fifth wheel hitch newb ???

[smoke20]

i'm usually posting on the truck camper group so i'm not sure if this is the right group to post this in or not but here goes,

i recently got an 07 f350 drw the previous owner had either a 5th wheel or goose neck mount on the bed. they have some holes already drilled through the bed but they are a little dfferent from what i have seen before. i want to put 5th wheel rails in my truck so i can pull my dads 5'er

there are six holes in the bed, four look to be lined up properly and two are jus off to the side of the of what look like "right" holes. it looks like some one drilled two holes in the wrong spot then drilled four holes in the correct location. hope that makes sense.

anyway my dad has a 03 f250 and his 5th wheel rails have four bolts per rail, two on each end which makes for a total of eight holes in the bed

i want to use the existing holes in the bed of my truck so i dont have to drill more holes in the bed. so my question is is there a manufactuer that makes rails that mount with only two bolts per rail? any help would be appreciated

heres some pics of the hole locations


right

left

[Cummins12V98]

I think those 4 factory bolts in the bed are for bolting down a hitch without drilling any holes.

Better yet throw in a B&W Companion you won't regret it and you will have a clear bed when you want.

[jpares89]

They defiantly went across the bed. I can see the the markings clear as day in the spray in bed liner. And I can see on the frame where the two L brackets went only in the front. Not to mention the bolts were still in the frame.

[hedge]

I think it's pretty common to have to drill the frame if you just use the multi purpose 'L' brackets. It costs a few bucks more but the vehicle specific brackets are pretty nice as they use factory holes. They also tie the hole thing together better IMO instead of each of the 4 L brackets being seperate.

Back to the OP, can you tell if it had rails across or lengthwise with the bed? maybe by indentations in the bed corrugations? I know there are some rails that run lengthwise. I believe DSP and older Husky models used those kind of rails.

[smoke20]

as far as I can tell they used the factory holes in the frame on my truck. I'm pretty sure ford has had the holes in the frame for fifth wheels as long as the super duty line has been out.


most of the used hitches I have been looking at don't include the brackets under the bed I guess people jus pull the four bolts that hold the rails in and either don't know the L brackets are part of the hitch not part of the frame of there truck. That or their jus too lazy to pull the brackets

[Artemus_Gordon]

I found a universal rail that allowed for G neck install !

[empty_nest]

powderman426 wrote:

45Ricochet wrote:
I know mine has brackets under the bed attached to the frame. I would think Ford would use them also. Mine also has 4 per rail but only the outer bolts connect to the frame.
I hope the guy didn't make the same mistake drilling on the frame :E

If its done properly there are no holes drilled in the frame.

X2

[powderman426]

45Ricochet wrote:
I know mine has brackets under the bed attached to the frame. I would think Ford would use them also. Mine also has 4 per rail but only the outer bolts connect to the frame.
I hope the guy didn't make the same mistake drilling on the frame :E

If its done properly there are no holes drilled in the frame.

[45Ricochet]

I know mine has brackets under the bed attached to the frame. I would think Ford would use them also. Mine also has 4 per rail but only the outer bolts connect to the frame.
I hope the guy didn't make the same mistake drilling on the frame :E

[smoke20]

Old-Biscuit wrote:
My Husky (Valley) 16K 5'vr hitch uses 2 per rail

thanks i saw a valley 16k on craigslist for $250 they said it came with all the hardware "nothing else needed" and they only had four bolts, but they were missing the L brackets for the frame

i figured it was a "diy" take off and they didnt realize that the L brackets had to be removed from the frame under the bed that or they jus didnt want to do the work lol. i'm jus trying to make sure what brands will work if i buy a used hitch

[Old-Biscuit]

"I can install this hitch myself.......opps!"

Those are holes from rail install and from opps wrong place.

You may be able to reuse OR you may need to drill new holes....depends on which bed rails you have to install for the 5th wheel hitch you use.

My Husky (Valley) 16K 5'vr hitch uses 2 per rail

[big_bird_2]

Reece