Hi all, have any of you ever heard of a class III or IV frame hitch receiver with a tapered hole for the shank the ball mounts to? I've looked at local stores and online, and all I can find, or even find reference to, is 1-1/4" for class I-II, and 2" square for III and IV. (And of course, there are larger than 2" as well.)

I have a 2005 Ford Excursion Limited (6.0 powerstroke) with a towing package (there's an internal brake controller, and a Tow/Haul button on the gear shifter that I imagine turns off overdrive?) that has a frame hitch receiver mount, but though the external hole is just a touch bigger than 2", if I try to slide a Reese or Draw Tite adaptor in there, it will only just barely go in (see pic).

It did have some surface rust inside, so I cleaned that out with a scraper and wire brush to make sure the hole wasn't just tight, and full of gunk, but this is the best it will do, still. Reaching in with my finger, I can physically feel it tapering downward in size. Any idea what I've got here? If there is such a thing, can anyone tell me what it is, and what to search on to find the right adaptor to fit it?

I'm completely mystified, and I need to get this thing set up to tow my smallish ATV/mower trailer.

Thanks!

Sean

 

Had freind that had that problem a few years ago. We finally figured out that he had bottomed out on something and actually partially caved in the receiver, it was 2 in. square at the rear and 2-1/16 wide and just under 2 in tall at the rear, after cleaning it up good we could see where the front lower edge was very slightly bent up. Also there are no receivers or adapters that are tapered.

 

I think jetjockey99 has solved your mystery.

I have never heard of a tapered receiver. Damaged yes, tapered no.

 

Yep, bent.

 

As the others have already said, it is either damaged/bent or the interior is still rusted/scaled to the point of still feeling tapered. It does look fairly rusty and that is my guess, try scraping and cleaning the receiver tube out some more. And maybe try a different drawbar (ball mount), there does tent to be some variance in their dimensions and that one may be on the larger side.
If this EX has a brake controller from the PO it obviously did some towing in its past, sometimes loose fitting drawbars and heavy trailers can open up the mouth of the receiver over time and that's part of the taper you feel.
No hitches are made with a tapered receiver tube.
All EXs came with the exact same factory receiver hitch as the one you have there. They are unique to the EX also, a Super Duty hitch will not work on an EX. They all also came with the trailer wiring plugs also. The rear hitches were part of the Federally mandated crash protection for the EX as it is actually a station wagon (passenger vehicle) and not a truck. The hitches are mounted using round headed bolts to make removing them more difficult because of this.
No EXs came from Ford with brake controllers, yours has been added and was not part of any "towing package" from Ford. The wiring and under dash plug was provided, but no controllers.
All 6.0 PSD EXs came with the 5R110 trans which has the Tow/Haul switch on the shifter, and it's function is not to turn off OD. Your owners manual should explain what it does do. The earlier 4R100 trans had an "OD Off" button on the shifter, but both transmissions are designed to tow in OD.
Sorry, didn't mean start a "lecture", I just wanted to clarify a few things you mentioned about the EX.

 

In addition to what had been said already,
Take the sticker off that mount. I've seen those jam things up too.