2000 EB 4WD without Air Suspension

I purchased this Expedition last month. There was very little evidence that the previous owner had used the vehicle for towing. For example, the trailer wiring adapter and relays were still sealed in their OEM package and stored in with the jack. There was, of course, no trailer brake controller installed. But, there was some rust and marks that indicated the hitch receiver had been used.

The first time I placed a ball mount in the receiver hitch, it seemed to angle downward (from front of vehicle to back direction). I've done alot of towing over the years, and I own and entire box of ***** and ball mounts of different drops and offsets, so I have a good idea of a normal looking setup.

Using a ball mount with about a 3 or 4 inch drop, the vertical portion of the ball mount is NOT perpendicular to the ground, the and 'platform' where the ball shank attached is NOT parallel to the ground.

For smaller light duty trailers, I wouldn't worry too much about this, but when I placed a Weight Distributing ball mount in the receiver it clears the ground by ony about 2 or 3 inches.

Here's an example the the ball mount I have: http://www.reese-hitches.com/fullpic.php?VI76700.jpg


I crawled under the vehicle, and inspected the points where the hitch mounts to the frame. There is no obvious buckling or damage to the frame. Likewise, the hitch itself doesn't appear tweaked, but it's so large (width) that I suppose it wouldn't take much of a twist to cause this problem.

Anyone else seen this problem?

thanks
Doug

 

I have the same problem on my 97' EB. I dont know what the previous owner towed with it but it must have been pretty heavy. Either that or they didnt use a weight distributing hitch and overloaded it. Makes you wonder where the weak spot is.

 

My wife got rear ended when our Exp was about 2 years old. I was amazed at how much damage there was. The trailer hitch was rotated forward about 45 degrees and there was frame damage with about $7500 in repairs. I tow occasionally and even though I was very concerned after the accident about the integrity of the frame and the hitch, everything seems to be fine even to this day, although I am seeing rust spots in the body work from this accident.

 

I would put a dial indicator on the flat underneith part of the reciever. (The square hole)where the hitch slides in. See what it reads there, then look at a flat part of the frame, or in a door jam to see if it is inline with the frame. You should be able to see frame or hitch tweaks.

If all that checks out,

My opinion would be, They set the hitch up with caster. Honestly, most hitches with the style you have, and the older styles that are adjustable, have an oval top hole to create just that, "CASTER" So you pull true and straight.

 

Thank you, but I don't think so.

If you could see the hitch as it is mounted to the frame, you would see that there is no way that the hitch is adjustable. There are mounting bolts on the side of the frame box , and bolts on the bottom of the frame box, so rotating the hitch in its mounting holes is just not possible.

 

The holes that are oblong, or oval are on the head unit, the part that slides into your receiver, Reciever is mounted to the frame, that doesnt adjust. Look at that to see if you see any tweaking or bending, and use a dial indicator to check its allignment.

The caster would be set at the ball mount, on the head unit. The one shown in your picture.

I hope that makes sense

 

Ok.. now I understand what you're saying.

No... the angle is in the receiver (not the ball mount). Without the ball mount installed, the square tube that receives the ball mount is obviously angled downward.

I can place a bullet level in the receiver, and slope is about 1" downward in 12" of horizontal.

Yes, the ball mount for the Equalizer Hitch (what you call the head unit) can be adjusted to compensate for this angle. But it requires all the adjustment space to get the ball back to straight up and down. And the lowest point of the ball mount is only a couple of inches off the ground.

I think receiver has been bent and should not down slope downward. I will prolly replace it with a new hitch, mainly to get the lowest part of the ball mount up off the ground.

thanks

 

Samething happend to my wife, only it was in our 94 Plymouth minivan; thing was - in addition to the mounting bolts used when I installed it - I also welded the trailer hitch to the frame with a backing plate on the other side. A year later, at four months pregnant, with my two year old son in a baby seat in back center bench seat, she was rear-ended while at a stop light by a drunk driving a Honda Accord going 65 mph. Crushed his car like an accordian, he miraculously walked away with little injury, but was arrested, charged, and jailed for a long time. Nothing happend to my son sitting in back because I had installed aircraft grade pallet straps to his baby seat mounted to aircraft grade bolts and backing plates to the floor pan (to augment the 'safety mounting straps' that came with his seat). My wife was thrown into the steering wheel, almost lost our unborn, broke her knee. The state police and the insurance companies all called me down to the repair shop to show me the damage: shaking their heads, they showed me the hitch was slightly bent down a bit, but that was it. They told me the only reason my family survived was because I had welded that hitch to the frame, which protected them from a bursting gas tank. They said it was a miracle. I told them it was simply a common sense safety precaution.

Wife recovered, baby was born healthy; but wife refused to drive again until we got a bigger, safer car. She chose the Expedition, and what do you think she had me do the minute that Expy got into our garage?: Install backing plates and weld that big *** class III trailer hitch to the frame! Safest tank she has ever driven. I pity the fool that tries to hit that Expy. .... and, yes, each of the kids' captains chairs in the middle of the Expy have their own aircraft-type safety harnesses installed in addition to the 'seat belts'. By now, they have overcome the embarrassment of their overly protective dad's ways ... but they are alive and well.