Is It Normal For A Trailer Hitch Receiver Tube To Slope Down

Question:

It appears that hitch receivers on two of my vehicles have a slop to them from front to rear. It is especially obvious when I use a hitch extension. Is this a feature and all hitches supposed to be not levelled, or is this failing hitch receiver, or a badly done factory installation?

asked by: Sergey

Helpful Expert Reply:

The receiver tube isn't always completely level due to manufacturer issues and with how it could sit when bolted to the frame of the vehicle. Having been around a lot of hitches I can tell you with certainty that the majority of hitches either have a very slightly off centered weld or get a bend to them during transportation, we even made a help article about how to straighten them out which I've attached below.

Based on the picture you provided and you stating that you're seeing it slope down more when using a hitch extension you aren't experiencing any manufacturer or installer defects. Using a hitch extension places more of the tongue weight solely on the receiver tube instead of evenly distributing it across the crosstube of the hitch and into the frame of the vehicle, causing the sag. This is why we always say that a hitch extender reduces your hitch's capacity by 50%.

The only way to prevent the sag is to load less on hitch extension to not overload the receiver tube of the hitch.

expert reply by: Kevin C