Harbor Freight 5000 lb hitch receiver DIY install

[thev8man]

@Crash11 great job overcoming the obstacles to complete the hitch install and documenting the process.

Booyah

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[thev8man]

Hey guys,

I picked up my '24 Maverick XL Hybrid on Friday and immediately got to work adding a hitch. I should've just paid the $100 for a factory hitch, but that's a long story.

I used these two videos for help, but both had inaccuracies:





The first video is a '22 Maverick with a 3500 lb Harbor Freight hitch receiver. I started following his video and quickly realized that there were screws holding the bumper cover in different locations on my '24. Then I watched the 2nd video ('23 Maverick with an OEM bumper/hitch) and found out where the missing screws were...behind the tail lights. Taking the tail lights out was scary and did not happen in the same way as the video. Once I got the bumper cover off I realized that I didn't need to remove the bumper at all if I just removed the tail gate.

I thought this would take all of 30 seconds, but I was wrong. Ford's tail gate design for this truck is awful, and there's even a bracket installed on the passenger side preventing you from removing the tail gate easily. I removed the bracket, then tried to pull the tail gate off only to realize that it's spring loaded to assist in closing, which puts tension on the driver's side when trying to pull it out of the hinge point. This is dangerous with a brand new vehicle, and I was very close to denting/scratching the tail gate several times. I also forgot to unplug the wiring harness after getting the thing loose from both hinge points. So I had to reinstall it just to unplug the harness because the connector is located in a difficult place to reach under the truck behind the spare tire.

With the tail gate off, I had plenty of access to drill all my holes and bolt on the hitch receiver, which is very stout. I'm guessing this thing could easily handle more than 5000 lbs. I have access to some really nice fasteners so I use grade 12.9 metric bolts. I used M16 bolts for the main attachment fasteners, and I used 5 M10 bolts for some support in holding a piece of angle stainless steel on the back side. The stainless steel piece of a free piece of scrap I found so I figured I'd add it since it wasn't much extra work.

After attaching the hitch, I put everything back in place and then decided to try to replace the hitch access panel with a square cut-out for the receiver. I was so proud of myself for manipulating this thing back in place with such a nice clean fit until I realized that I just blocked easy access for attaching a pin to a hitch insert and the hooks for backup chains. *face palm*. Ohh well, when the time comes, I'll probably have to hack that access panel again. For now though I like how it looks.

Here's some pictures I took along the way:

Parts

Tail light removed (there's a single screw near the bottom of each tail light cavity that has to be removed to pull the bumper cover

Tail light assembly (the black and white posts are very difficult to wrestle loose from the inside. I'm not impressed with Ford's design here)

Bumper cover removed (detaching the hidden clips on both sides after all of the screws were removed did not go the way the guy in the 2nd video showed. I think he's wrong)

Tail gate removed

2 x M16 bolts holding hitch receiver on

Piece of angle stainless sitting on the back side before drilling holes (I was bummed that my hitch was about 0.5 degress off parallel)

Fully attached

Access panel re-attached

I added a couple generic push tabs to the bottom to replace the rivets that had to be drilled out

All in all it was a successful and frustrating few hours in the garage. If anyone is interested in repeating this procedure feel free to message me for tips.

Booyah
I added it to my Hybrid XL and I'm glad I did.

The hitch came on my Tremor's. I would no be able to recreate the with the computer recognizes the trailer being connected or how it know that the trailer lights are functioning. The reason the hitch was on the commodities list wasn't the steel hitch, it was the wiring and programming time.

I have witnessed some wiring harness hacks that ruined the functioning of the rear lights. I would risk hacking and splicing without good knowledge of the wires and resistance of them. And because of that, I'll let the Manufacturer have at it. That way my chances of failure are at least reduced to minimal levels.

Looks good though

 

[Charles T.]

No way Jose

 

[Thudson90]

Honestly, every truck should come with a hitch installed standard. When my dealer converted my order from 22 to 23, they left off the hitch. Didn't realize until it was too late to change. Bought the OEM for 85 after points, but haven't installed it yet

 

[Joester]

I had no real plans to actually tow anything but a small utility trailer, but the Maverick we found had the 4K tow and FX4 packages... so...
I'm prepared to tow anything I might need to!

 

[bikesnbacon]

I had a brake controller and 7 pin connector installed on my Tremor by my ford dealer for $550 US. The 7 pin is a dual 4 pin/7 pin. Go for a dual 4 pin/7 pin connector. With a 4 pin, the Mav is doing all the braking. Can be tough on the brakes if you exceed the 2K towing limit.

Just called my dealer and they said that they can't find a 7-pin made by Ford for the Mav. Do you have a part number? Or was it a 3rd-party adapter that you had the dealer install for you? If so, which one did you go with?

 

[Joe Strummer]

Just called my dealer and they said that they can't find a 7-pin made by Ford for the Mav. Do you have a part number? Or was it a 3rd-party adapter that you had the dealer install for you? If so, which one did you go with?

My local Ford dealer here in Canada. Parts were on back order. I don't have any part number.

 

[Hot Runr Guy]

Just called my dealer and they said that they can't find a 7-pin made by Ford for the Mav. Do you have a part number? Or was it a 3rd-party adapter that you had the dealer install for you? If so, which one did you go with?

This is the only one I see that is Maverick-specific.

https://www.etrailer.com/Custom-Fit...MI9I36vJz8hgMVL1n_AR2kIwGBEAQYASABEgLZOvD_BwE

HRG

 

[EdAlex]

Would love to try this, but isn't that installation voiding the Ford warranty?
Thanks

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

Would love to try this, but isn't that installation voiding the Ford warranty?
Thanks

Buy a Curt, Draw-Tite, Reese or an OEM Ford hitch. All designed for a Maverick.. They won't void your warranty. Watch some YouTube videos of folks installing these above brand hitches.

Don't buy some junk Universal Harbor Freight hitch.
The OP bought this hitch. A $30 hitch design for a step bumper the Maverick does not have a step bumper..

Below is the hitch the op purchased

 

[EdAlex]

Buy a Curt, Draw-Tite, Reese or an OEM Ford hitch. All designed for a Maverick.. They won't void your warranty. Watch some YouTube videos of folks installing these above brand hitches.

Don't buy some junk Universal Harbor Freight hitch.

Thank you!
I was actually considering the Harbor Freight hitch based on some videos, will discard the ideas.

How about wiring? An installer company mentioned specifically that the wiring kits will void the warranty if I don't use OEM. Thanks

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

Below is a Ford OEM hitch and a bit of the process that you have to through to mount it. Note the tailgate does not have to be removed.

Below is a screenshot of a hitch being mounted without having to remove the bumper. It was either a Curt or Draw-Tite hitch I don't remember

 

[EdAlex]

Below is a Ford OEM hitch and a bit of the process that you have to through to mount it. Note the tailgate does not have to be removed.

Below is a screenshot of a hitch being mounted without having to remove the bumper. It was either a Curt or Draw-Tite hitch I don't remember

Thank you again!

 

[Hot Runr Guy]

How about wiring? An installer company mentioned specifically that the wiring kits will void the warranty if I don't use OEM. Thanks

This would certainly be easy enough to remove if you had to.

https://www.amazon.com/Custom-Wirin...cphy=9021553&hvtargid=pla-2187334238051&psc=1

Here is the Ford aftermarket version

https://www.fordservicecontent.com/...iles/2022_CMY_Maverick_TRAILER_TOW_WIRING.pdf

HRG

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