Curt Hitch C14011 Installation on 2001 Ford Excursion

Question:

I have a 2001 Excursion that the factory cross pin hole on the receiver has been ground oblong from use. So, when you put a hitch in the receiver and install the pin there is a significant amount of play front to back that allows the hitch to slide within the receiver. I plan to replace the worn out factory hitch with this one. Im having an autoshop remove the old one monday. Its pretty rusted in Ohio car. I have a few questions.. 1. If they break the bolts off, as I understand it the weld nuts on the back are removable. Do you sell replacement weldnuts that can be used to use the stock screws that come with this hitch? if not, do you sell block washers that would allow the bolts to be run from top down instead of bottom up? That would allow me to install it the same way the TorkLift LF1006 is installed. 2. Curts instructions show the finished install with the factory electrical plug mounted using the factory bracket. From what I can see, the factory bracket is bolted to the top of the factory hitch. I can remove that, but I dont see a pre-drilled and tapped hole in the photos of the curt hitch to accept that bracket. Will I have to drill that to use the factory bracket? If so, do you know the size/thread? Thanks.

asked by: Tom

Expert Reply:

You will naturally be better off if your shop does NOT break off the factory weld nuts when removing the OEM hitch from the frame rails on your 2001 Excursion. Given the vehicle's age its quite likely that the bolts securing the OEM hitch will have some rust. Application of a solvent like PB Blaster or WD40 will help dissolve that accumulated corrosion and give them better odds of getting the hitch off without damage so that you can install either Curt hitch # C14011 or TorkLift # TLF1006.

Both of these hitches are made to install using your factory weld nuts and they both include the matching hardware. We do not offer replacement weld nuts.

If you can access an open end of the frame to get to the place where the weld nut broke off your shop could potentially fish wire a new carriage bolt in place of the weld nut. Otherwise you may have to weld the hitch on or see if your local garage could come up with a way to re-weld in a weld nut to match the hitch hardware. Both the Curt # C14011 and the TorkLift # TLF1006 instructions are linked for you; these include complete hardware specs.

As far the wiring mount the Curt # C14011 does not include one and I do not recommend drilling the hitch as this will void the warranty. You can use a ring clamp mounting bracket # C58000.

If in the meantime you want to stabilize your ball mount you could use a 2-inch anti-rattle device like the Roadmaster Quiet Hitch # RM-061. You can also use this with the new Curt hitch to prevent the chance for the new hitch pin hole to become out of round.