Hey all. My 74 f250 has a 34" frame from outer edge to outer edge. I was told the newer chasis cab trucks from ford also have this narrow frame. Looking for a brand and part number for a goosneneck kit that fits this narrow frame. Just need the gooseneck but if its a combo kit with the 5th wheel mounts even better!

 

I just went through my build book for 2011-2013(those are the years my spec book covers) and according to it, outside to outside is 37.7 inches. The distance from center to center is 35 inches. However on page 40 of my build book it says 34.2. So for my truck, a 2011 4x4, I would go with B&W Turnoverball part number 1111. Check this page out. Turnoverball Gooseneck and Companion Mounting Kit | B & W Trailer Hitches If you would like a copy of my build pdf just send me a message and I'll email it to you.

 

The OP said he has a 1974 Highboy. Any recent body builder manual or specs for a 2011 Superduty, or any Superduty, or any Ford Pickup period... that was manufactured during the last 37 years, will not be relevant. A true Highboy has a unique 34" narrow frame, not a 37" wide frame as found in most Ford full sized pickups today.

Unfortunately, B&W doesn't offer a ready made kit for a Highboy frame, or for any Ford pickup older than 1980. It may be possible to retrofit an ancient B&W GNRK1400 (formerly known as Model 1400R) for the 1973 - 87 older Chevy/GMC trucks, (which also had 34" frame rails), but the problem with that kit is that it mounts by drilling through the top flanges of the frame, which severely weakens the Ford frame. Here is a picture of the B&W GNRK1400. Notice that it does NOT come with any mounting side plates:



The reason this early design B&W Model 1400R doesn't come with side plates or cross rails to mount it is because it mounts by drilling through the bed into the top horizontal flange of the frame rail. Ford forbids drilling through horizontal flanges, permitting holes to be drilled only in the vertical web of their frames. The flange width and thickness between the older Ford and the older Chevy may also be different, despite both having 34" distance between the outer edge of the vertical rails.


ANOTHER OPTION....

Fortunately, the current chassis cabs from Ford and Dodge also have 34" narrow frames, which means that a solution is available that can do the following:

1. Fit both a 5th wheel and a gooseneck hitch set up interchangeably
2. Look and function identical to the Ford factory 5th wheel hitch prep kit
3. Leaves a clean bed with no rails installed, using small pucks instead


Here is a couple of pictures of the Reese Signature Series (also known as Elite) Underbed Rail mounting kit for 34" Chassis Cabs, Reese Part # 30068. Notice that it uses cross rails attached with side plates that bolt to the vertical web of the frame, where Ford permits frame drilling.






Unfortunately, the cross rail height profile may or may not squeeze between the frame to bed space gap. I owned a dent side 1979 (not a high boy) F250 4x4 for 15 years, but never mounted a 5th wheel hitch on it, so I don't know how much gap there is between the frame and the bed. I do remember that my frame had some kick up over the axle, which is what concerns me about this Reese kit.

However, if you could make it work, or modify a similar kit to utilize the under bed puck system, you could then "click into the pucks" a variety of hitches from Ford or Reese that look like this:

Reese puck mounted Signature / Elite Series Gooseneck hitch with cover on:



Gooseneck hitch with cover off, exposing how it locks into the pucks:






Ford / Reese puck mount 5th Wheel hitch (25K LB shown, 18K LB available)





A clean bed is left behind when hitch is clicked out, with no rails to trip over, catch dirt, or catch on materials:



If you can make the Reese / Ford puck system work, you will have a classic Ford bed with a modern Ford OEM hitch system.


BACK TO B&W....

Back to the B&W, which is a great hitch, another thing you could do is buy an 800R head without the mounting kit, and make your own rails and sideplates. You may expose yourself to some liability for doing that project, but then again, a simple bolt up for your 74 narrow frame with a close fitting pickup bed may not exist. Here's a pic of the B&W 1110 series kit for 1980-1996 F350 pick ups with overload springs:



Now, in the pic immediately above, in your mind's eye subtract out the angle iron cross rails, and the flat iron side plates, which leaves you only the 7 3/4" formed channel head in the center. That's the B&W 800R head. It gives you a way to "Bolt in" a B&W center section without having to weld.

But if you are up for welding, you can get the less expensive B&W Flatbed kit, Model 1500, below, and weld up your own structure to mount it:




I wouldn't let anyone drill through the frame flanges (horizontal legs) though. The flanges bear the greatest tension and compression loads of the frame. On the other hand, the vertical web is nearest to the neutral axis of the frame where the stress is least. This is where most companies recommend drilling into the frame... through the vertical web (watching out for fuel and electrical lines on the driver's side rail).

