06/17/2026
The SUV is fixed and can pull the trailer again! The new to us hitch receiver arrived yesterday and Tom had it installed by bedtime last night.
A few months ago we realized that the old hitch receiver, aka the part where the trailer hitch mounts into, had rusted/cracked and was no longer safe to pull the trailer.
We initially tried reaching out to Lincoln/Ford and were told the part was ~$350. At the time, we were cheap and hoped to find something a little more inexpensive. We half heartedly looked around, but we weren’t in a huge rush.
Then the truck went down. We had a few choice words amongst ourselves and called our local dealership back. We were told by every single local dealership that the OEM part was out of production and to find an aftermarket part.
Called every place we could think of for an aftermarket part. Vehicle says it’s an OEM only 🙄🙄🙄 AND that it should have one. Well duh, it DID have one. We need to replace it 😡🤐
Finally find an aftermarket part that says it’s universal. Pick it up, it doesn’t fit. Return it, swap for the other model that’s supposed to fit. It doesn’t fit either.
At this point, we’re over it. Find a used one. Ordered it the same day we found it. 10 days later it still hadn’t shipped. Tom had to make several phone calls, and we were honestly beginning to worry that we’d been scammed. Finally got the shipping confirmation and we were good to role.
It’s been an ordeal, but we can finally tow the trailer with one of our own vehicles. We’re still waiting for the truck to be finished, but we’re now in a much better place.