Hey All,

First time on this forum and I had a general question about getting an actually usable hitch mounted to my 1995 F-150 5.0 4x2 truck. I'm getting a BBQ smoker in the next few weeks and it's mounted to a trailer. The total weight of the trailer should be under 3000Lbs. Crunching the numbers for the truck it appears as my max towing weight should be right at 3500Lbs, so I should be good in that area.

Here is a picture of the hitch which is on my bumper, but obviously this won't be capable of pulling my new trailer.
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For further reference here is the smoker which I'm planning on pulling with this truck.
Ultimate Chargrill Trailer

My biq question here is what is the cost associated with getting a usable hitch mounted to my truck which would be capable of pulling this trailer? I'm also curious about the type of wiring setup I'm going to need to get the lights connected from the truck to the trailer, or basically what else will I need to do to get my truck ready to haul this trailer.

Any general guidance to get me going in the proper direction would be appreciated. Thank you very much.

 

If you want to do this at some point,
Then a frame mounted one Class 3 or 4

 

I would go with a Curt 13310 Class 3 receiver hitch and an appropriate ball mount to keep the cooker level. The grille doesn't appear to have trailer brakes so you might get away with an electrical T-Connector that you plug into the harness near your left taillight near the frame/bumper area. A harness unplugs then the T gets plugged in. That give you a flat 4-pin plug for the trailer.

I would only recommend Curt, since they are the only company making receivers in the good ol' USA.

If you can handle a 1/2" drill and read instructions, this is a few hour project, six holes to be drilled. Cost should be well under $300. On Amazoo, it's about $120 for the receiver and another $30 to $40 for a ball mount and ball.

Ask the manufacturer of the grille what size ball is needed and the ball height when level. That way, you can install the receiver, then measure to see what drop ball mount you need. Also, find out if they use a flat 4 pin electrical connector or what do they offer.

 

I don't know the laws in your state, but where I am from trailer brakes aren't required unless the gross weight of the trailer is over 3,000 pounds. If the tongue is level, you should be able to tow on your bumper. The bumper has a class 3 rating of 500 pounds tongue weight and 5,000 pounds tow rating. A frame mounted receiver is the better way to go though, but you could tow it on the bumper if you don't get the frame hitch set up for a bit. Cost of a Uhaul hitch is around 160. Don't let the teenagers working there install it.

 

A couple of qualifications I'd put on that is that are that some bumber hitches were class 3 rated (but almost all were at least class 2 so you so you should still be fine there), and that bumpers rust. So look at yours. If the structural parts of the hitch still look solid I'm sure you could pull an under 3000 lb trailer with it. But if it's rusted out, not so much.

 

That U-Haul hitch is a Chinese POS and badly overpriced at $200 for everything minus shipping. Curt Mfg is the only American made hitch you can buy. Amazoo can beat that U-Haul price with free shipping on a Curt receiver, ball mount and ball, locking pin and harness.

Also, I'm pretty sure this grill would be badly nose up if the bumper mounted ball were used to tow it. I've stepped on bumpers that gave under my weight so it's my opinion not to trust factory-style bumpers that are twenty years old or older. They may no longer be structurally sound.

 

The bumper didn't look bad from the small area in the picture. I just assumed it wasn't bad being in North Carolina. The brackets and structural parts would be good to get checked. I believe the step bumpers(as he has) were class 3.

 

I have a uhaul hitch and the quality didn't seem too ****ty. The paint seemed poor, but the welds looked good.. It meets the testing and certification set up for a class 3 hitch. I would trust all day long with only 3,000 pounds. The tongue probably would be nose up, but if not it would probably be fine to use.

 

Awesome, this answers my question perfectly. Much appreciated.

 

There should be at least some holes in the frame already for a receiver, IIRC I had to drill some of them on my '90 but the rear most holes were there already so a '95 should at least have that much.
And this truck should also be prewired for a trailer brake controller, basic lighting is easy enough with a 4 pin harness that inserts into the tail light wiring harness near the rear bumper, but if you want a brake controller it should also be a pretty easy plug and play operation with the correct parts.
Also if you are going to be towing regularly put a 7-pin connector on the truck now, those 4-pin connectors do not last and changing them will get old real fast.

Be sure to buy the correct hitch made for these trucks, I put a Curt class 4 on my van and it was a simple bolt on affair.. only bashed myself in the face once trying to put it up in there.

P.S... the rear step bumper on these trucks is rated for 5000lbs, but I would still recommend getting a frame mounted hitch for this.

 

Dielectric grease keeps the terminals from corroding. They make hitch ball covers that have a 4 pin holder on them. It helps keep the connector clean.
Or something like this:

 

Awesome response, sounds like I'm going in the proper direction with the Curt. I was looking at a Class 3 as recommend by a previous poster, here's the link to what I'm looking at on Amazon.


I put all my information into the little wizard they have and it says this will fit my truck.

As for the 7 pin connector, is it easy to replace both pieces for that (ie the part on the truck and the part on the trailer)? I really am quite ignorant in this area as I've never towed anything with my personal vehicle. I'm even that kind of nerd who plans on practicing towing a trailer before I get my smoker. haha

Also, just for ****s and giggles, can you give me a ballpark estimate for a 7 pin connector which would be appropriate in this situation?

Thanks!

 

That is the correct receiver for your truck.

As far as 7 pin connectors, here's the scoop from etrailer.com;

A 4-Way trailer connector has the basic lighting functions only; running lights, left turn signal and brake lights, right turn signal and brake lights, and ground.

A 7-Way has these functions and a 12 volt circuit, a circuit for electric trailer brakes (requires a brake controller in the vehicle), and a reverse light or auxiliary power circuit.

So, unless you're going to tow a trailer that has brakes, a 7 pin connector is not needed. If you read here, https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...g-package.html you will find some posts concerning whether or not your truck has a factory trailer towing setup. That entails certain relays under the hood and the presence of a 7 pin female plug that might be tied out of the way under the left rear corner of the bed. There is a connector under the dash, to the right of the gas pedal that will be fully wired for a brake controller if you have that package.

If you do not have a towing package, you would have to wire up the plug under the dash and add a 7 pin connector near the back of the frame at the receiver. Again, I think the instructions to do this are in that thread linked above. Not particularly difficult, just time consuming. You could then use a goodie that adapts 4 pin trailers to your 7 pin truck connector.

 

For the seven pin connector, Ford might have included a pair of plugs near the spare tire that with a separate Ford harness adapt to a 7 pin. The harness goes for something like $150 from Ford, but can be found cheaper, or even at the junk yard.

To tell if you might have the plugs under the truck without crawling down there open the hood and check near the fuse box on the driver side fender for a smaller box with two relays in it, like in the picture below.



Underneath the truck you will be looking for a gray and black plug. Both are 4 pin plugs, but one has 3 pins installed. They will be like plugs 1 and 2 in the below picture. They should only be there if you have the relay box under the hood.



To those plugs goes the below harness. A note on the two plugs: the 4 pin plug has the turn, stop, running light, and ground in it; and the 3 pin plug has the trailer brake, +12v, and reverse light circuit.

 

raystankewitz and mrollings53, thank you both for your time. Looks like my truck has the blue wire hooked up underneath the ash tray, so I believe that means I have the tow package installed. I'll look at my fuse box and underneath the bed tomorrow.

Once I get some information back from the guy who is building my trailer I should be able to move forward.

Thanks again for the help guys, you all are amazing.