Frame Mounted Trailer Hitches

Since the factory bumpers on Explorers is inherently weak, often and easily bent by overloading, a trailer hitch is vital.

There are several options, many brands and styles.

Round Tube?

Square?

Rectangular?

Full Size Spare or Not?

I have seen some really poorly made ones, that hang way down from the bumper and look terrible. I had a round tube that was contoured with the bumper, then upgraded to a DrawTite that had a heavier rating.

The best site that I have found so far has been www.etrailer.com, they have every style available and a nice web site.

I would like people's opinions and experiences with fame hitches so others can see.

 

[mkbrew]

Thank you Evan.

 

[CDW6212R]

All of the hitches should take a 29" tire, which was the stock size before 16's became an option. Then 30" was the tallest tire, and some hitches don't easily accept those. You can still make those work, either by bending the front tire stop bracket, or cutting away the backside of the hitch(square pipe).

 

[Joseph46]

will a trailer hitch fit snug to the bumper with a body lift does anyone know ?

 

[joecrna]

Bumper attached to frame, hitch attached to frame. Seems a body lift would have no effect on the hitch to bumper relationship.

 

[MountaineerGreen]

Unless you put the bumper raise brackets on with the body lift.........

 

[interscope8]

I just got a hitch on my 01 Sport Trac... And it was harder than it should have been!

First off, my grandpa is in charge of all the county roads, so his 98' EB Explorer was pretty filthy all the time. He just recently bout a 2010 EB and when trading n his old one, said I could have the hitch. I checked to see if my frame had the holes for it, and it did. The hitch was rusty and beat up, but still had the Reese sticker on it and all! Inspect some time with a wire wheel and knock all the rust and old paint off, smoothed it out, primed, and put 3 coats of semi-gloss on it and it's looking pretty good.

I then took my truck into the local GM dealership I did some work for and used the lift there and had some help from a friend who was a mechanic there. Upon close inspection the hitch would fit, but not easily. The bumper brackets on the ST were bent on the top and bottom for strength. This 1/4" of extra metal kept the hitch from mounting! So we took the bumper off:

Did some modifications to the brackets with the good ol' plasma cutter:

Bolted the hitch on (had to lower th spare, stretch the hitch, then put the spare back up)

Then re-attatched the bumper and cut the old built in bumper hitch so the receiver could be used:

Now all that's left is filing the plastic trim away about 1/4" to clear the recover completely! So instead of buying a hitch, I turned lemons into lemonade and scored a free hitch

 

[Skywolf]

I have a valley industries hitch that came with our Explorer, round tube. Problem is, is I have no idea if it is a II or III. The ONLY stickers still on it is the Logo, and one on the side that presumably is the production number and date. Nothing at all anywhere to show ratings or anything. It is getting pretty rusty, too. I would like to assume it is a III, because it has the 2" receiver, and heavier duty chain clips.

We want to spend the summer in a trailer, but now that I know for certain that I DON'T know which rating it is, it makes choosing a trailer difficult. Might just have to pick up a new one if I can. Have to update the system for trailer brakes anyway.

The hitch handled a loaded down 6x8 utility trailer 2 years ago, but don't know how it would handle a travel trailer.

Anyone familiar with these?

 

[MountaineerGreen]

I have a valley industries hitch that came with our Explorer, round tube. Problem is, is I have no idea if it is a II or III. The ONLY stickers still on it is the Logo, and one on the side that presumably is the production number and date. Nothing at all anywhere to show ratings or anything. It is getting pretty rusty, too. I would like to assume it is a III, because it has the 2" receiver, and heavier duty chain clips.

We want to spend the summer in a trailer, but now that I know for certain that I DON'T know which rating it is, it makes choosing a trailer difficult. Might just have to pick up a new one if I can. Have to update the system for trailer brakes anyway.

The hitch handled a loaded down 6x8 utility trailer 2 years ago, but don't know how it would handle a travel trailer.

Anyone familiar with these?

If it's a two inch, it has to be a class III. If you have a production number, call valley, maybe they can help you. If you are going to pull a tt with a weight distribution hitch, you may find the tube wants to twist and a square tube would be better. My round tube twisted terribly with the torque of the wd hitch, I swapped it for a square tube for strength.

 

[CDW6212R]

Say Evan, what do you think the ratings are with the original Hidden Hitch that I have, round tube? As mentioned before I pulled a trailer with my 99 on it, and a heavy load of sod before that. I know it's fine for straight line pulling with no extra drama added from abrupt stops of cornering.

But what are the realistic limits for all of those kinds of conditions? I still have no plans to tow with it, but it's there if I need it for an odd task. I have it refinished and painted now, I didn't manage to add any reinforcements to it. It sounds like the round tubing is as much of a limiting factor as the frame mounting.

 

[MountaineerGreen]

Say Evan, what do you think the ratings are with the original Hidden Hitch that I have, round tube? As mentioned before I pulled a trailer with my 99 on it, and a heavy load of sod before that. I know it's fine for straight line pulling with no extra drama added from abrupt stops of cornering.

