I have a question about receiver on 2005 F250 Lariat 4x4 S/C. Under standard equipment it shows that it comes standard with a towing package. I assume that this would include a receiver along with 7 pin connector. But under the options its shows a 12.5K receiver which I believe was a $175.00 option. Is this a more heavy duty option or dose the receiver not come with the towing package. Thanks in advance for any info.

 

The receiver hitch is not included in the standard towing package, it needs to be ordered separately. However, be forewarned: The factory receiver hitch is only rated at 12.5k pounds when using weight distributing gear. If you're using weight carrying gear, it drops to a paltry 5000 pounds towing weight and 500 pounds tongue weight. Moral of the story: If you plan on towing a heavy trailer without weight distributing gear, skip the factory hitch and buy a good after market hitch with a decent weight carrying capacity. I swapped my factory hitch on my new '05 with a Putnam XDR class V hitch. Rated for 15k pounds weight carrying.

 

Russ G...I'm new to this stuff and I have a question regarding the hitch...Most web sites I have pulled up (for example:edmunds) describe the Ford 12k hitch as a Class V rated hitch...Class V is rated to tow 10k weight carrying....How is it that the Ford hitch is only rated to tow 5k weight carrying? Is the Ford hitch not really rated as a Class V? I just bought a 05 F250 with the factory hitch and I plan on towing a 7k boat.......

 

As I understand it, there really is no standard capacity specification for a class V hitch. For each manufacturer, it is whatever capacity that lies beyond class IV that they have tested and feel comfortable standing behind. The '05 Ford SuperDuty brochure does not mention a class rating for either the 12.5k hitch that is available on the SRW trucks or the 15k hitch for the DWR trucks.

I can't really say why Ford drops the capacity rating on their 12.5k WD hitch so dramatically when using WC gear. The hitch looks pretty capable to my untrained eye, so I don't know if it's Ford's legal department talking or if the hitch is really that poorly designed. I suspect the former. But since my boat and trailer weigh just north of 14k pounds, I didn't feel like finding out the truth the hard way. I also suspect that you would be just fine with your 7k pound boat and trailer with the Ford hitch, but 1) I probably would not be comfortable going much bigger with that hitch, and 2) it's really not for me to say.

I've had my Putnam hitch for five years on my 2000 F250. It was always up to the job. When I traded it in on the new '05, I made the dealer switch hitches before I took delivery. 5 year old Putnam hitch to the new truck, brand new Ford hitch on the old truck. I beleive it was a wise trade.

 

I have a Reese Titan, it's rated at 14,000lbs, that's alot of weight for a standerd trailer, use the goose neck for the real loads. The titan is not that expensive, sounds like the Putnam is up to the task though, I would skip on the crappy factory hitch and just pay the same for a real hitch, seems like the smart thing to do...

 

I got a 15K hitch on my F350 SRW. Does anyone know what is it's WC rating?

 

I skipped the factor hitch as well. The amusing part is that the bumper is rated 5K/.5K WC, same as the Ford receiver hitch when used as WC. I installed a Draw-Tite rated 12K/1.2K WD and 10K/1K WC. Philip.

 

There should be a sticker on the hitch telling you what the WD and WC capacity is, along with the respective tongue weights for both.

 

I believe the WC rating on the 15k hitch is 6000, That is what my cousin said his was on his dually. I just bought a 05 250 and got caught on the hitch. Ford says that it is rated for 12500 but after it got here found out that it is only rated for 5000#. I pull a 9000 pound boat so am waiting for my new aftermarket hitch to get here. I went back to the dealer and they say that it is rated for 12500. I am replacing the hitch but still think it is a bit of false advertisment from ford.
Ed

 

Ford puts receivers with low weight carrying ratings on the Superduty because they want you to use a weight distributing setup over a certain weight. I would never recommend towing anything really heavy without a WDH unless you have a boat trailer or some other setup with surge brakes anyway. If you're not towing a boat, invest in a good WD setup.

 

I know this is an old thread but I thought I'd comment; I bought my 05 F-250SD specifically to tow my race trailer. So it was very important to me that the vehicle would saftely tow 8000 pounds.
When I bought it, I went through the brochure, the user's manual and even a towing booklet that was in the dealership. It was very clear - the towing capacity was 12,5000 pounds. Nowhere is those documents is it mentioned that there is a requirement for a weight distributing hitch.
I didn't discover the issue until I had my truck for over a month. I was really disappointed to realize that I had to shell out several hundred dollars to do what Ford said the truck would do.
The good news is that the dealer was awesome - they're paying to have the hitch replaced with a 10,000 pound DrawTite hitch.
Cheers,
Rick

 

I have been looking for a good hitch for my new '05 250 psd. On the putnam page the selector comes up with the 25129 model, not the XDR hitch. But their java seems to be broken so I can't get any details on that hitch. Anyone using this model or should I look for a different one?

Towing pretty much entails a non running '69 mach1 on a flatbed, no guesses as to weight since I rent the trailer when needed.

 

Here's a thought...maybe Ford isn't saying the factory hitch is rated for only 5000# weight carrying. Maybe Ford is saying the combination of hitch and truck is only safe for 5000# weight carrying, due to factors such as sway, in a worst case scenario like a box trailer in a windy mountain pass. With a weight distributing setup, don't the very same bolts and brackets hold 12500#? Another consideration Ford has to factor in is that many 2" hitch inserts aren't rated above 5000# with most of the exceptions being the weight distributing kind.

Has anyone actually compared a Ford 12.5K versus a Reese/DrawTite Class IV side by side? Same question Ford 15K vs Reese Titan Class V? Are there substantial strength differences? Or is Ford just factoring in some safety for towing novices?

 

Redhawk44,

I think that's part of the $1,000,000 question - my opinion is that it's a bit of both.

I will tell you when the shop pulled off the Ford hitch and laid it side-by-side to the DrawTite 10K pound hitch there was a noticable difference in material thicknesss in several spots and the DrawTite actually extended further forward on the frame.

I just got back from 2200 miles of towing (Indianapolis-Sebring-Indianapolis) with the new hitch, truck & trailer - couldn't be happier.

 

Thanks Rfairwea,

Your physical observation is worth a lot more that ratings, websites and brouchures. That is good info to keep in the back of my mind for future upgrades. I have the Ford 12.5K currently.