thing ? Appreciate.
A truely “proper” hitch is nigh on impossible to find- please report back if you do! I found one marketed in Europe that looks like the factory option which was never available here.
My adapted Cayenne hitch solution is slightly improper, but I’m confident enough to use it for my car. YMMV, your own risk, etc, etc. It uses the same mounting bolts, location, and everything that the proper 970 Stealth Hitch used.
I found a source here on 6speed that says the Panamera was rated to tow 4800 lbs with a 200 lb tongue weight. The Cayenne unit well exceeds those specs.
@rdeis So the 2022 Cayenne stealth hitch will bolt up to the 970's? I just bought a 2012 PTT yesterday, and need to add a hitch for the bike carrier. I can fabricate it myself, but it'd save a weekend if I can bolt one up, ready to go. Any tips to installing that? Looks slick!
I've heard that hitches were also available in the european market. Anyone have leads on where to purchase one?
Mostly, yes, I’ve been using a Cayenne StealthHitch with a 2” receiver bike rack for over a year now and it’s been great. (The rear parking sensors do get quite concerned about bicycles on the rack when backing up. They seem to think I’m about to run in to something! heh..)
StealthHitch says to use the 2” receiver *only* for racks and the like, they have a separate draw bar and wiring harness to use for towing. Those will fit my setup, but I haven’t purchase them yet.
A fewcaveats from my memory:
1. As far as I can tell from the installation instructions, the bolt-up hitch for the Cayenne is intended to replace the aluminum crash bar under the bumper cover. The discontinued StealthHitch for the Panamera worked the same way.
To install, you remove the cover, remove the crash bar, install the hitch, then put the cover back.
There are 4 mounting bolts on each side for the crash bar, you remove that and then bolt up the hitch in its place. *Some* of the bolt holes on the Panamera match, I drilled new holes in the hitch for the others. Factory holes and bolts on the car are reused with no modification.
2. Replacing the aluminum crash bar under the bumper cover with a steel hitch assembly seems a little “off” to me somehow. So I relieved my crash bar in several places until I could put it back it it’s original place over the top of the hitch. That’s probably not important, but it made me feel better.
3. There are two plastic supports for the bumper cover that need to be trimmed a bit to go around the hitch as well.
I’ve got a photo log of everything I did, I’ll go dig them up and post if you like?
Mounting holes on the car Bumper cover support after trimming Hitch bolt plate with new holes Bumper cover support mounted in original location, trimmed to fit under the hitch.
Part number from the hitch I used.
Last edited by rdeis; 01-19-2024 at 09:56 AM.
Reason: Typos
The etrailer one you found is way cheaper, and I think could be adapted the same way as the one I used.
I’d be a little concerned about ground clearance since the tube is permanent. Not sure if it’s lower than mine or not, you’d have to check the pictures pretty carefully. Cutting of the cover would be different, too.
That said- I never take the tube out of mine and I haven’t had any clearance issues, so maybe it’s fine?
07-15-2018, 05:47 PM
