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Author: Steve Temple
Photos: Steve Temple
 One of the unsung heroes of off-road adventures is the lowly trailer hitch. While not as eye-catching as bull bars or tubular side steps, it’s indispensable for hauling your ATV, rock buggy, boat, travel trailer or whatever other adventure toys you have.
When adding a hitch to your rig, picking the right receiver is as important as remembering to hook up the safety chains. Make sure the hitch receiver has the right load capacity (both tongue weight and gross trailer weight) for what you plan to haul, including any accessories or supplies you add to the trailer (note the accompanying list of classes and weight ratings).
| 1. Lift the receiver up into place. We had the truck on a lift to make the install easier to photograph, but you can do the job just as easily while it’s on the ground. |
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| 2. With a safety stand holding the receiver in place, we lopped off the factory ear for the safety chain to make clearance for the Draw-Tite receiver. It already has tabs in it for safety chains. |
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| 3. Apply a couple drops of thread-locking compound to all of the nuts securing the receiver. |
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| 4. Large square washers supplied with the receiver lock the heads of the bolts in place. |
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| 5. Make sure the nubs on the washer face the frame for a better grip. |
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| 6. Torque down the bolts tightly. |
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| 7. You may need to add a taillight wiring harness extension as well, depending on the make of your vehicle. |
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| . After installing the ball and draw bar, be sure to secure it with the pin assembly. |
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| With Draw-Tite’s receiver installed, now you’re ready to hitch up your trailer. |
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For advice in picking the right trailer products, we went to Draw-Tite, one of the best-known suppliers of towing products. Bill Whichello, an inventor who created a hitch to tow his trailer behind a car, founded the company back in 1946. Today, nearly 60 years and millions of trailer hitches later, the company’s 500 employees still custom-fit hitches for each type of vehicle. This attention to detail makes them easy to install, so you can bolt Draw-Tite’s one-piece, welded trailer hitches to a vehicle’s frame in less than an hour.
Currently, Draw-Tite manufactures over 750 different trailer hitches and over 600 accessories and parts covering approximately 3,850 vehicle applications (see www.draw-tite.com for an application guide). The quality of Draw-Tite’s components is evident in the solid, all-welded construction that is computer designed and stress tested. Every hitch and receiver is backed by a nationwide limited lifetime warranty.
For this particular application on a 2003 F-150, which will be towing a travel trailer among other items, Draw-Tite recommended its class IV Max-E-Loader Receiver (part number 41520), along with a 2 5/16-inch ball, a 2x9 1/2-inch draw bar and a pin clip assembly. We were able to bolt the entire assembly to the frame in a matter of minutes, but there are a few details to keep in mind when doing so to ensure a safe and solid installation.
Use a thread-locking compound on the nuts and bolts, and make sure the stippled side of the washers face the frame before torquing the bolts. You’ll also have to trim off one of the factory ears for the safety chains to make room for the Draw-Tite receiver. Follow those simple guidelines, and you’ll be getting hitched in no time flat.
source: Cequent (Draw-Tite) Towing Products • 47774 Anchor Court West • Plymouth, MI 48170 • www.draw-tite.com
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