But what are the realistic limits for all of those kinds of conditions? I still have no plans to tow with it, but it's there if I need it for an odd task. I have it refinished and painted now, I didn't manage to add any reinforcements to it. It sounds like the round tubing is as much of a limiting factor as the frame mounting.

I think the round tube hitches are slightly less rated than a square tube. I had a Curt brand round tube, it was a class III hitch, I think it was 3500 lbs? I upgraded to a draw-tite class 5 it mounted a little differently. The curt would twist with the load of the weight distribution spring bars. Straight down weight didn't seem to affect it. For what you described, I wouldn't worry about a round tube.

 

[CDW6212R]

That's what I figured Evan, they are a little weaker but unless the load is really heavy, it will work for me for the rare times I use it.

 

[mr cribb]

I have a semi-retarded question.... are all hitches 91-01 interchangeable?

I ask this because I have seen MANY 2nd gen X's in the junkyard w/ reciever hitches, but no 1st gens w/ them.

I can get one from the local u-pull yard for $25, just wanted to know if it's a year specific thing or not.

Thanks in advance for answering my semi-retarded question.

 

[mcsteven]

Looking for review

Anyone have a review of Curt hitch receivers? I see a few notes, but nothing about experiences. Interested in one (JCWhitney has a good price, free extra with it, and decent shipping. I checked a few other sites - some offer free shipping, but their prices reflect it. Etrailers.com is a close second, and I'm starting to lean that direction for the purchase. So if it's not Curt, it'll be a Hidden Hitch.

Thanks in advance.


'96 XLT 4x4 4.0L, pretty much all stock... for now.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Former Fords:
· '72 Custom 500 Ranch Wagon, 351W, no extras (hand me down).
· '69 Mustang, 390, all the extras.
· '78 King Cobra w/ 74 block, a few extras and about 240-245 HP (factory was 138 hp).
· '87 Mustang LX 5.0, heavily modified, dyno'd 677 HP at the rear wheel.
· '99 Taurus LX loaded but stock.

 

[Ranger379]

Anyone have a review of Curt hitch receivers? I see a few notes, but nothing about experiences. Interested in one (JCWhitney has a good price, free extra with it, and decent shipping. I checked a few other sites - some offer free shipping, but their prices reflect it. Etrailers.com is a close second, and I'm starting to lean that direction for the purchase. So if it's not Curt, it'll be a Hidden Hitch.

Thanks in advance.


'96 XLT 4x4 4.0L, pretty much all stock... for now.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Former Fords:
· '72 Custom 500 Ranch Wagon, 351W, no extras (hand me down).
· '69 Mustang, 390, all the extras.
· '78 King Cobra w/ 74 block, a few extras and about 240-245 HP (factory was 138 hp).
· '87 Mustang LX 5.0, heavily modified, dyno'd 677 HP at the rear wheel.
· '99 Taurus LX loaded but stock.

i believe mine is a Curt, both are good brands, just get the 2" and youll be fine... make sure you factor in shipping cost too when shopping around... they aint cheap to ship lol

 

[Delta_1980]

mr cribb, I have a 92 with a u-haul hitch from a 98 that bolted up just fine, but you have to drill 2 holes to make use of all the mounting locations. took about an hour.

total spent $38

 

[mr cribb]

mr cribb, I have a 92 with a u-haul hitch from a 98 that bolted up just fine, but you have to drill 2 holes to make use of all the mounting locations. took about an hour.

hey thanks alot. I'm glad someone knew the answer to what I was asking.

 

[Gabe96Explorer]

Thoughts on this? It is a Reese. Its the only one I could find locally.

Just to give you an idea, it mounts with 2 large, HEAVY steel brackets (they call them FRAME STRAPS), that run along the sides of the frame rails and bolt to the top at the frame rail and at the bottom of the hitch and in between. It seems really solid. I wanted to get everyone's opinion. and yes... my frame was bent from when some cadillac rear ended me, we bent everything back the way it should be though.

All of the welds are thick and even, it doesn't look shotty at all.

This is the exact version here - http://www.partstrain.com/store/det...efordexplorer19952003reeser3433051116266896hi

 

[MountaineerGreen]

Looks good to me, putting the rear bumper back on may be a chore, most of those hitches were designed to go on with the rear bumper in place.

 

[Gabe96Explorer]

We got it back on. We had to remove it to do the install.

 

[TJTrucker]

Curt class III hitch

i believe mine is a Curt, both are good brands, just get the 2" and youll be fine... make sure you factor in shipping cost too when shopping around... they aint cheap to ship lol

I just bought a Curt class III from HitchdepotUSA.com for $141 with free shipping for my 91 Explorer

I installed this same hitch on a 92 Explorer last year for my son-in-law and the stock spare fit just fine, even thought Curt claims it wouldn't.

HitchdepotUSA.com ships from all over the USA and in Canada from Mississauga, Ontario. They gave the best price I've found on the Internet and the free shipping gives a great savings. I have bought from eTrailer before but they get expensive with their shipping on hitches to Canada. Their accessories are nicely priced.