Good luck. I know the challenges you face when there is no "ready made" solution off the shelf. You may need to do some fabrication, or have it done.

 

Perfect! That's the part number ive been looking for I know the guys pretty well at the local Rv and hitch place so ill have them look at the 74 highboy and see if they think they can get that to work! Its a ways out but I like getting all my info done way ahead of time so when its time it goes a lot smoother.

 

Any idea of a Class 5 rear hitch part number for the same 34" frame?

 

Good post y2k, reps sent.

 

Hey thanks phillips91. I just try to answer questions with the same detail that I would like my questions to be answered with.


Superduty93...

Cutting straight to the chase, the Curt Rear Receiver Hitch Model #14082 will match your 34" frame rail width, but you will need to drill mounting holes through the lower frame flange, and may need to use spacer plates that Curt provides to clear the rivet heads from the frame crossmember attachment points.



Earlier I mentioned how it is not such a good idea to drill through the frame flanges, but in this case it is OK, because the holes are AFT of the rear spring hangar. Once you are behind the rear spring hangar / shackle mount or last cross member, you can practically cut the last few inches of the frame rails off for all Ford chassis engineers care (according to their upfitting manual). So drilling flanges for rear receiver hitches is OK. Drilling flanges for goosenecks and fivers isn't, as that location is inbetween spring hangars.

I recommended a Curt receiver hitch in this particular instance for several reasons:

1. Reese doesn't offer a Titan V (the so called "Class V" with a 2.5" receiver opening) for your application.

2. A 2" receiver opening is a lot more convenient, and suits the capacity of your truck

3. Curt hitches are Made in the USA. Reese is no longer. First Reese moved some production to Canada. Then they moved a huge hunk of production to China. The last straw came recently in 2013, when they finally shut down their long standing Indiana plant, putting more Americans out of work, and moved the rest of their production to Mexico. Makes one wonder why so many people sneak over here illegally to find work, when all the good manufacturing jobs moved to where they are running from? Anyways, now that just about all Reese products are made offshore, they've consolidated into an enlarged distribution center in Texas, which is closer to the Mexican border.

The Curt 14082 hitch is a Class IV hitch, rated for 1,000 TW, 10,000 GTW, and 12,000 GTW with WD. I know you asked for a Class V hitch. However...

There is no such thing a "Class V" receiver hitch.

That was a made up marketing term (by Reese I believe) that has now taken permanent hold in our language, but is not based on or validated by any current towing standard or testing procedure.

A lot of people notice the symbol "V-5" on their trailer hitches, and believe they have a so called "Class V" hitch, thinking that the V is the Roman numeral for 5, which is redundantly matched by the Arabic numeral 5. But there is no such thing as a Class V hitch.

What V-5 stands for is the Vehicle Equipment Safety Commission (VESC) - Regulation 5. The VESC was convened in the 1960's by our government to establish Minimum Requirements for Motor Vehicle Connecting Devices and Towing Methods. This VESC adopted Regulation 5 in 1968, and revised it twice, in 1973 and 1977. At no time, not in the beginning, nor in any revision since, has the VESC adopted or established a so called "Class V". It does not exist.

There is also another standard for trailer couplings, towing hitches, and safety chains, put forth by the Society of Automotive Engineers in the SAE J684 standard, first issued as far back as 1938, and revised over the years, most notably in 1998, and then reaffirmed in 2004. Just as in the V-5 standard, there is no such thing as a so called "Class V" in the J684 standard either.

Here are the official Class divisions:

Class I - Trailer GVWR not to exceed 2,000 lbs.
Class II - Trailer GVWR not to exceed 3,500 lbs.
Class III - Trailer GVWR not to exceed 5,000 lbs.
Class IV - Trailer GVWR not to exceed 10,000 lbs.

Done. That's it. There is no standard for Class V. The term "Class V" is not mentioned in any of the text of either standard, and I have the full printed copies of these standards on my desk right now. Not coincidentally, by federal law, drivers who do not hold a valid Class A driver's license are not permitted to tow a tag (bumper pull) trailer in excess of 10,000 lbs anyway.

