PullRite 4439 "Picture Frame" Adapter

Loosen the 2 bolts on each bracket under the bed so the pins will go in. During installation of the frame brackets the bed bolts are loosened but you may be able to sneak in there without doing that.

rjxj wrote:
Loosen the 2 bolts on each bracket under the bed so the pins will go in.

Thank you! My son and I looked at doing that after I posted... I'm going to call on Monday, find out if there's a "spec" for the o/c distance that they should be, and if it's out of spec, I'm going to have the dealer do just that, as a warranty fix. If they won't, or if it's in spec, I'll give it a try myself!

Has anyone out there tried this?

My truck didn't come with pucks so I bought the factory kit and installed them myself. They give a template for the holes that have to be cut in the bed but that's about it. It's not a real precision thing and doubt that they will give you a figure. They will probably loosen the brackets or easier yet probably use a grinder to knock the edges off the pins so they fall into place.

As I set mine into place I also had to adjust each "pin" to achieve the proper tension. You have to remove the cotter pin and adjust the threaded portion to fit. While I was that far into it and knowing that I wont be removing it soon I actually disassembled each pin and threaded adjuster and coated everything with anti seize. If you want it done right you may have to do it yourself. I also whacked X amount off each arm so that they could be disengaged with out taking the hitch off the frame. I drilled new holes and moved the arm pins.

As designed there isn't room to swing and disengage the arms 90 degrees with the hitch on the picture frame. I wanted to be able to more easily hang the whole thing from the pin when I want the truck empty.

rjxj - I saw your post on your DIY install while I was searching for already posted answers. It gave me some good leads, but since it wasn't the same situation, I questioned the group.... When you were setting the frame brackets, did the factory kit give you an on-center distance for pin to pin? Was there some "play" in the frame brackets that might allow me to make an adjustment? If I can squeeze about 3/16", I think that it'll work without grinding the pins or the picture frame holes.

The brackets sit in between two pieces of steel that are welded on top of the frame. Yes there could be a little slop in the positioning of them. There was no stated distance in the directions. Say the brackets ended up sort of pushed toward each other or apart when they were installed and the pin positions were sort of apart from each other when the picture frame was built you could have too tight of a fit. The picture frame is held in a jig fixture and welded. Like anything if you are a little to one side of the tolerance on one part and a little in the other direction with the other part you now have interference.

I cant remember but I think I did clean my pins up with a flapper wheel. It's a pretty tough and crude design. Like a skeleton key going in. You dont want to grind a 1/4 inch off the engagement tab but it wont hurt to clean them up. I'd loosen the brackets first. I dont think you would have to loosen the bed to get to those bolts. They had to be loosened in order to get the bracket on top of the frame rail and in between those two side plates. Then 2 long bolts go through.

I'm a little pessimistic about taking something like that to the dealer with someone working flat rate and never having done it before. It would probably come back with the pins ground/cleaned up and maybe even a dent in the bed from dropping or banging the picture frame around. :E

They won't do it if it's flat rate. I wont let them! But if the existing brackets are supposed to be set to a tolerance, and they are off, they can fix it as a warranty repair! Truck is only 17 months old, and has less than 8000 miles on it!

Thank you for the great info!

So to close this discussion out, today, I dropped the spare tire (to get it out of the way), I loosened the two ¾" bolts holding the drivers side rear "puck" plate in place, aligned the 4439 rail, and retightened the bolts. Took longer to crank the spare down and back up than it did to make the actual adjustment. Hitch completely installed, now ready to p/u my new 5'er, the Saturday after Thanksgiving!

I'm late to the party but I experienced the same issue and called pull rite who advised me to do exactly what you did.

https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/28346328.cfm