Receiver Hitch Recommendation?

[wautard1]

I just found out today that receiver hitches on Max Tow trucks are only rated to 5k lbs with non weight distribution trailers.

Has anyone replaced theirs with a true class 4 receiver yet? If so, what did you go with?

Full story, reserved a trailer at the local rental spot. They bent down to look at the hitch and said no go since it was. 7.5k lbs capacity trailer. That’s when I saw this sticker.

It’s my fault for not knowing but it’s kind of ridiculous for Ford to not provide a class 4 hitch with the weight capacity of the Max Tow.

Sponsored

 

[TomB985]

I just found out today that receiver hitches on Max Tow trucks are only rated to 5k lbs with non weight distribution trailers.

Has anyone replaced theirs with a true class 4 receiver yet? If so, what did you go with?

Full story, reserved a trailer at the local rental spot. They bent down to look at the hitch and said no go since it was. 7.5k lbs capacity trailer. That’s when I saw this sticker.

It’s my fault for not knowing but it’s kind of ridiculous for Ford to not provide a class 4 hitch with the weight capacity of the Max Tow.

Every F150 made since at least 2003 when I started looking has been rated for 500 lbs weight-carrying tongue weight. I had a loaner Max Tow Powerboost truck while mine was in the shop, and the hitch was rated for 500/5,000 WC, 1,400/14,000 WD.

The hitches on the ICE trucks are different because the rear frame is an entirely different design. I've never heard of someone upgrading a hitch to get a higher WC rating, and I've never seen any aftermarket hitches for the Lightning. I don't think you'd ever find one because every Lightning comes with a hitch.

I've never heard of someone breaking their hitch by exceeding the reduced WC tongue weight, but it's not something I've done before. It's an extremely common thing, though.

 

[wautard1]

It’s really crappy that they provide a receiver class that doesn’t even come close to the advertised towing weight. It feels like a cheap out move to same some dollars.

5,000 GTW is something like a class 2.5 hitch.

A class 3 hitch would give us 8,000 lbs of GTW.

Trucks with the max tow package are more than capable at handling this weight.

An internet search shows nothing for an aftermarket Lightning receiver hitch. I can’t be the only running into this cheap problem?

 

[Heliian]

class 4 hitch with the weight capacity of the Max Tow

None of the f150s have that. Check out ford's towing guide online:
https://www.ford.com/towing/

 

[wautard1]

None of the f150s have that. Check out ford's towing guide online:
https://www.ford.com/towing/

I’m saying it’s Ford being cheap. I don’t doubt none of them have a true class 3 while many of them are more than capable of handling a class 3 load.

 

[SilverJ]

Weight distribution hitch is a misunderstood term.
https://www.etrailer.com/faq-weightdistribution.aspx

 

[Adventureboy]

Ford is keeping the truck within safety parameters. The truck is not designed to carry more than 500lbs/5000lb on the hitch alone. Loading additional tongue weight will squat the truck more than is deemed to be safe by Ford, hence the limitations. I suggest if you want to tow more than 5000lbs that you actually do use a weight distribution hitch. It intentionally shifts the tongue weight (up to 1000lb) from the hitch forward to a more centered location on the truck instead of hanging it behind the bumper. This minimizes squat and uses the suspension of all 4 wheels to carry the extra load safely instead of over-leveraging the rear suspension only. They work really well for heavy trailers and are far safer for heavy loads.
The factory receiver will work fine to 10,000 lbs if you use the weight distribution hitch as described @SilverJ's post above.

 

[GarageMahal]

Weight distribution hitch is a misunderstood term.
https://www.etrailer.com/faq-weightdistribution.aspx

Interesting information. Learning something new today...

It still isn't clear to me if a weight distributing hitch works with any (heavy) trailer. I'm wondering why the rental company for the trailer wouldn't also have these available for rent and offer it right up (for a fee of course) ?

Am I understanding this correctly: There is no need but a new mount for the truck but simply buying a new weight distributing receiver hitch resolves the issue.

 

[Zaptor]

Am I understanding this correctly: There is no need but a new mount for the truck but simply buying a new weight distributing receiver hitch resolves the issue.

Pretty sure that's correct. I am looking at this one: https://shockerhitch.com/product/ai...air-equalizer-kit=air-equalizer-xr-ball-mount
because I tow pretty regularly and want a less jarring ride plus that full 10k tow capacity. I have a dump trailer that will approach that with a couple of yards of gravel in it, and will be looking at travel trailers this spring.

Anyone have any experience with this airbag hitch system? Youtube reviews seem to be mostly positive so I might give it a go...

 

[MountainAlive]

I realize this is an older thread here but I just came across this because I bought a weigh safe drop hitch today. In doing so, I can across this JerryRig video of him pulling an 11,000lb trailer with the Lightning and WITHOUT a weight distribution hitch. Instead he balanced the trailer using the built in scale on the hitch.

 

[Wattsgas]

This isn't a hitch issue. It is a truck suspension issue. The trailer tongue weight should be 10% of the trailer weight. A weight distribution hitch places some of the hitch weight on the front axle of the truck and the trailer wheels. The 500 pound limit is to keep weight on the front axle of the truck. Which keeps the setup from being too squirrely. So, if you are carrying 7,500 pounds you should have a tongue weight of 750 pounds, which would overload the rear axle of the truck, lift the front end of the truck and give you a real squirrely ride.

 

[MountainAlive]

This isn't a hitch issue. It is a truck suspension issue. The trailer tongue weight should be 10% of the trailer weight. A weight distribution hitch places some of the hitch weight on the front axle of the truck and the trailer wheels. The 500 pound limit is to keep weight on the front axle of the truck. Which keeps the setup from being too squirrely. So, if you are carrying 7,500 pounds you should have a tongue weight of 750 pounds, which would overload the rear axle of the truck, lift the front end of the truck and give you a real squirrely ride.

Got it. I am admittedly a total novice when it comes to towing anything substantial, so when I saw he was towing 11k pounds with just a ball hitch and 1k pounds on the receiver I was surprised it was fine. I have the max tow Lightning so in theory it can carry 10k/1k due to the extra battery cooling, which is why I'm mostly curious should I try that someday. I probably won't come close, but just good to know.

 

[broncoaz]

My brother ran into this issue with his 2017 F-150 rated to tow 11K and about 10,500 pounds worth of boat. My brother ended up with a set of airbags on his F-150 and had no issues with 10,500# of trailer and about 1100# of tongue weight. When he upgraded to a larger boat he also upgraded to a F-250.

My boat trailer uses surge brakes, something that doesn't play nice with weight distribution hitches due to the load system impacting the ability for the coupler to slide upon activation. I’ll see how it all works when I hook up to the Lightning.

I never want to be on the wrong side of legal with respect to things like this if there was an accident, so I’ll investigate solutions as needed. My larger boat is 6000#, and I’ll likely upgrade to closer to 10,000 pounds while I have this Lightning. I can say that I’ve never seen a WDH on anything at the local boat ramp, and there are plenty of 1/2 ton trucks dropping and retrieving 8,000-10,000 pound boats.

 

[broncoaz]

I just ran across this pic in my phone. My last work setup was running pintle on a long bar, the center of the pintle hook was about 8” from the bumper. It towed fine, but really squatted the truck. I believe Chevy has the same recommendation for the weight distribution over 1/2 of the capacity, but in four years of work and thousands of miles towing up to +/- 10,000 pounds it never caused issues. The machine in the pic is 7600 pounds plus attachments and the trailer is 2600 pounds rated for 12K. I believe rated tow capacity for that truck was 11,600 pounds, so this load was close to the max.

Sponsored