So Class V is a fiction. A marketing term, not a standard. I own three Reese Titan V "Class V" receivers. One of them, the Reese 45014, is for a 34" frame rail. You might be interested in adapting this hitch to your 34" frame. If you do, you might need to make some side plates to attaché the forward most mount to the frame. I used side plates to reinforce my receiver hitch installation here:




Only seven bolts are visible in the photo above, but my hitch is actually retained by 22 grade 8 bolts, and you can see how many are oriented in shear, horizontally, and they pass through the neutral axis of the frame, which is the web, not the flange. How this relates to your situation is as follows:

Since the Reese 45014 Titan V hitch is already pre-drilled with two holes per side to meet a Fontaine Modification Company (the folks who built Ford's F--650 SuperCrewZer and the F-450/550 SuperCrewZer II which became the Classic Traveler) chassis mounting production requirement to avoid drilling a hole through the frame flange, you could use these two holes also, without cutting or drilling the hitch so that you can attach this huge honkin hitch to your 34" frame rail F-250 regardless of your final cross member rivet locations. You may still have to drill to attach the forward leverage foot of this hitch.

Ultimately, however, the Curt 14082 is an easier install, that is more appropriately matched and rated for your truck's capacity.

 

Wow.... You know your stuff! Thanks so much! Yea the curt will do just fine. I have a 14k flat bed deck over trailer im selling right now because I don't want a class A license at the moment and its not what I really need right now. But this curt will be perfect for a 10k car hauler trailer

 

Great post, and you certainly know your stuff. But one question: If there is no class V hitch, why do I know of 2 2008 F450s that have 2.5" receivers, rated for something like 12,000 lbs? I don't remember the exact specs but it is definitely over 10k. Granted, I realize these are F450s and may be a special case, but...it's something to look into.

 

That's what I was referring too. Ricks RV is the biggest hitch center in so cal they claim and they said a class 5 will handle like 3000 on the tongue and 16000 gvw. 2.5" opening. But again like he said above there must be another name for this hitch cuz he seems to know more then most about hitches

And yes the f450 and new 350's all have them. Because they are rated to toe 24k pounds. BUILT FORD TOUGH!

 

Just 12,000 lbs.? More than that. Ford rated that 2008 F-450 pickup to tow a conventional trailer up to 16,000 lbs., and the receiver hitch that Ford used is rated at least that high. That doesn't make it a Class V hitch. Even though the Ford factory receiver hitch rating on the 2008 F-450 is at least 60% higher than the Class IV standard, there is no Class V standard.

Without a standard, how does one classify and validate a product as meeting it? What would you have the standard of Class V be? 12K? 14K? 16K?

One can swap out the Ford hitch on any of the 99 up Super Duty pickups to a higher hitch rating, they'll all bolt up. Of course that won't increase the towing capacity of the truck, but take a look at some other hitches marketed as "Class V"

Try an alternative 16,000 lbs. rear receiver by B&W, Model HDRH25230.

Step it up to 17,000 lbs. with the Curt 15410.

Ratchet it up some more 18,000 lbs. with the Reese 45297.

Or go all out and get a 20,000 lbs. rating with the Curt 15810.


All of the foregoing listed hitches (that fit the 1999 up Super Duty pickup frame) are marketed as "Class V" hitches only by virtue of the fact that they are tested and are warranted to perform at a rating higher than Class IV, not because they meet a specific Class V standard (which doesn't exist).

That was my point about Class V.

 

Any idea how much space is needed between the bed and top of the frame rail? Because the highboy does have that kick up over the axle a bit but if the hitch centers of the axle it looks like it should fit!

 

Which "hitch"? I've mentioned several. I suspect you mean the Reese Elite / Signature Series / Ford puck mount system?

If so, and if you use the 30068 kit designed for 34" frame rails, then the cross rail channel height is 2.125" where those channels rest on top of the frame rails. The channels are actually deeper than that in the center, about 2.625", but they grow in the downward direction, not in the upward direction, so the bed to frame rail clearance is dictated by the necked down part of the channel that spans over the top flanges of the frame.

The puck itself sits about 7/8" higher than that, but 1/4" is the surface land which must be above all other surface undulations in the bed, and 1/2" is to make up for the bed floor corrugations. A trim ring is also supplied to make up for any differences in the bed floor corrugations. There is a slightly shallower puck available also. (Not many people know that bit of info, btw, including the customer service folks at Cequent).

Now, you mentioned the over axle hump of the frame, and I'll bet you are hoping that this frame hump will rise right inbetween the fore and aft underbed mounting kit cross members, right? I'll try and give you some specs to help you determine that.

The fore and aft gap you have to work with is 10.5", which is the clear span of space fore and aft between the underbed hitch support cross rails. When assembled, the underbed mounting kit will span a total of 16" fore and aft, from the forwardmost vertical surface of the front channel, the rearwardmost vertical surface of the rear channel. You can see that this means that each cross rail is about 2.75" wide.

As far as puck location, the on center distance for and aft is 13", and the left to right is 30". This is the pattern that all the Reese Elite and Ford Accessory hitches will click into. This is also the punch point rectangle pattern that defines where you will drill holes through your bed.

