Forum Discussion

rtaylor0830's avatar
rtaylor0830
Explorer
Oct 09, 2014

Holes in the 5ver hitch

If I buy a new f350 I see it sits about 2 inches higher than my truck and with the 5th wheel prep I will have to buy the adapter which will raise it about another 1 1/2". My question is I have two empty holes above where the hitch is bolted right now ,can I lower the hitch to the top holes to make up the difference.
  • lenr's avatar
    lenr
    Explorer III
    Forgot to mention that the pin box on our Puma is in the top holes to drop the trailer nose to level. Agree with BB_TX--the flat bed with covers on the holes is nice. If in a long bed with no slider, the Elite hitch is a good solution.

    Just thought about the fact that the OP never said if it is a 4X4 truck. If 4X2, my dimensions are too high (based on F-350 SRW 4X4 SBCC).
  • Many hitches have vertical adjustment. I had to lower my hitch head two bolt holes on my 2012 F350.

    If it were me I would buy a new puck mount hitch. I did and still had to lower the hitch head. But the flat truck bed when the hitch is removed is nice.
  • lenr's avatar
    lenr
    Explorer III
    Personal experience: F-350 SRW & Puma 253FBS fifth wheel trailer. Lots of complaints from 250 owners about squatty rear ends when hooked up--I would leave in the 4" blocks. Assume you are looking at SRW--dually sits about 2" lower than SRW. I got the big rectangular adapter and put a Reese R16 on top of it--trailer was 7.3" high nose out of level. Switched to the Elite slider that fits down in the pucks and lost 3". Then had to raise trailer 3" with Correct Track and 16" tires to get it level. If you are looking at a long bed truck, the under bed pucks are nice and the Elite hitch is very nice while a little expensive. If you need a slider for the short bed, it is just stupid expensive. If ordering our truck again, I would probably skip the Ford/Reese mounts and do the B&W system. Be aware that the Reese slider hitches never go down to the bottom hole--only the top 3. Our trailer is small/light so it does not push the springs down much--just to where the aux springs begin to touch. The fifth wheel plate on our trailer is 47" sitting unhitched and level. Still level when hitched up and the Reese hitch at the next to bottom hole. At that we still have 7" bed rail clearance. Need to get that adapter sold on ebay.
  • I would not do anything until you hookup and see what your clearances are with the new truck, how much will the springs compress? I put the F250 blocks on my F350 and after a few tows and the springs settled in I put the F350 blocks back on so it would be level again.
  • Raising/lowering pin box and/or raising/lowering hitch is one method of making adjustments to gain bedrail clearance.

    Just be aware that it can also lead to nose high towing of 5vr.

    Then you get into having to raise 5vr (axle flips, suspension lifts etc.) so it tows level.


    Wish dang truck mfg. would quit messing with truck heights.