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Easily attach a variety of accessories to the front of your vehicle with this fully welded, corrosion-resistant trailer hitch receiver. Perfect for winches, spare tire carriers and more.
Features:
Specs:
Draw-Tite's Tested Tough program provides testing standards far superior to those outlined by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), the go-to source for engineering professionals.
Each Draw-Tite trailer hitch receiver undergoes extensive fatigue testing and static testing with the ball mount that is either supplied or recommended for use with that particular hitch, thus ensuring results that are applicable to real life use. Fatigue testing is also conducted on hitches rated for use with weight-distribution systems.
In addition, Draw-Tite performs static testing on a simulated automobile, as opposed to the rigid fixture used for SAE testing, resulting in a more true-to-life scenario.
At etrailer.com we're committed to the products we sell, and to our customers. Our experienced and knowledgeable staff are available via both phone and email to address your questions and concerns for the lifetime of your hitch. The technicians at etrailer perform hitch installations on a daily basis, making them a valuable resource for do-it-yourselfers. The one-on-one, personal service you'll receive comes straight from an expert in the towing and automotive field. We've installed it, we've wired it and we've towed with it, so whatever your question, we can answer it.
California residents: click here
A DEFINITE MUSTI installed this and rear hitch on my van, easy, used a 2gal bucket to hold other end, plastic under front bumper in middle I just pushed back a little, I use the step mainly in front so I can load ladders,etc on roof racks, put bike rack in front so I can tow trailer, just wish I could get one for my old suburban too
2004 Winnebago Winnie 31C on a Ford E-450 chassisinstallation of model #65001
UPS was 8 days late for no good reason though it looks like they used the hitch as a crash test dummy. It’s a miracle the hardware bag made it but it did! I think this is superior than the other brands available. They always include these little threaded fish tape wires for getting the hardware into the frame. I’ve done a transit and now this. Saves a ton of time/headache. However the instructions just have a diagram. Took me about 20 min to get the first bolt in. Then 20 min for the rest of the install. So if you read this, you can probably get the whole thing done in 30 or so which is what i expected initially.
Tools:
3/4” socket
Torque wrench
1/2” drill bit & drill
OPTIONAL: floor jack to lift hitch into place.
Steps:
- Drill forward holes to 1/2” and shoot with some rustoleum or equivalent paint. Let dry for 20 min while you eat lunch, take a dump, whatever.
- send fish tape through forward mount hole and out front of frame rail. Figuring this is what slowed me down on the first one. the carriage bolt head won’t fit through any of the obvious openings. See pic.
- put to bolt plate onto the fish wire then thread the bolt onto the wire. Pull em all through the hole and watch it assemble right before your eyes!
- repeat on the other 3 bolts
- jack hitch into place and finger tighten the washers/nuts on
- torque down to 75ftlbs and boom! time to yank or be yanked!
See all my pics and if this helps, send me an imaginary beer through the quantum field! Econolines rule!
I tried ordering this exact hitch off Amazon. Not once, but twice they shipped the wrong part number. Took a couple months to get my money back.
Etrailer got it right the first time. I took about an hour to install on my 2006 class B+ E 450 motor home.
The best advice I can give is take the 15 minutes to remove the front bumper (21 mm).
With front bumper removed you won't need the wire chaser things. Jus stick your hand in the frame.
Victoria H.
2/19/2025
I'm happy to hear we could help make this experience better for you, Gerald! We appreciate your feedback and advice. Are you using this hitch to tow?
I think quality control in Mexico needs to be looked at. The reciever was not square when welded.about a 1/2 inch in 9 inches, so think about that if it was just the ball going in the reciever probably no big deal. But in the front of a vehicle, a cargo deck is about 40 in. X Wide 24 in. So the deck will hit the bumper on one side and be almost 2 in. Away on the other. All because the guy welding didn't care! So do I send it back, that really doesnt solve anything. And I don't believe it's your fault. So I cut the welds squared it up and rewilded it. Now it's just what I needed. Not everyone is able to do what I did and shouldn't have to. I think you need to say something to your supplier about quality control. Just my 2CW. It by no means changes my feelings about etrailer and I'll continue being a customer when you have what I need.
