EventHorizon

So I just bought a 2010 that was advertised as having a hitch which was what I wanted but now looking closer it's not a "standard" hitch.

Contacting the old owner I found out that he bought the truck brand new and it didn't come with a hitch so he modified one he had from another older truck.

The hitch was bought from a hitch shop and is the brand D.S.P. which here in Canada can be found anywhere so I'm not as paranoid that its a full home built. It's bolted in 4 locations, 2 in the end of the frame and he welded on 2 extra "eyes" that bolt to 2 holes in the plate under the bumper under the license plate location. He owns his own welding shop and does great work as I know the company reputation so I know the welding job is good. Along with that he has a round 7 pin connector that's only got the 4 main wires to it. He did this to match the boat he towed. Hitch is rated for 7000.

Could this be trusted to tow 5000 lbs or so??? I am going to rewire it for all 7 pins to work. I would like to buy the Ford connector (just the round 7 pin, not the 7/4 combination) Is there such a thing that can just plug in to the connector by the spare tire??

If anyone has a underside picture of how the stock Ford hitch is mounted that would help a lot. Tried Google and I guess no one takes pictures under the rear of their truck.

Thanks

EventHorizon

Ok so I did find a picture that helps. I won't be near my truck for the next 4 days so I can't get a picture of my set up.

mcfarmall

If it was me, I'd try to find the actual hitch that is supposed to be on the truck and see how the custom one compares to the factory one regarding where he welded his attachment points on.

Typically, the rear bumper is pretty much worthless from a load bearing standpoint so I'm a bit concerned when folks bolt stuff on there.

Manuellabour247

Just an idea, but I'd also get the 7/4 plug. Just because all you have is the 7 plug trailer now, doesn't mean you wont need a 4 plug. The other option is to wire it up on the 7 plug and buy an adapter that will have the 7/5/4 plug like my adapter does. I also agree with mcfarmall, you should look at a factory tow hitch to see how it differs from the one you currently have.

Just because the hitch is rated for 7k, doesn't necessarily mean that your ball will be rated for that much. Make sure you put the correct ball on there with the drop/raise hitch when you use it to tow.

brulaz

According to their catalogue, DSP makes one full width hitch receiver for a 2010 F150 and that's model 57234. It's rated for a 6000# trailer, weight carrying, and a 10,000# trailer when used with a WDH. Max tongue weights are 10% of that.

So that hitch receiver can carry your trailer without any modifications, with or without a WDH.

And yes, wire up the 7-pin and just get an 7-to-4 pin plug-in adapter when needed.

Dirttracker18

Don't "wire up" the 7 pin. Just go and get the correct harness for that truck that includes the "t" and wiring.

It is simple to install and avoids having connections out in the elements. You should be able to get one used for an auto wrecking yard and have a plug and play connection and just bolt up the new plug. This way would likely get you the 4 pin connector as well that was stock on my F150s.