I'm thinking of getting a new F250 and want to have the bed factory preped for the fifth wheel hitch/gooseneck. On the website to build your own truck, it allows you to have the truck prepped for the hitch, but does not allow you to buy the fifth wheel hitch as an accessory, only the gooseneck hitch. Does anyone know if the fifth wheel hitch is usable with the built in prep?

 

You will have to buy the hitch. You can buy it from your Ford dealer, or you can buy it from a Reese dealer. The Reese Elite series is the one that Ford sells. There are other manufacturers coming online with their hitches to fit as well, but officially it is Reese.

 

That's interesting since if you have the LONG bed prepped for the hitch, it allows you to select the fifth wheel hitch as an accessory. I was thinking the possibly only the gooseneck would work with the STANDARD bed.

 

Okay, I see your question now. A long bed IS the standard bed. I'm sure there is a slider available for the Ford prep mount. That is what you want to find for your short bed, and I don't think Ford is selling it.

Some trailers will clear without a slider, so you might want to check that out.

 

Standard Bed == 8 feet
Long bed ~= 8.5 feet
Short bed <= 6.5 feet

 

Huh? On the "Build Your Own" Ford site, the only options are "6 3/4'" or "8'". All I've ever heard them referred to is Short Bed or Long Bed. On the F-150 they have 3 choices; "6 1/2'", "5 1/2'", and "8'". Those are more commonly referred to as Short, Standard, and Long.

I think.

 

yea theres just two bed lengths 6-3/4 and 8. standard bed is short bed,, you have to upgrade to the long bed.

 

Around my world, 8' is a standard bed on full sized trucks, and especially the SD.

Standard sheet goods = 8'
Bed available in all SD cab configs = 8'

But I understand the debate. Even GM has taken to calling their short bed "standard" in some of their lit. But it is GM, so who really cares?

To avoid confusion it is better if we just use terms like short, or long, to describe the bed. And the F150 will still be confusing with 3 bed lengths.

 

Correct. Reese has a slider kit available for the Elite that is a direct fit / will work with the factory fifth wheel prep package.

 

There is only one box length that is "standard" between all manufacturers...

8 feet

...also known as a "standard box"

GM and Dodge each played with a longer box, GMs was 8.5 feet while I think Dodge's was 9.

Short boxes on each manufacturer vary quite a bit, there is no common size. ... 6', 6' 6", 6' 9", 5' 6"... they're all too short.

 

X2 when building a new truck, the long bed is roughly $200 more, but the Super Duty does come with it.

 

Try building a standard cab truck with a standard bed. Then come back and tell us what length you got.

 

thats what i meant, the longbed is standard but it costs 200 more than the shortbed. so my initial saying that the shortbed was standard, i was wrong..