I own a 2003 Ford E-450 RV cutaway and wanted a front hitch to carry our bicycles since our rear hitch is used for a trailer. I originally tried to mount the equivalent Curt front hitch, because of its cheaper cost, onto the vehicle. However, the Curt hitch wouldn't work because it can't adequately accommodate the slight downward hump in the truck's frame. This hump can barely be seen between the two hitch mounting bolts. The hump is on both the left and right side frame rails on my vehicle. If your frame is not totally flat (has even a small hump) you cannot use the Curt hitch. The Curt's small indentation on its mounting flange will not adequately accommodate the frame's hump. This Draw-Tite hitch, 65001, mounted perfectly on my vehicle and the installation procedures I used were exactly as depicted in the etrailer video for the E350 van. In the video, the technician uses a rotary file to expand the rearward holes to allow the insertion of the bolts. I had to do the same thing and bought a rotary file for my drill at my local home improvement store for less than $3. I did not have to use the rotary file on the forward holes. In addition, I have the larger Roadmaster front sway bar and steering stabilizer and as you can tell in the photo, there is plenty of room for the hitch.
Carl G.
5/26/2016
It has been a year since I installed the Draw-Tite front hitch on my E-450 Class C RV and it has been performing wonderfully. I use it to mount a 2-bicycle mounting rack from Thule and I can see over the bikes just fine and there are no strange noises or wobbling. The mounting bolts remain tight and I dont see any spots where the hitch has begun corroding. Great product from a great company. Follow the instructions and you will be fine!
I put this on my 2004 e450 class c jayco. I installed myself. I chose this hitch after reviews because the other brand required some customization to make it level. This receiver needed no customization and had the cutout to account for the mounting issue. Take the extra 20 minutes to remove the front bumper and installing the hitch is truly a breeze. Would definitely recommend.
I put the hitch on the front to haul a Vespa 150 for around town when we're camping. The whole setup has worked great.
The Front Hitch Model 65001 is a Perfect fit on my Ford E350 based RV. I drive a 2005 Pleasureway RD. The front hitch allows me to put the extra storage weight such as Bicycles Racks, Tow mounted Winch or Storage box on the front suspension which gives better steering stability for Rear heavy RV vehicles. The installation was a breeze! I am 67 years old and I had no trouble installing the hitch while lying on my back without jacking up the vehicle with the hitch on my chest and your clever bolt feed system. Unpacking to final torque down of the bolts took 30 minutes by myself.
I did not have to cut or remove anything from under the chassis. The holes aligned perfectly! It has been a year of use and it has no problems.
Road tested 4000 miles & off-road, Solid, Great !
I always wanted a front hitch, it is rad !
We had a great experience across the board. Ordered the front hitch mount and had a mechanic (Weld Tech/San Diego) install it, because they already had our van to install their lift kit. They charged me one hour labor. I can see that it fits well and is solid. We went on a 4000 mile adventure with a small motorcycle on the front hitch. etrailer has been a good source for for a few things now.
Excellent Product, easy install on my 1999 Ford E-150 Van, match my vehicle as if it came from the factory. Heavy duty, I have used it with a ball hitch and chains to pull Palm trees out of the ground as well as other objects. Also I love that it gives me the capability of switching my 13000 lbs pulling Winch from the rear to the front of my vehicle as needed in a matter of minutes. In the picture the black object you see in the middle below the bumper is the 2" hitch receiver. Very neat and hidden under the front Bumper. I highly recommend this product.
Great product and easy install thanks to the instructions provided. Needed to carry 5 bikes on our trip so I had a rear rack for 3 and wanted a front rack for 2. With the front hitch I was able to install a bike rack up front and have been using it even when I'm carrying 1 bike.
Tow bar was received quickly with out any damage. Instructions were great. Fishing wires for the bolts were fantastic. From the time I opened the box, read the instructions, examined all the parts, sharpened my 1/2" drill bit, pulled out the required tools, to the time I put everything away and washed my hands took 1.25hrs. Bolts feed through opening at the bumper mounting brackets. The flat square drive washers went in easily at the rear mount hole. I now can front in an enclosed 16' trailer down my narrow driveway.
Fits perfectly with my 2003 E250 Cargo Van. Installation was so simple & it only took me 45 minutes. Note that you do have to take out the bumper for the bolts to get through (See pic)
Did not encounter any issues, just figuring out how to cut the flares to make it look decent.
Dennis Z.
12/12/2019
1yr later & its still perfect
The front mount hitch arrived nicely packed. The instructions have printed diagrams. The diagram on the instruction sheet was unreadable, the print was much too light.
You don't need them but I contacted customer service and they IMMEDIATELY sent me a diagram.
