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.

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[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...

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