Is a 5th Wheel hitch in dented bed possible ???

[Lazarus_Alessan]

Hey guys,

I'm a newbie to the 5th wheeling world and excited to (hopefully) get into it. I've got an 02 F-350 long bed that was previously used as a work truck for a roofing company and it has pretty extensive denting in the bottom sheet metal of the bed. No damage or denting in the actual bed supports or frame but the sheet metal between is indented pretty good to the point where it will hold about 1/4" to 1/2" of water in a few separate little puddles if it rains and the truck is sitting on a level surface. I assume that the sheet metal of the bed isn't used for supporting any of the weight on the hitch or the towing forces so I'm hoping that, other than maybe looking a little weird, the dented up bed isn't going to have any effect on installing the hitch rails or towing a fifth wheel but I want to hear from some guys with experience. Any advice, help, or wisdom is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Lazarus_Alessan]

Thanks for all the help guys. The shop said they had to beat the bed back into shape 1/4" in a couple spots where it was blocking the bracket from being installed but other than that it went in fine. No cracks and everything is solid and they only charged me 2 hours of labor (I was expecting them to rake me over the coals when I got the call that it was delayed because they had to bend the sheet metal of the bed). Thanks for all the input. Hopefully, I'll be towing my first 5th wheel home sometime this week!

[Nv_Guy]

^^ What they said, the frame provides all the support. But give the frame a good inspection, as it sounds like this truck earned it's keep. I came across a couple of cracked truck frames over the years, not a good way to start pulling a 5th.

[Ductape]

Some mounting systems use pins through the floor e.g. Pullrite. The dented bed would be irrelevant in that case.

[bucky]

Home Skillet wrote:
If the bed floor is dented in, you will have to bend it back up to make room for the hitch brackets.

Good point, but hopefully the sheet metal that close to the frame will be ok.

[Home_Skillet]

If the bed floor is dented in, you will have to bend it back up to make room for the hitch brackets.

[Lazarus_Alessan]

Great. Thanks guys. That’s kinda what I was thinking but with no actual experience, that’s not worth too much.

[Old-Biscuit]

justafordguy wrote:
The sheet metal of the bed provides no support to the hitch. As long as you can still install the hitch/mounting system you will be fine.

Exactly^^^^^^

[justafordguy]

The sheet metal of the bed provides no support to the hitch. As long as you can still install the hitch/mounting system you will be fine.

[agesilaus]

No expert, but the hitch is supported by below the bed rails not the sheet metal bed. So I think you'll be OK as long as the rails are installed correctly.