The front two frame holes have to be relieved to one half inch which was a bit of a chore.
I also had to remove my front bumper. There were not any access holes in the frame that could be used place the mounting bolts.
All in all it was an easy if somewhat aggravating installation. Actual work time was probably close to two hours, including opening the mount holes, dropping the plastic splash shield, removing the bumper, and buttoning up.
We have a 2004 Pleasure Way Excel TS.
The hitch is to mount our bicycle carrier and because I've always wanted a truck with a front hitch.
This draw-tite 65001 front hitch receiver fit perfectly on my 2000 ford e-450 cutaway (ie: a class C motorhome).
Installation was a breeze, bolt holes lined up perfectly. I used a 1/2" bit to enlarge 2 factory holes as instructed. I installed this single-handedly in about an hour, including removing and re-installing front bumper.
E-trailer appears to be the only party that can put stickers on straight - I don't know what these hitch makers cannot get this right.
The clearance below the bumper valance is perfect - flush without distorting the plastic.
While I have been wanting to add a front receiver for a while for a bike rack option, I was motivated to move quickly after getting seriously stuck in mud. Without a front hitch receiver, there is nothing to pull from on the frame - no tow hooks, etc. This is a very simple, easy solution.
The entire transaction end-to-end with E-trailer was excellent. I ordered it on monday- it arrived and was installed by thursday - the price was extremely fair, and the fit was excellent.
Great service from etrailer, fast shipping, great videos, installation takes a little longer than specified,can be installed by one person with a little help from your wife, mainly with the bumper removal and re-install about 2 minutes each way, found the best way to drill the front holes is with a step bit ( from 1/8 t0 1/2 inch) easier than changing drill bits, installing the hitch I used 2 jack stands to hold it while I installed a nut on each end, the rest was as the instruction require, easy-pezy...
Arrived came quick! I have a econoline 350....the back hole lined up nice and I had todrill out the smaller front hole in the frame, but it did line up. My advice to you is to take off the front bumper...took me 30 min..then you can access the bolts to attach the mount. If you try to use the wire that is included to "pull the bolts into place" you will be very frustrated and it will take a long time. I watched an onine video of an install and it saved me hours of frustration...you have been warned. :-)
Total time about 2 hours in the hot sun. It will be used to mount a 10k winch to the front. etrailer rocks.
Nice product however the instructions say you should use a 1/2" drill to enlarge the forward hole, however, when trying to pull the 1/2 bolt through using the supplied wire to guide the bolt, the hole was slightly too small and I couldn't get the bolt through. Slightly enlarging the hole using a 9/16" drill bit instead made installation a breeze.
Product arrived quickly. After viewing the assembly video online I was able to install the front hitch on my Ford E-250 in about 40 minutes with no problems. It was necessary to remove the bumper. I used a step drill to enlarge two of the front holes on the frame and held the hitch in the correct position with a pair of jack stands while placing the plates, washers and screws. Its an easy one person operation with the right tools. I like it and the price was right!
E-350 Pleasure-Way. Mounter for a bike carrier. Mounting was easy and fit the frame perfectly. I saved the air baffel it tells you to disgard by cutting squares off the ends so I could reach up and reattach the bumper.
This hitch is built well and install is super easy, took me an hour by myself. Instructions are a little weak but some common sense goes a long way. The fitment is spot on just barely below valance of my e450 rv. Going to use it for a bike rack.
Easy to install on a 2007 Coachman Freelander E-450. I didn’t even have to use the fishing wires. Now I can put the bikes in front of the rv and out of the way of my rear cargo hold.
eTrailer Made everything a breeze for me with this purchase. Hitch fits perfect on the front end of my 2007 Ford F450 super duty class C RV. Insulation was a snap by myself in a box to prop up the other end. Done in under an hour.
Shipping was fast. Product fit and installation was easy on my 2005 Ford E450 chassis. I've used it for about a year on 5 big trips and it didn't disappoint. I even suggested to family member and they will be purchasing from eTrailer for their 2006 Ford E450 as well.
Called Troy on Tuesday He made sure about the hitch I was ordering. Super Fast shipping. Received the package at noon and hitch was completely installed in 30 minutes outstanding service I will do business with etrailer again.
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Brooke M.
2/6/2025
Honestly, I think your instructions are better than what comes with it! Thank you so much for taking the time to make the images and write all this out. I think many future readers will find this very helpful. Im sending an imaginary case to say thank you!