Trailer hitch and parking sensor issue

Anyone else running into this issue? I put my trailer hitch on and now I cannot stop the parking sensors from going off.

I would think ford would have figured out a way to exclude a hitch from setting them off.

Anyone know of a fix?

Thanks

Should be a disable parking sensor in the menu. Or hold down reset.

Mark986 said:

Should be a disable parking sensor in the menu. Or hold down reset.

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Yeah but that is not a solution for me.

I like to keep a hitch back there all the time. Even if not towing anything. I look at it as a little insurance policy. If someone rear ends me, there is a great chance they will hit that first

but with this issue, it seems like I may change that habit.

dtt255 said:

Yeah but that is not a solution for me.

If someone rear ends me, there is a great chance they will hit that first

Click to expand...

This is a really bad idea. The bumpers on the truck are designed to take the brunt of a rear collision impact. If you have a ball hitch connected, it will be the first thing to take the impact...and it is connected directly to your frame. If it gets forced upwards or downwards, guess what? Your frame is now bent. I think I would rather replace bumpers than have to straighten a frame...

I would think a trailer hitch would simply punch a hole in whatever smashes into it. That's been my direct experience anyway.

Take the damn hitch off when not in use. Others will appreciate not racking their knees on it and a thief won't know you have one if it's hidden inside the bed.......

You may want to reconsider your trailer hitch used for protection idea. It protects your truck from sustaining more damage than without one, but doesn't help you or your passengers from being injured and actually makes you more prone to injury.

Here's a study if you don't believe me. The National Safety Commission Alerts: How Receiver Hitches Affect Rear End Collision Injuries

---------- Post added at 09:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:45 PM ----------

weezy said:

This is a really bad idea. The bumpers on the truck are designed to take the brunt of a rear collision impact. If you have a ball hitch connected, it will be the first thing to take the impact...and it is connected directly to your frame. If it gets forced upwards or downwards, guess what? Your frame is now bent. I think I would rather replace bumpers than have to straighten a frame...

Click to expand...

I was in the process of typing this in addition to what I said, but most rear end crashes are low speed and I typically don't see bent trailer hitches. I've literally worked hundreds of accidents.

Wow very interesting info. I will read that link.

Thanks Everyone!

weezy said:

This is a really bad idea. The bumpers on the truck are designed to take the brunt of a rear collision impact. If you have a ball hitch connected, it will be the first thing to take the impact...and it is connected directly to your frame. If it gets forced upwards or downwards, guess what? Your frame is now bent. I think I would rather replace bumpers than have to straighten a frame...

Click to expand...

So the hitch will transfer the impact to the frame?

What's the bumper attached to?

There's specific tow hitches that absorb impact if that's what you're looking for. They're an eye sore but act as a step as well.

crash457 said:

So the hitch will transfer the impact to the frame?

What's the bumper attached to?

Click to expand...

Bumper brackets that will bend/deform and absorb at least some of the energy. Receiver hitches (obviously) are designed specifically NOT to bend, and tend to be made out of heavier gauge metal with better reinforcing (compared to bumper brackets).

That said, I don't run with a hitch in place for a couple of reasons... it's one less thing to bang my knees on, and it's one less thing to rattle when I go over bumps.