We have a 2012 F-150 screw 3.5 with a max tow package. Two weeks ago we were rear-ended and the repairs required replacing the class IV hitch. The old hitch had a label on it with the tow rating which I believe was 11.3 or 11.5 thousand. The new hitch lists only 10.5. The work was performed at a very competent body shop and the shop manager brought the issue to my attention. If he hadn't I likely never would have known as the label is underneath the truck. He related that he ordered the hitch in twice after seeing the first one arrive labeled at 10.5. He was told by the Ford parts dealer that this was the correct replacement hitch regardless of the max tow package.
The new hitch is slightly different from the original as the chain-hook slots are at a slightly different angle.
I would really appreciate being able to verify that the replacement class IV hitch is the same for max tow package as the normal hitch

 

Max Tow definitely gives you a higher hitch receiver rating. Here's what my MaxTow Hitch receiver says:
Weight Distribution: Tow: 11500# Tongue: 1150#
Weight Carrying: Tow: 5000# Tongue: 500#

But that rating may have more to do with the other MaxTow additions to the truck rather than the hitch receiver itself. I dunno how Ford figures their rating.

 

My suggestion would be that you attempt to determine WHO makes the hitch and find those specs. Ford's sticker is likely Ford's sticker, as you'll find that the hitches sold by manufacturer's are in fact rated higher because Ford's lawyers want the sticker limited due to OTHER components on the truck that may fail or just liability concerns in general.

The reality is that Sequent Performance makes many of the hitch brands out there, and in fact the parts are the same for many with a different brand label. Sequent owns Draw-Tite, Hidden Hitch, Reese, and a bunch of other brands. All 3 of their hitch products are rated up to 600/6,000 lbs (tongue weight/gross trailer weight) and up to 1,200/12,000 lbs with a WDH.

All look identical.




Curt Manufacturing also makes hitches. Their class III hitches are rated 600/6,000 and 1,100/11,000, and the class IV is rated 1,000/10,000 (only 1 set of ratings, no WDH specified).

Here is their pics:






Curt Class III





Curt Class IV

 

First off, thanks to Brulaz and Ricktwuhk for trying to make sense of the whole hitch situation.



I went back to the auto shop today and was able to get the original damaged hitch, part number BL34 17775 DJ5BTF .
It has the white label stating the Weight Distributing ratings of 11,500 trlr and 1,150 tongue. It also has stamping on the right side of the hitch of 10029BA, FZG5A, 195 12L.

The stamping on the new hitch are 10029BA, FZG5A, 176 15L.



Aside from the weight labeling there are two main differences between the old and new (part 9L3Z-17D826-B) hitch assemblies. The original hitch had welded reinforcements


at the ends of the hitch assembly and the slotted safety chain bracket was one piece and extended below the hitch box


The replacement assembly has no welded reinforcements, and the slotted chain bracket is not one piece,

This is the weight rating sticker affixed to the new hitch
My local Ford garage looked up the replacement part and verified the new hitch assembly was the correct part according to their system. The parts manager was helpful and even printed out the product description which indicated it as a 11,500 lbs. hitch regardless of what the label stated.



I also checked out a 2014 Max Tow and it had the same 11,500 hitch as my original, which still makes me leery because I also noted an older F150 (~2009) that had a hitch that structurally resembled the replacement hitch. That begs the question if they made the non-reinforced hitch in 2009, and it is rated for 11,500, then why didn't they use that assembly for my 2012 and the 2014 I saw today?

 

Sorry about being late to the party, but I had to wait until I could get to the Ford house to check what I found.


I checked with www.tousleyfordparts.com and www.fordparts.com. Tousley didn't include part numbers, and Ford didn't include specs. My local Ford dealer's online parts catalog confirmed the two part numbers I found on Fordparts.com.


9L3Z17D826B is the receiver hitch that comes on the 2012 F-150 with regular tow pkg. WD max of 10,500 pounds.


9L3Z17D826E is the receiver hitch that comes on the 2012 F-150 with max tow pkg. WD max of 11,500 pounds.


The only difference in those two part numbers is the "B" and "E" at the end of the numbers.


The part description is bumper reinforcement, with or without the receiver hitch. On FordParts.com, begin by looking under "bumper" and you can find it, but not under hitch or receiver. With the correct part number, you can order it at a good price from Tousley (now AutoNation White Bear Lake)
http://parts.autonationfordwhitebear...rd/9l3z17d826e


No such Ford part number that begins with 13L34


The F-150 rear step bumper includes a ball mount for a WC hitch. Max tongue weight 500 pounds. The parts catalog calls that a bumper reinforcement, but it is actually the center of the rear bumper. If you order the optional trailer tow pkg, Ford adds a receiver with WD tongue weight of 1,050 pounds as part of that bumper reinforcement. If you order the max tow pkg, Ford adds a heavier-duty receiver with WD tongue weight of 1,150 pounds.


Ford calling it a "reinforcement" is confusing until you realize that all F-150 rear step bumpers have three sections - left and right ends of a normal 5-MPH rear bumper, plus the center section that has to be reinforced to handle 500 pounds of tongue weight and up to 5,000 pounds of trailer

 

Thanks so much for making sense of this. I wish Ford would get that information out to dealerships. Not sure where they drop the ball but two local dealership both use the CPD2000 DSC Computerized Publications which erroneously show all A (no hitch), B (regular hitch), and E (HD hitch) versions as 11,500; and it fails to indicate that the E as the max tow hitch. Actually it gives the description for the E version as "Less Reverse Proximity Sensor," which is one of the reasons the Ford Parts guys still say it's the wrong part.
When I google search the part number 9L3Z17D826E, it is often described as a class IIII hitch whereas the B part is only listed as a class III. In addition, I have yet to see an illustration of the bumper parts which showed it being used without proximity sensors, so I'm not sure where the "Less Reverse Proximity Sensor'" description comes from.

Now I just have to convince the body shop to contact their parts supplier to get the B exchanged for an E. I see the price difference is less than $5.

One last note, I tried calling the Ford customer service number for clarity. The gentleman who answered listened to my situation and then merely sent my call off to partsvoice.com . Thanks for nothing there

 

Thanks for the information. My hitch was replaced 4 years ago after I was rear ended on the freeway and looking at your pictures I realized I am in the same situation. I have been towing a 10000 lbs trailer with this replacement class III hitch for 4 years and this weekend I noticed the welds cracked right off. I am using this information to contact the autobody shop and see about having them replace my broken hitch with the correct part number class IV hitch.

Dave