New '17 3500 SRW fifth wheel hitch options...San Diego

[XR4rider]

Hi All,

I've been reading this forum for information on fifth wheel hitches. Hope I'm not beating a dead horse on this. I'm actually new to fifth wheels. Been pulling bumper pulls my whole life but recently stepped up and got a '17 3500 Aisin SRW Megacab 6'4" box(without fifth wheel prep package). I'm going to be pulling a 29' fifth wheel with a reported hitch weight of 1325lbs.

I was wondering what hitches others are happy with. I will be pulling probably 75% of the time so very concerned with strength and longevity. I have read about the BW Companion, which is considered a "single point attachment". is a single point attachment not a strong or reliable as a rail style?...or the Pulrite Superglide? I like the idea of once the hitch is out, the ball can be removed for full bed use, however, I am also fine with rails if that will lead to more strength and reliably.
Any advice or thoughts would be appreciated. Also, does anyone recommend a place in the San Diego area that would do a good install of the hitch?

Thank you,

[XR4rider]

The BW slider is definitely on the list. I will probably not get factory 5th wheel prep kit installed. Unfortunately I do not have means to install this myself, so a dealer would need to. I am sure that is a hefty price tag. If I go with the BW slider I will get either the rails system or have the turnover hitch installed. I do like the idea of an auto slide however, so the Superglide is also on the list. The only negative with the Superglide is the inability to hitch at an angle.

[Cummins12V98]

Don't wish later, just get the pucks installed and go with the B&W Slider you WON'T regret it!!!

Simple solid latching system with NO question if you are hitched or not!!!

[2012Coleman]

Yes - thanks for all the great info on this thread. I'm surprised that the goose neck and wiring harness plus the 4 pucks. I've been looking at a lot of trucks lately and the ones that have the fifth wheel prep package seem to have all of these.

[minnow]

The rails add additional height to the hitch as the hitch sits on top of the rails which connect to the holes in the bed of the truck. This can be a problem keeping the fiver level (front to back) as these darn trucks sit too high to begin with. In my case it would of added an additional 1" and I'm already a little nose high with my fifth wheel so getting a hitch that connects directly to the goose ball kept my set up fairly level.

[LIKE2BUILD]

IdaD wrote:
From my experience the rails only rarely get in the way.

You could be right. Unfortunately I'm a clean bed nerd and wanted the full bed for whatever, whenever without anything permanently in the way. It probably wasn't necessary to have a clean bed, but I like it.

KJ

[IdaD]

From my experience the rails only rarely get in the way. More often than in the way they make for handy tie down points. Once other nice thing about the rails is there are a number of gooseneck ball setups that mount to them so you don't have to mess around with installing the center ball if or when you want to tow a gooseneck style trailer.

Examples

[XR4rider]

Thank you all for all the input. Too many choices. I have spent so much time online reading comments and reviews of all these different hitches. I've made my mind up and changed it a hand full of times. So...right now I am leaning toward an auto slide hitch, like a Pullrite or Demco. I have read varying stories of people with the 6'4" bed having either no problems at all or have had problems with cab/trailer clearance. If I didn't go with the auto slides, the B&W Companion slide looks nice too. I do like the look and finish if the OEM puck style but will probably end up with a rail system. (at least is what I am thinking for now). The price is a lot for these hitches but then i figure I just spent 50K on the truck plus the trailer price, I guess now is not the time to skimp on a hitch. Hopefully looking to make one purchase that will last a long time.

I will be towing more than not so the hitch will stay in the bed more than out of it, so even if its heavy, it won't be removed often. Thanks for all the links to the various hitches and accessories.

[BarryG20]

The extra in bed seven pin plug is pretty easy to install. You literally uncouple the back of the stock one at the bumper, plug in the new one to that and it has a pigtail for the second one so there is not a bunch of wire splicing or anything like that, pretty much plug and play. Mopar makes one as does Curt and a couple others. Iirc I used a Curt and it was $59 or something like that. Only thing was drilling the hole in the side of the bed but it goes easy enough and fortunately it is not like a bolt hole that needs to be exact so if you are off it won't matter. Plenty of room between the inner and outer bed wall to reach up in there and feed the stuff up to the hole

[LIKE2BUILD]

2012Coleman wrote:
Does the kit contain the goose neck connector in the middle? I'll be having one installed soon, and the guy at my local shop said he just did one, but the kit had only the pucks - no goose neck. Also, what about the wiring harness that comes in the bed with this option? I see from the link that you can get the roof clearance lights as well.

