Forum Discussion

ldelvaux's avatar
ldelvaux
Explorer
Oct 30, 2014

Fifth wheel hitch - rail bending and pulling up truck bed

We have a sliding hitch (husky 26k) in our Ford 250, short bed. We pull a 37 foot cedar creek with it. The problem we just noticed is that our rail that sits closest to the truck cab has bent up and has created a convex curve in the truck bed. Has anyone else experienced this. I am concerned if either the installation was done incorrectly, that might of caused this issue, or if maybe we are using the slider incorrectly. The hitch is new, but, the rails are from our last hitch which wasn't as big as this one. When they installed the new hitch they were fine with using the previous rails. We have been pulling a fifth wheel for quite a few years and never seen anything like this before. If anybody has any insight to this issue, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

30 Replies

Show More
  • psford's avatar
    psford
    Explorer
    Oct 30, 2014
    ldelvaux wrote:
    We have a sliding hitch (husky 26k) in our Ford 250, short bed. We pull a 37 foot cedar creek with it. The problem we just noticed is that our rail that sits closest to the truck cab has bent up and has created a convex curve in the truck bed. Has anyone else experienced this. I am concerned if either the installation was done incorrectly, that might of caused this issue, or if maybe we are using the slider incorrectly. The hitch is new, but, the rails are from our last hitch which wasn't as big as this one. When they installed the new hitch they were fine with using the previous rails. We have been pulling a fifth wheel for quite a few years and never seen anything like this before. If anybody has any insight to this issue, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks



    Have you slid the hitch back while attached to the truck, and maybe it hit the end a bit hard ???? They do slam back pretty hard if not careful . I bent a bed rail doing that, did no damage to the bed, but did put a slight curve in the bed rail, which I had to remove ,and straighten. I also added the center bolts on the bedrail, which when I installed it originally they didn't show or supply bolts for the center, they do now. I also unhitch the truck, and slid the hitch back ,and rehitch now. I only need to do this is when I park it in my rv pad beside the house its a tight fit.
  • spud1957's avatar
    spud1957
    Explorer
    Oct 30, 2014
    mpfireman wrote:
    Hitches are rated for different load factors. Your older hitch ( RAILS ) might not be rated to handle this extra pin weight.


    Reese does not spec any weights for their rails. They are J2638 compliant.
  • Water-Bug's avatar
    Water-Bug
    Explorer II
    Oct 30, 2014
    mpfireman wrote:
    Hitches are rated for different load factors. Your older hitch ( RAILS ) might not be rated to handle this extra pin weight.


    Excess pin weight would cause a concave curve of the rails. Excess trailer weight would cause the convex curve. Pin weight pushes down. Trailer weight would pull up.
  • mpfireman's avatar
    mpfireman
    Explorer
    Oct 30, 2014
    Hitches are rated for different load factors. Your older hitch ( RAILS ) might not be rated to handle this extra pin weight.
  • ldelvaux's avatar
    ldelvaux
    Explorer
    Oct 30, 2014
    Thank you all so much for your input. We did take it to the RV dealer to have it installed. I believe we are going to go to our Ford Dealer and have them look at the issue. What you have all said makes perfect sense to me. Heres to wishing me luck getting this fixed properly and not costing me an arm and a leg!!!
    Thanks again
  • ol_Bombero-JC's avatar
    ol_Bombero-JC
    Explorer
    Oct 30, 2014
    avvidclif1 wrote:
    My first guess would be the front rail is not bolted to the frame like it should be. Or the bolts to the frame came out. The bed shouldn't move if the rails are installed properly.


    All guesses aside.....you need to start from ground zero, and check everything - *very* thoroughly.

    If you're not capable of that - take it to a competent hitch installer,
    which usually is *not* the RV dealer/s.

    ~
  • john_bet's avatar
    john_bet
    Explorer II
    Oct 30, 2014
    avvidclif1 wrote:
    My first guess would be the front rail is not bolted to the frame like it should be. Or the bolts to the frame came out. The bed shouldn't move if the rails are installed properly.
    X-2
  • avvidclif1's avatar
    avvidclif1
    Explorer
    Oct 30, 2014
    My first guess would be the front rail is not bolted to the frame like it should be. Or the bolts to the frame came out. The bed shouldn't move if the rails are installed properly.

About Fifth Wheel Group

19,021 PostsLatest Activity: Jul 26, 2025