- Feb 2, 2020
- 285
- 628
- U.S. ARMY 96-99
- 2020 F250 7.3 LARIAT TREMOR
- Too many toyz that are ever changing to list :)
Best Fitting Trailer Hitch? Or Do They All Rattle?
- OP 🔹 22F250Tremor
- Start date
Its not the sound of a rattle that irritates me about the oversized recievers ford puts on these trucks its the fact the shank on a properly sized hitch can functionally move around and beat the crap out of the reciever and wallow out the hitch pin hole (when there is a trailer back there moving it around with force), all because the reciever (not the hitch shank) is built oversized. Forces the users to modify a hitch shank to make it oversized if they want it to properly fit what ford provides.
Just measured mine, same, wasn't quite as bad as I was recalling but is still very sloppy. There is absolutely zero functional reason to have that much oversize. Anyone that wants to claim its so things don't get bound up is full of it. Keep a rust inhibitor applied and if needed wire brush any rust on one and reapply rust inhibitor. Adding an extra 0.05-0.06" of unneeded clearance to avoid that minimal user effort is not worth the functional downsides, which is a properly dimensioned shank having more to move and slam side to side with force when pulling a camper for instance.
I have one of these and it solved my issues. I also have the IronGrip @Vecman posted. The combo is great.Every hitch will rattle in this truck. I have a Bulletproof, a B&W, and a WeighSafe. They'll all rattle. Anyone saying they won't is either deaf or means their hitch doesn't rattle on smooth roads. Take your truck on a rough road and every hitch will rattle without one of these:
2.5
BulletProof Hitches™ are manufactured to a very tight tolerance of +/- .010 of an inch. Unfortunately, hitch receivers cannot always live up to these standards. Tolerances can vary as much as .100 of an inch and could cause some unwanted movement or rattle in the hitch. To solve this, we have...www.bulletproofhitches.com
3.0
BulletProof Hitches™ are manufactured to a very tight tolerance of +/- .010 of an inch. Unfortunately, hitch receivers cannot always live up to these standards. Tolerances can vary as much as .100 of an inch and could cause some unwanted movement or rattle in the hitch. To solve this, we have...
- OP 🔹
- #24
I just bought this to go along with my new hitch. thanks
Do you have any real life examples of this actually happening? I’ve towed with fords most of my life and never experienced it or heard of this?
I have thousands of things in my life more important than worrying about hitch tolerances.
Google readily pulls up real folks having real issues. I personally haven't because I haven't tolerated having a sloppy fit that I can move the hitch back and forth any appreciable amount. Prior vehicles had properly sized recievers (my 2007 dodge receiver snuggly fit a properly sized shank, it was gutless but it had a good reciever, haha), its only dealing with newer fords (2019 expedition and 2022 superduty) that I've had to deal with addressing the slop. I don't imagine its nearly as much of an issue with towing small trailers or flatbeds, but air buffeting a camper is going to created plenty of back and forth forces.
Folks in these threads refer to reducer slop and also angled pines, going a straight pin helps but when there is slop some still have issues. Before you try and merely blame a reducer think about it, the slop in a reducer is allowing movement which is elongating the hole. Well if a receiver has play in it even with a properly sized shank you'll have the same problem over time.
There is NO reason 0.08+" of clearance is needed between a receiver and a shank. A receiver sized at +0.02" would be ideal imho. I would much rather grind down an oversized shank and repaint it if needed, kinda hard to make a receiver smaller if oversized.
Hitch pin hole deformation - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums
2017+ Super Duty - Hitch pin hole deformation - Anyone else seeing yielding at the pin hole??? https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.ford-trucks.com-vbulletin/2000x1504/20210812_085859_854700efe1058c9acc2b245eb7d0f256e4e04d76.jpg
www.ford-trucks.com
Hitch pin hole deforming - Airstream Forums
Hi I have a 2019 2500 Chevy Silverado. The hole where the pin enters the hitch is deforming. I am running a 2.5 inch receiver and a 2.5 inch shank on the equalizer hitch. Towing a 30 foot
www.airforums.com
Sloppy receiver hitch - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums
2017+ Super Duty - Sloppy receiver hitch - So I've read about a few guys talking about their hitch pins being ovaled out creating slop. Ive only towed a few times so far. I have a new B and W drop hitch that banges around so bad with a trailer on it I don't even want to tow. The hitch is right...
