I'm looking for a receiver that I can bolt to my '56 F100. Has anybody out there got a newer receiver under their '56 and what make and model is it? Nothing showed up on a search here or in the towing forum.

Thanks in advance!

Craig

 

Did you look at "52's-f3" page? maybe ask him?

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...of-a-52-a.html

I thought at first he was talkin' about just putting Julie in the back?

 

I have put one on my 56 Panel. It's a class III hitch and fit very well: Drawtite #40050 see my making changes gallery for a couple pictures. I got it from etrailer.com really helpful people, even pulled one off the shelf in the warehouse and measured the drop for me.

 

I took frame width measurements and bought one at either Tractor Supply or Orschlens 5-6 years ago. If I remember right it was for a Dodge. The width was right and I just drilled the holes and bolted it up. My truck is an F250, so that might make a difference in how far it would extend toward the axle and whether it would work or not on a F100.

 

We made our own frame mounts out of 1/4" steel plate and had them welded to a crossbar from an old trailer hitch we had laying around. We wanted the drop to be at the center of the stock bumper so that we could hide it to some degree behind the bumper. If your interested I can try to post pics of what we did.

T900

 

Note that if you are going to be towing a larger sized trailer on interstates and/or across state lines: If you get pulled by the DOT or any other compliance checkpoint they have the right to weigh your trailer and tongue weight then ask to see the DOT sticker on thye hitch showing the hitch is rated for the class of trailer you are towing. A homemade unrated or modified hitch is considered to be a class I hitch. There was just such a checkpoint set up one Sun afternoon on the major route between the AX site we used that day and Raleigh (not on the interstate but on a state highway) every racer with a trailer was checked and a number were cited for equipment violations. (second biggest ticketed violation was non complying tie down straps and methods.)

 

You can see what T900 was talking about in my gallery titled 'Trailer Hitch'. The side plates were designed to fit into the framerails and clear the rear crossmember of the bed, with a drop enough to put the hitch receiver hole square in the center of the rear bumber. They are cut from 1/4 thick steel and were welded onto the cut down receiver by a very experienced welder. The whole thing is bolted to the framerails via 4, 5/8" grade eight bolts. I know this doesn't meet DOT approval, but I'm willing to take my chances. If I wanted to skirt the law, it would have been easy enough to leave the sticker on the receiver and just clean up the ends at the welds and squirt a little black paint on it when it was all said and done. No one would have been the wiser, especially since the welds look as good, if not better than, the remaining professional welds.
This is just an idea, but I think its a pretty clean way to hide the receiver behind the bumper.

 

peecubed, I like what you did. I am also going to need to build a custom hitch. I saved the pieces from the hitch that was on my wifes former Town Car. I raised and tucked my bumper but I do not think that I can bring myself into cutting the hole in the new stainless steel bumper!

 

Around here when the scrap prices were high the cops were having a field day writing up trailer and towing equipment. I'm sure there were a number of hitch violations but the biggest infractions were lack of brakes and break-away switches. Of course there were the usual lack of tail and stop lights as well as no fenders and unsecured loads. I never heard of or seen them doing any weighing, (given the obvious violations, they didn't need to go that far). It was almost comical from an observers viewpoint. The scrappers would start lining up on the side of the public highway as early as six in the morning waiting for the crusher to open at eight. The cops would show up at 7:30 and start at the head of the line and work their way back to the end writing citations. I heard that fines were usually in excess of 100 bucks. They did this week after week and yet they still had plenty of violations. You would think those guys would have been quick to get the message but I guess not. I always wondered if they cleared any profit on the junk after fines and high fuel costs. You would not believe what some people will throw together and drag down the road.

One note of interest... I have had a number of larger trucks, (one ton or larger), that I have built my my own hitch systems for which have been inspected and never questioned. I can only assume that it was because the welding was professional and in all cases everything was over built in terms of design and material size. This leads me to believe that in most cases the hitch system will never be questioned on an older vehicle that ready made stuff is not available for if the work is done right. In the case of the older Ford panels and pick-up trucks, I would suggest either buying an approved hitch as close to size as possible and using some shim plates to match it to the frame or cutting a larger one down a bit. If your welding is quality work I seriously doubt it would ever be questioned. I have been through inspections and I have never seen inspectors trying to be overly picky. They seem to be attracted to the obviously un-safe. As for proving the DOT documentation, I couldn't do that on my '03 F-350 which came from the factory with a hitch receiver. I don't have anything to prove it did and there is no markings on the part. I could just as easily have built the receiver myself and made it as good or better. I have a commercially available receiver on my E-350 van that has been on it for 16 years and the powder coating has long since wasted away along with the certification label. I would be hard pressed to prove it was approved.

Later Man...

 

With the receiver I used I was even able to use two existing holes in the frame, Drilling two more mounting holes was the only mods required. As I said I had the hitch supplier measure the receiver drop (distance from mounting surface to top of receiver pocket and picked the one that just cleared my rear pan and bumper. Looks like it was made for the truck. If you want to use another brand or class hitch than mine, just look up the applications listed by drawtite for that model (quite a few actually, not just Ford) and cross reference the application to the hitch of your choice. I tow my race trailer around the country so I can't afford to take any risks to save $25-50. Not only equipment inspections a potential issue, but if involved in an accident the insurance companies may use a homemade hitch as a reason to deny a claim or persue liability against you.
Each must weigh their own situation and assumption of risk and do accordingly, I am just trying to provide a heads up to the real world of sometimes overzelous police and attorneys.