Going back under the bed... the cross rails will overhang the frame rails exactly 1" on either side. Accordingly, the side plates have a little bump out to them where they meet and bolt to the ends of the rails. See the image I posted in an earlier response to you above.

This is more information than you'd likely ever get from any RV dealer, because dealers do not and will not stock this particular kit, due to the infrequency of sales for 34" frame rails.

 

Perfect! Thanks. Ill measure tomorrow. Also, when all is said and done, should the ball be dead center over the rear axle? And where do I find the shallow pucks?

EDIT!

So I just measured. Its a close fit and ill have to grind off a rivet for a bump stop or ill have to drill a hole in the mount bracket for the rivet to fit into... Or the other option is to flip the side mount that has the wave in it backwards and put solid spacers like 2.5" solid bar with a hole through the center inbetween the bracket and the side of the frame rail so the rivets fit under it. Ive seen that done before and don't see why that wouldn't work.


In your opinion, would it besafe to shave the edge down a tiny bit to accommodate the gap between the bed bottom and the top of the frame? As in the lip of the hitch mount that is to rest on the frame rail?






And of course eye candy

 

Ah... seeing your truck makes me miss my 1979 F-250. 1973-79 dentsides are my favorite Ford truck body style. Not many people could see the film ET and recognize the three pairs of headlights in the dark in that forest scene.. all were Ford trucks, and one was a 79. The others were 1980+.

Anyway, got your message, and I can partially answer your question with the information you posted, and then can more fully answer your question after you clarify your measurement marking in the photo. I can't read the figures on the right.

Let's see, first question: Ball centering.

The hitch ball center should be slightly ahead of your rear axle centerline, and in no case should it ever be behind your rear axle center line. Especially with a regular cab truck. The shorter the truck, the more the pin weight can leverage away your steering axle traction because your wheel base, at 137", isn't long enough to counteract the teeter toter effect.

By contrast, my wheel base is 176". That was one of the reasons I let go of my 79, because I couldn't locate a crewcab or even a supercab in that year like I wanted.

So, you want to aim to be about an inch ahead of the axle center line. A little less is OK, but not less than zero. A little more is ok too, but watch your cab clearance on a 90 degree turn if you tow a lane legal 102" trailer. Consider the overall width of the overhang of the widest trailer that you will tow, and divide it in half. Then measure from the cab back, and mark your bed.

The cab to axle distance of your pickup is 54", taken from the dropwall of the cab to the rear axle center line. Now, exactly one half of a 102" (8.5") wide trailer is 51". That leaves you 3" to work with ahead of axle. The '74 cab has a rather aggressive forward rake to it, which makes for a great looking cab but is hard on the head (another reason I let mine go). Yet this forward rake can give you another 1/2" of trailer turning clearance at the cab.

So within your 0" to 3.5" range of hitch ball lfore and aft location, one of the influencing factors might be the hump of your frame rails. You might end up biasing your location closer to or further forward from your axle based on how the cross rails fit below.

Which leads to your second question... your frame and the rivet locations.

YES to drilling hole a hole or two in the Reese hitch mounting side plates to accommodate rivet heads on the Ford frame, as long as the holes are no larger in diameter than 0.750" (3/4"), and no closer than 1.5" on center to the edge of the side plate, and no closer than 1.75" on center to either one of the two existing lower mounting holes already in the side plate. The foregoing is my non-professional opinion, and is not authorized, sanctioned, or even suggested by Reese.

NO, and make that a resounding NO, to flipping the hitch side plates and attempting to use spacer blocks between the side plates and the frame in order to clear span the rivets. NO. Don't do that.

Keep the Reese sideplates flat up against the frame, in as much contact as possible with the frame, and drill the holes necessary to accommodate the four rivets per side that I can see in your photo. The two bottom center rivets might be very near or at the bottom edge of the plate. Encroaching the edge of the side plate at the bottom center is better than encroaching the edge of the vertical sides, or the bottom corners, where the mounting bolts are. So this might influence your final position of the hitch point, within the 3.5" range you have to work with.

You have a fifth protrusion through the frame, on the right hand side of the photo you showed, which would be aft of the rivet heads along the vehicle axis of the frame. This fifth protrusion looks like a mounting bolt for a fuel line retainer clip. Explore relocating that clip to a point where it will clear the side plate, or drill and perhaps tap the hitch side plate to receive the protruding tail threads of that harness clip mounting bolt.

That's all I can answer for now without getting more clarification on what you wrote in yellow on the right hand side of your photo.