Forum Discussion

Crazy_Cooter's avatar
Crazy_Cooter
Explorer
Dec 21, 2013

Video of B&W Flex

I have posted about my concerns with the flexing I have seen in my B&W hitch while riding in the bed with my wife driving.

Well, I got a new camera and decided to make a video of it.....B&W Vid

Copy and paste of my description:This is the flex I have been concerned about after seeing my bed floor broken. It used to be much worse, but I have installed the hitch at the farthest forward and lowest mounting holes to minimize the loads and the Morryde help with the shock loads. I also installed flat bar stock in the low grooves in the bed so the loads will be place evenly over all surfaces in the bed. I assume this is why B&W has since redesigned the Companion and upped the rating. I run right up to the 18K rating and 3000-3400 vertical load.

Before anyone decides to tell me that it is installed wrong.....it IS installed per the instructions and torqued to specs..... I'm not dissing B&W in any way. I'm also a dealer/installer listed on the MVP list and sell/install their products weekly.
  • RedAce's avatar
    RedAce
    Explorer
    Dec 21, 2013
    Hi Tony,

    I did not see any flex. The head of the hitch is designed to tilt from side to side.
  • fj12ryder's avatar
    fj12ryder
    Explorer III
    Dec 21, 2013
    Very hard to tell if there is any flex with the way the camera moves around. I thought it looked like the truck bed might have flexed once, but hard to tell. I saw no unwarranted movement of the hitch itself. Perhaps the bed/frame just isn't strong enough for the hitch mount and flexes too much.

    If there's a problem it looks to be with the construction of the truck.
  • oilslick's avatar
    oilslick
    Explorer
    Dec 21, 2013
    I use a B&W companion, mine's almost 3 years old. Very soon after I installed it I came to realize that the 4 rubber pads were very inadequate so I replaced them with 1/4 inch thick reinforced rubber belting held in place with just 2 ea 3/16 bolts and they have held up excellent. One thing I didn't like about the companion was B&W's installation method, I know they designed it... I did try to talk with B&W over this and they became very defensive to say the least. After asking around I settled on a different installation method which I have used from after the first month or so. With the Lippert's recent approval of the Reese goose pin box and the possible use of no safety chains many may drop the use of the companion altogether. I definitely see the flex and also have a couple of creases in my bed at the rear of the hitch feet.
  • Crazy_Cooter's avatar
    Crazy_Cooter
    Explorer
    Dec 21, 2013
    If you open it full screen, you should see the upright arms and base flexing. The hitch head itself is rock solid.

    If I watch it on a 40" screen, it's very obvious. I'm also uploading an inside of the trailer video to my channel. I can't believe these rigs stay together as long as they do!
  • Vulcaneer's avatar
    Vulcaneer
    Explorer
    Dec 21, 2013
    I guess I don't get it. I don't know how the B&W mounts. Does it mount to the floor of the bed? I can definitely see the flex, alright. But what I don't get is the flex coming from the hitch? Or the bed floor?

    Either way, it doesn't look good.
  • Crazy_Cooter's avatar
    Crazy_Cooter
    Explorer
    Dec 21, 2013
    fj12ryder wrote:
    Very hard to tell if there is any flex with the way the camera moves around. I thought it looked like the truck bed might have flexed once, but hard to tell. I saw no unwarranted movement of the hitch itself. Perhaps the bed/frame just isn't strong enough for the hitch mount and flexes too much.

    If there's a problem it looks to be with the construction of the truck.


    Correct! It is the bed flexing, but the bed is an integral part of the hitch support. This is my second bed as a deer wiped out the last one....I found the cracked floor when I swapped them out. This is a Dodge bed and the Chevy's are even weaker. As the bed cracks and squishes down, the clamp load that the drawbolt is responsible for is lost. A person who never removes or inspects the hitch could have a BIG problem. My hitch gets removed twice a year at best, so I double check my fasteners.

    I also plan to swap to the new hitch that has a better base and higher rating.
  • Crazy_Cooter's avatar
    Crazy_Cooter
    Explorer
    Dec 21, 2013
    Vulcaneer wrote:
    I guess I don't get it. I don't know how the B&W mounts. Does it mount to the floor of the bed? I can definitely see the flex, alright. But what I don't get is the flex coming from the hitch? Or the bed floor?

    Either way, it doesn't look good.


    The 3" vertical post is the only mounting point. It is used to both pull the hitch down to the bed and control lateral movement. The floor is what were seeing flexing here....and maybe a tiny bit of the base.
  • jerem0621's avatar
    jerem0621
    Explorer II
    Dec 21, 2013
    doesn't all metal objects have some flex in them? I am pretty sure that they do. I did see the flex at the back of the base of the hitch on the hotrod take off.
  • oilslick's avatar
    oilslick
    Explorer
    Dec 21, 2013
    oilslick wrote:
    I use a B&W companion, mine's almost 3 years old. Very soon after I installed it I came to realize that the 4 rubber pads were very inadequate so I replaced them with 1/4 inch thick reinforced rubber belting held in place with just 2 ea 3/16 bolts and they have held up excellent. One thing I didn't like about the companion was B&W's installation method, I know they designed it... I did try to talk with B&W over this and they became very defensive to say the least. After asking around I settled on a different installation method which I have used from after the first month or so. With the Lippert's recent approval of the Reese goose pin box and the possible use of no safety chains many may drop the use of the companion altogether. I definitely see the flex and also have a couple of creases in my bed at the rear of the hitch feet.


    Did you miss my post?
  • thomasmnile's avatar
    thomasmnile
    Explorer
    Dec 21, 2013
    Crazy Cooter wrote:
    I have posted about my concerns with the flexing I have seen in my B&W hitch while riding in the bed with my wife driving.

    Well, I got a new camera and decided to make a video of it.....B&W Vid

    Copy and paste of my description:This is the flex I have been concerned about after seeing my bed floor broken. It used to be much worse, but I have installed the hitch at the farthest forward and lowest mounting holes to minimize the loads and the Morryde help with the shock loads. I also installed flat bar stock in the low grooves in the bed so the loads will be place evenly over all surfaces in the bed. I assume this is why B&W has since redesigned the Companion and upped the rating. I run right up to the 18K rating and 3000-3400 vertical load.

    Before anyone decides to tell me that it is installed wrong.....it IS installed per the instructions and torqued to specs..... I'm not dissing B&W in any way. I'm also a dealer/installer listed on the MVP list and sell/install their products weekly.


    I owned a Companion for 5 years, mounted in an '05 Ram 3500, never a problem, no cracked bed floor. Thought the movement of the mount arms was a bit alarming since they are secured with bolts. Hitch head motion seemed normal. The flex in the base you mention, I didn't notice, even viewing in full screen. I do recall seeing a little 'spread' or flex in the hitch base when tightening the draw down bolt. Might that be an engineered feature of the hitch? Did you send the video to B&W? It would be interesting to know what they think.

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