waverider969

on my 2012 ECOboost XLT my factory installed hitch is rusting out bad. I went on amazon and bought a "perfect fit replacement" made by Reese. When I went to install the new hitch and remove the old rusty one it looks like the old hitch also holds up the bumper. Seems that the new hitch will not support the bumper. After searching and reading on here I saw this happens on f150 up to 2008 but no one mentioned anything over 2009 having similar issue. Am I just missing something or do I have to replace the hitch with a ford part matching the exact old one.

Steve Osborne

best I could find....must be a difference for the reg/max tow...the extra 100lb rating on tongue and the reinforcement corners of the hitch..
https://www.f150forum.com/f82/2012-m...-hitch-314932/

smokeywren

2012 F-150 receiver hitch is not a simple receiver - it is part of the rear bumper and is called a reinforcement instead of a receiver. This design is because of the Big Brother requirement for the rear bumper to withstand a 5 MPH crash, and Ford uses the receiver as part of he crash protection.

The rear bumper has three sections, left right and renforcement. The reinforcement includes the receiver hitch. You need to replace the reinforcement part of the rear bumper. Click on the link below to see how it all fits together, and for a discount price on the part you need. Click on the diagrams within the link and they will expand to be easier for an old man to see.


http://parts.autonationfordwhitebear...=reinforcement



That link is to Tousley Ford Parts, which was bought out by AutoNation last year. AutoNation continued with Tousley's discount parts program, so that's why the link now says AutoNationFordWhiteBearLake But you can also still get there with www.TousleyFordParts.com

If your Ford dealer will give you a healthy discount on parts to match the Tousley price, then you probably need part number 9L3Z17D826E. That part number is for my VIN, so yours might be different. To be certain, click on the following link then enter your VIN, then click on Bumper & components- rear.
http://parts.autonationfordwhitebear...ngine/body-cat

Engineer Guy

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Flamingtaco

Huh? Integrating the receiver is on Ford, and it's done to reduce the use of steel (aka save money). The non-integrated bumper is also rated for a 5mph crash.

OP will either have to buy a non-receiver reinforcement, buy an oem receiver, or clean up and paint the original receiver. Welcome to World of Ford™.

acdii

https://www.mikebrownfordparts.com/p...3Z17D826A.html

Pop your VIN here and you can get the factory replacement.