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unfinished91's avatar
unfinished91
Explorer
Mar 05, 2016

Mounting a fifth wheel hitch?

I recently traded my 2011 F350 dually for a 2016 F350 dually.The 2011 had a Husky hitch with Reese custom frame brackets. I went to a Reese dealer to be sure the 2011 brackets would fit my 2016 frame. He told me they never use any brackets to mount the rails.According to him, they use the 4 center bolts holding the bed to the frame. The rails have a round hole in the top at each end. I did some measuring and found that the bed mounting locations do put the rails in the correct position. He said to use grade 8 bolts. My question is, has anyone ever heard of this? I am not sure the hat rails on the bed would stand up to the strain of a 16,000 lb. fifth wheel trailer pulling and pounding on them.These rails between the bed and the frame are approx 1.5"X 1.5" and made of the same metal as the bed floor. It would be a very easy way to mount the fifth wheel rails but I am just not sure of it's strength and durability.

12 Replies

  • I'm not aware of ANY 5th wheel hitch manufacturer that doesn't recommend a direct attachment between the hitch and frame. Even the B&W Companion that I use is connected to the B&W Turnoverball gooseneck hitch that's bolted directly to the frame rails.

    I guess the definitive answer in this case would have to come from Ford - are these bolts designed to take the stresses imposed by a 5th wheel hitch, and are the bed members between the truck and frame sufficient to handle these stresses? Personally, I seriously doubt that Ford would give this arrangement their blessing, but one never knows....

    If your Ford has the factory puck mounts, I'd certainly invest in a hitch that uses them. JMHO.

    Rusty
  • I have a 2006 vintage Husky 16K 4-way pivot hitch mounted via rails that are bolted thru bed material to frame brackets.

    It has towed my 14K (13,873# actual) since Nov 2006 ---7 yrs. which was FT traveling weekly.

    Absolutely no issues with truck bed, rails or hitch




    Rails should bolt to frame plates/mounts




    I take it truck didn't come 'factory hitch prepped' with pucks and such?