scoobybri

My 2019 XLT Screw with the max tow package has the tilt. It has the beefier hitch that comes with the max package. I thought I was seeing something odd when I was hooking up my camper for the first time but I just thought it was the unevenness of my driveway. Now I know I wasn't imagining it. I'm not going to stress about it. As long as it can handle the weight specs that Ford says it can, I'm going to leave it alone. It isn't significant enough that I think it will cause an issue.

RubyRed Canadian

Is this an issue with the regular hitch or also the max tow hitch? I took a picture of my 2016 vs a 2019 we have at work. Trucks are identically equipped. The hitch looks the same between the 2016 and 2019.

2019

2016

68injunhed

Mine is tilted down noticeably, went to the dealership, and pretty much every truck we looked at that had a Ford badge on it looked the same way. So, "normal"...

mass-hole

Maybe its there to compensate for the factory rake in the trucks?

rvrdux

Okay so here is an update to my truck. Stopped by the dealer today to have them take a look. The sales guy I bought the truck from looked at it and said something is not right about that. So brought it over to the service department. Had 3 service guys and 2 salesman looking at it. They all agreed that it did not look right. So another sales guy says hey mine looks like that also. So we proceed out to the lot to look at the other 2019 trucks. They all did it just a matter of how much. Some were very noticable and some not so much. The trucks like mine with a 6.5ft box it was really accentuated.

So I guess that is just the way they are.

Thanks,
RVRDUX

mass-hole

It would make sense that a longer truck would be more obvious. A longer wheel base means the natural rake of the truck results in a lower angle. If all the hitches are constructed the same, your's would appear less level with the ground.

Varmit Girl

I agree with the OP; "Friend's F-150 factory installed tow hitch receiver tube is not level. The 2" square tube was not welded exactly perpendicular to the tow receiver structure. The 2" receiver tube is tilted down 1/4" causing the coupling to be "jackknifed" down."

Amtrack

Normal?
I have not seen any F-250 and F-350 trucks with factory installed tow hitches which have tilted receiver tubes. Several folks have chimed-in stating they have seen different amount of tilted receiver tubes and also, level receiver tubes, which is a good indicator that something is not right with the manufacturing of these particular tow hitches.

Varmit Girl

No one backed into your hitch.
This morning (dealer closed on Sundays) my father and brother crawled under nine (including the truck I was interested in) 2019 F-150 trucks with factory installed tow hitches. Four out of nine tow hitch receiver tubes are tilted-down between 1/8" to 5/16". Using a straight edge, they determined and verified the cause of the tilted receiver tubes is because the receiver tube is welded to the main cross-beam at two places and there is a support bracket welded to the top of the receiver tube that is not flush with the bottom of the main cross-beam.
My dad has been a certified industrial welder for over thirty years and my brother is a Mechanical Engineer. Being we were in direct sight of the surveillance cameras, we did not want to risk taking photos.

perman

Here's another photo that show's the root cause of the defect. As Varmit Girl's,

Dad says the vertical piece is not welded parallel / flush with the bottom of the base structure of the hitch therefore causing the 2" receiver tube to tilt down at the rear.

A picture is worth a thousand words. There is no denying that this is why the receiver tube is tilted down at the rear.

The manufacturer of the tow hitch shall be informed of this defect. I would bet that the assembly / production drawing of the hitch will show the vertical support is to be flush with the bottom of the base structure.