www.ford-trucks.com
Part of the problem I am sure is also steel mils fabricating things at the extreme thin tolerance to shave material weights. I just ordered some 2.5 x 2.5 x 0.238 tubing specifically marketed as receiver tubing, guess what the wall thickness was 10% undersized (max allowable for A500) so instead of having 0.024" clearance on a 2" shank its 0.071" clearance. Annoying. I had the supplier go measure the inside of their 2.5 x 2.5 x 0.25 stock and that had 0.02-0.03" clearance (what the receiver tube should have had) so I ordered some of that instead and will have to remove the weld on the inside to get some tubing manufactured to the size I desire.
My plan for dealing with a 0.08" oversized receiver by ford is to make a custom sized sleeve sized to the receiver that tightly fits a 2" shank (unless I need to tow something requiring a 2.5" shank). I'll weld onto the exterior of the 2.5" tube and grind to fit the ford receiver.
My plan for dealing with a 0.08" oversized receiver by ford is to make a custom sized sleeve sized to the receiver that tightly fits a 2" shank (unless I need to tow something requiring a 2.5" shank). I'll weld onto the exterior of the 2.5" tube and grind to fit the ford receiver.
It won't stop side to side motion with force behind it imposed from a trailer.
The one I have does, I had to mount it sideways instead of vertical.... It doesn't move.
Toyota 4runners are also notorious for loose receivers. Hence why they recommend buying the OEM stinger. Nope- a few wraps of duct tape on a cheap stinger lasted for years and made it nice and quiet.
It hasnt shown any signs of side to side movement which would be evident on the aluminum hitch the times I have removed it. If your trailer is swaying that much there are bigger issues going on here. 100% the rear tires would absorb the sway before the hitch would rock that little bit back and forth before overcoming those bolts cranked down on the hitch.
Another vote for B&W.
Aluminum hitches are ugly junk.
Aluminum hitches are ugly junk.
This doesn’t make any sense unless I am misreading. How would force from the trailer being pushed by the wind not first be applied to the shank through the receiver and into the truck frame to get to the truck tires? The shank will move side to side in the receiver till it contacts the wall of the receiver if there is room to move.
There is no legitimate argument that some of the factory receivers aren’t oversized more than needed. Some might not have issues with it but it’s far from ideal and creates a problem for some that didn’t previously exist on receivers built truer to size. Its less than ideal.
- Staff 🛡️
- #36
- Jan 23, 2021
- 6,335
- 17,986
- 2022 Iconic Silver F-350 6.7 Tremor Lariat
- Some BMWs & a Ducati 748 Mono
I’ve not noticed my B&W rattle at all. It’s pretty tight, but will wiggle ever so slightly. I’d buy it again.
I understand your point about side-to-side movement and agree that clearances should be tighter on these ( especially 3-4-500$ hitches ). Point I was bringing up was about the side to side on my particular anti-rattle. You stated that ( since you quoted my picture ) that it would not stop the side-to-side in the hitch. With the side bolts of my anti-rattle tight and torqued, there is 100% zero side-to-side movement. Statement I made is accurate, that before any side force that would cause the metals from the receiver and hitch to slide against each other when those bolts on my anti-rattle are tight, would transfer to the tires of the truck.
1) Is NOT THE HITCH, its Fords receiver. A 1.99-2" shank (properly sized) is still sloppy in Fords oversized receiver. Sure an undersized hitch shank will make things worse but there is still a problem, in my opinion, even with a perfectly built hitch when you have a receiver sized at 2.08".
2) The picture had it mounted for vertical movement, as pictured it wouldn't stop side to side movement under load, that's all I was commenting on. Sure it is unlikely to rattle when vertical but it doesn't address beating back and forth was all (when mounted vertically).
i used mine for the first time on new truck yesterday, i don't remember any excessive sloppiness and never heard any vibrations driving, far from smooth roads too. not sure if it's the tightness or just the way aluminum is. the last hitch was steel but was super sloppy, always heard it. it's a rhino hitch btw. when you say "amazon hitch", i assume you mean some chinese knock off. if so, unlikely will perform as well as anything else.
![What did you do to your Tremor today? [2019-2024]](https://www.fordtremor.com/data/files/featured_images/featuredimages_thumb_3.webp?1793185839)
