Class II Ford Edge hitch rattle

[jlkansascity]

 

Mine is a 2007 Edge, but the newer ones are the same.

 

Issue; Extreme hitch rattle when towing a small trailer, bike rack or anything else.

 

Background; I used to drive a F-350 Superduty diesel 4 door. It pulled anything I hooked, and never rattled. I loved that truck....

 

We got the Edge and the rattle drives me nuts, although I don't tow much at all. Here are some of the items that contribute to the problem, as compared to larger vehicles (BigStinky, the F-350)

• On smaller vehicles, designers want to carry less tongue weight. Light tongue weight = rattle. On a Superduty, put a thousand pounds on the tongue and there is no way it's going to rattle.
  
• On this specific vehicle, and on many small vehicles, the square tube used to build the receiver is extremely short; on the Edge it's only about 5 inches. This means the overlap on the receiver tube and the hitch is only a few inches. This creates more wobble and rattle. On the Superduty, the overlap on the receiver and the hitch is almost a foot; minimizing the wobble.
  
• On a larger vehicle, the driver is further from the hitch just because the vehicle is longer. I think this helps a lot.
  
• It also seems like the tolerances on the Class II on the Edge are extreme; they could be much tighter in my opinion.
  

Some possible solutions I considered;

 

• Weld on a longer square tube on the front of the existing tube to create a receiver with a 8 - 12 inch tube instead of the minuscule 5 inches.
  
• Have a custom build hitch machined to fit the receiver with tighter tolerances.
  
• Cut it off an put on a good hitch. (Didn't want to do that on a new vehicle.)
  

I drove this Edge with the smallest U-Haul from North Idaho to Kansas City, in the winter so I had to come up with something. Here is what I did;

 

• Loaded the trailer heavy in the front, to get some tongue weight on the hitch. When I had the trailer empty, the rattle drove a person crazy; it was extreme.
  
• I looked at some devices on line and bought one of these; Anti Rattle Hitch Device from eTrailer. There are good pictures online. Keep in mind, if you use one of these it should be installed so it pulls the hitch DOWN, working WITH the tongue weight. I've seen pictures of these installed pulling the hitch UP, and then the entire tongue weight of the trailer is on the bold on the anti rattle device. This thing worked pretty well, and combined with a good amount of tongue weight eliminated the rattle except for extremely rough roads.
  
• Here is another device I think would work even better, due to more robust mounting; Anti Rattle Hitch Device from Hitch Vise. There are really good pictures here. This is basically two heavy plates that "sandwich" the hitch and are held in place with two heavy bolts. It looks very robust. The downside is that it's not removable by hand like the eTrailer device.
  

Bottom line; I still wish I had my Big Stinky F-350 back, but with some planning and a couple of options the hitch rattle on an Edge can be reduced to a manageable memory.

 

If you have any questions, or if this helps you out, please let me know.

 

PS: I also saw one guy on here that could not find a 2 inch ball to fit the factory Ford Edge hitch, with the hole size on the factory hitch. Ford actually carries a 2" ball for the factory Ford hitch. I bought one at Lowe's that fit fine.

Edited December 29, 2008 by jlkansascity

[Jaak in TO]

 

Mine is a 2007 Edge, but the newer ones are the same.

 

Issue; Extreme hitch rattle when towing a small trailer, bike rack or anything else.

 

Background; I used to drive a F-350 Superduty diesel 4 door. It pulled anything I hooked, and never rattled. I loved that truck....

 

We got the Edge and the rattle drives me nuts, although I don't tow much at all. Here are some of the items that contribute to the problem, as compared to larger vehicles (BigStinky, the F-350)

• On smaller vehicles, designers want to carry less tongue weight. Light tongue weight = rattle. On a Superduty, put a thousand pounds on the tongue and there is no way it's going to rattle.
  
• On this specific vehicle, and on many small vehicles, the square tube used to build the receiver is extremely short; on the Edge it's only about 5 inches. This means the overlap on the receiver tube and the hitch is only a few inches. This creates more wobble and rattle. On the Superduty, the overlap on the receiver and the hitch is almost a foot; minimizing the wobble.
  
• On a larger vehicle, the driver is further from the hitch just because the vehicle is longer. I think this helps a lot.
  
• It also seems like the tolerances on the Class II on the Edge are extreme; they could be much tighter in my opinion.
  

Some possible solutions I considered;

 

• Weld on a longer square tube on the front of the existing tube to create a receiver with a 8 - 12 inch tube instead of the minuscule 5 inches.
  
• Have a custom build hitch machined to fit the receiver with tighter tolerances.
  
• Cut it off an put on a good hitch. (Didn't want to do that on a new vehicle.)
  

I drove this Edge with the smallest U-Haul from North Idaho to Kansas City, in the winter so I had to come up with something. Here is what I did;

 

• Loaded the trailer heavy in the front, to get some tongue weight on the hitch. When I had the trailer empty, the rattle drove a person crazy; it was extreme.
  
• I looked at some devices on line and bought one of these; Anti Rattle Hitch Device from eTrailer. There are good pictures online. Keep in mind, if you use one of these it should be installed so it pulls the hitch DOWN, working WITH the tongue weight. I've seen pictures of these installed pulling the hitch UP, and then the entire tongue weight of the trailer is on the bold on the anti rattle device. This thing worked pretty well, and combined with a good amount of tongue weight eliminated the rattle except for extremely rough roads.
  
• Here is another device I think would work even better, due to more robust mounting; Anti Rattle Hitch Device from Hitch Vise. There are really good pictures here. This is basically two heavy plates that "sandwich" the hitch and are held in place with two heavy bolts. It looks very robust. The downside is that it's not removable by hand like the eTrailer device.
  

Bottom line; I still wish I had my Big Stinky F-350 back, but with some planning and a couple of options the hitch rattle on an Edge can be reduced to a manageable memory.

 

If you have any questions, or if this helps you out, please let me know.

 

PS: I also saw one guy on here that could not find a 2 inch ball to fit the factory Ford Edge hitch, with the hole size on the factory hitch. Ford actually carries a 2" ball for the factory Ford hitch. I bought one at Lowe's that fit fine.

 

 

Most trailer supply stores have a small anti rattle kit ~$9 that clamps onto the drawbar. I have no issues since then.

[Lex Talionis]

you know the fix I was contemplating, as mine rattles like crazy, was to have 2 beads welded about 1.5" apart onto the top of the hitch accessory (bike mount in my case) and then slowly grind it down until I get a snug fit. this way, no "devices" to have to take on and off as I do not have my bike rack on all the time, and the 'fix' is part of the actual rack now. slide it in and snug fit as the ground down welds will take up the slop/space.

 

I have been wanting 1 of these but they have NEVER sold them

Edited March 10, 2009 by Lex Talionis

[nc_edge]

i had a very snug fit and no rattle, also no lights. found out it was a ground problem. easy fix, took out the dremel and shaved off the paint. now i have lights, and the rattle. i picked up a thin starter shim that i will try the next time i need to pull a trailer.