[SOLVED] Work truck with service bed to tow a fifth wheel?

[SlowBro]

Never towed fifth before, on the lookout for a tow vehicle, I see these kinds all day long for a lower price. But can they be adapted fairly easily for a fifth? This is assuming the tow rating is sufficient. What else do you need to know to answer my question? Please go gently, am a fifth newbie 🙂

Pictures as an example of the bed only. I would get a crew or extended cab.

[Grit_dog]

And OP, any of those municipal specials, if they’re gassers, aside from being generally kinda beat up, won’t tow worth a ____.
We have a few of those clunkers in the fleet and a 10 year old Chevy gasser 2500 tows better. They’re gutless!

[Grit_dog]

BurbMan wrote:

mkirsch wrote:
Those service bodies are nowhere near as resistant to rust as a conventional body. They're usually rotten inside, hinges seized.

Since the OP is in Florida, I don't think he'll see the same rust issues on used trucks that you see in upstate NY where they salt the roads in the summer too....

By "solved" I think the OP is agreeing with the multiple suggestions to simply replace the service body with a flat bed and sell the service body.

Spent much time by the coast? Rust is like the Midwest light. Sure interior vehicles just get sun baked. Coastal vehicles down south are about the worst combo of sun/heat and salt damage all wrapped up in one neat package.

[ksss]

Highway Products makes some killer aluminum flat beds with multiple storage options. They will build you exactly what you want. The price is a bit brutal, but they are very nice.

[bucky]

Don't kid yourself, salt air near the ocean eats metal like Pac-Man. Service bodies are especially susceptible to rust but as the OP would toss it that's out of play.
.

[sayoung]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Sell the utility bed and throw on a flat bed setup to tow a 5er.

Exactly the thing todo. Service beds simply too tall .
I've spent many an hour driving a truck with a service bed.

[Tatesmith35]

Question here. Would a gooseneck adapter by Andersen hitches work for a service body set up? 

[mkirsch]

There is no definitive answer to that because there are many different types of service bodies and many different types of 5th wheels. Some are higher. Some are narrower inside. If the service body is too high, it will hit the underside of the 5th wheel without doing some kind of suspension lift. If the service body is too narrow inside there isn't room for the hitch to turn no matter how high you raise it.

Of course you haven't been back since making this post so this is wasted typing on my part. Maybe it will benefit someone in the future.

[way2roll]

You are responding to a thread that's 3 years old and the original question was solved for the OP. I think you would have better luck getting responses if you posted your question in a new thread.

[hornet28]

dodge guy wrote:
I would by one, remove the body and find a place that can install a factory take off bed, plenty of clean beds out there.

As long as the wheel base is the same that's a good plan. But a good idea to check that before buying

[dodge_guy]

I would by one, remove the body and find a place that can install a factory take off bed, plenty of clean beds out there.

[Grit_dog]

Yes I know this thread is from the historical year of 2021. 
but since it’s back up and asking questions. And Dodge guy I know you know this, but slapping a pickup bed on in a jiffy ain’t happening if it’s a C&C truck, as most service bed trucks are. 

[BurbMan]

mkirsch wrote:
Those service bodies are nowhere near as resistant to rust as a conventional body. They're usually rotten inside, hinges seized.

Since the OP is in Florida, I don't think he'll see the same rust issues on used trucks that you see in upstate NY where they salt the roads in the summer too....

By "solved" I think the OP is agreeing with the multiple suggestions to simply replace the service body with a flat bed and sell the service body.

[mkirsch]

Solved? What's your "solution?"

There is a reason old service trucks are less expensive. It's not because of the service body. Those are in demand. People get in fist fights over a good used service body for sale.

The reason is they are rode hard, put away wet, abused, beaten. When they go up for sale, all the useful life has been squeezed from them. Those service bodies are nowhere near as resistant to rust as a conventional body. They're usually rotten inside, hinges seized.

A good service truck that is going to be the reliable tow vehicle that you need will end up costing as much or more than a conventional pickup.

Even without the technical issues of dealing with clearance over the service body, I would not recommend an old service truck as a tow vehicle unless you find that once-in-a-lifetime deal on a fairly new one, but you're going to have the same odds finding the same deal on a conventional pickup.

[Grit_dog]

Yes, old thread alert. But to expound on your point, not only are most municipal and other uses service trucks well beat and smell like rotten posole n moldy tortilla under the seat, they are generally the least powerful least attractive to use as tow vehicles. Gassers anyway.