Gooseneck Prep and 5th wheel prep kits are different.

The Gooseneck Prep kit includes the gooseneck receiver center section, 4 bolts to mount the receiver, rear stantions (with hardware) and 2 trim rings for the bed holes. That is about $300.

The 5th wheel prep kit includes front and rear stantions (with hardware) and 4 trim trim rings for the bed holes. This is about $225.

In my case I had installed the 5th wheel prep kit (4 stantions) and was already using my 5th wheel hitch. Late last year I came upon a situation where I needed to tow a gooseneck trailer. When I researched the RAM Gooseneck Prep Kit the cheapest price I found was over $300 and it included another set of rear stantions which I didn't need. I did some digging and located MOPAR part #68161896AA which is only the gooseneck receiver. A little bit of searching later and I found I could get just 68161896AA at MoparPartsGiant.com for $149. They charge a stupid amount for the stud plates (part # 68186015AB) so I went to a local bolt shop and got the properly sized Grade 8 bolts, washers, and stop nuts for about $10.

The one gotcha is this will not give you the bed trim ring for the center receiver. No problem. I went to Oreilly auto and purchased a cheap roll of Automotive Door Edge Guard and used that to protect the edges where the hole saw went through the bed. So far it's worked like charm.

The takeaway is that for $375 you can have both the 5th wheel prep and Gooseneck prep if you each separately. To tow a gooseneck trailer you will also need to get the pop-in ball and tow hook kit. I purchased the Curt OEM Gooseneck Ball Kit from Etrailer.com.

I had to buy the wiring harness separately. There are aftermarket wiring harnesses available but I decided to buy the OEM In-bed wiring kit when I bought my prep kit. You'll have to add in-bed 7-way connector for any hitch system so I considered that a wash. The wiring harness wasn't all that bad to install either.

KJ

[2012Coleman]

Does the kit contain the goose neck connector in the middle? I'll be having one installed soon, and the guy at my local shop said he just did one, but the kit had only the pucks - no goose neck. Also, what about the wiring harness that comes in the bed with this option? I see from the link that you can get the roof clearance lights as well.

[LIKE2BUILD]

2012Coleman wrote:
You can have a reputable hitch/welding shop install the fifth wheel prep package for you. The part is available through the dealership. The dealership should be able to install it as well.

Exactly. I purchased the Ram OEM 5th wheel prep kit from MoparPartsOnline.com last year for $225. It's still the same price.

Here is my thread about installing the Ram 5th wheel prep kit.

I believe on some trucks you have to lift the bed. On my 2500 I was able to slide everything into place without raising it.

The B&W under bed gooseneck hitch installs directly into the OEM location. For that hitch and the B&W sliding companion you're looking at $1850 plus the cost of installing the under bed hitch if you can't do it yourself.

For the OEM 5th wheel prep kit you're at $225 for the kit, and $1550 for the hitch....Total $1775. Not a huge difference. It's only drilling 4 holes in the bed and installing 4 brackets. Any quality shop should be able to do this in about 2 hours. If you go with the Curt hitch the total price decreases to $1250. I can't vouch for the quality or operation of the Curt slider compared to other sliding mechanisms. I'm happy with mine, you'll just have to decide for yourself on price.

Like was said previously, I too like the placement of the hitch weight on 4 corners and all of the weight sets directly over the frame.

KJ

[IdaD]

I personally think rails or the OEM puck system gives you a more solid connection than any of the ball mount setups, regardless of brand. The pucks give you a cleaner empty bed, but the rails don't make a big difference to me and I use them as tie down points quite a bit when I'm hauling cargo. If you're handy you can install rails or the OE puck setup by yourself pretty easily.

[2012Coleman]

You can have a reputable hitch/welding shop install the fifth wheel prep package for you. The part is available through the dealership. The dealership should be able to install it as well.

[LIKE2BUILD]

BarryG20 wrote:
Happy with my b&w turnover ball and companion. Can have it in or out in about five minutes. Drawback is weight dang thing must push 150-175 lbs.

II have a chain hoist in my garage that I hung from my rafters. I simply back my truck under the hoist, lift out the hitch, pull the truck forward, then lower the hitch onto a furniture dolly. It requires very little effort, doesn't blow out my back, and makes it a one man job.

KJ