Thanks for the info. I will check out the Reese as I use the Reese hitch for my travel trailer and it is solid.

 

Traditional fifth wheel hitches have ugly rails bolted to the bed floor, that is what most out there use. Reese developed the system Ford adopted. Your looking for their Elite series hitch, Reese offers 18&25k lbs rated hitches. The B&W hitch is nice as well, rated for 19k if memory serves me correctly.

 

B&W is a 20k hitch.

 

I have the Reese Elite rated 25K. I bought more hitch than i need right now as my toyhauler is 18,000; but who knows what the future holds. I also have the Reese gooseneck ball. Both work well and are easy to remove leaving my bed clean.

 

I have the factory prep and the reese hitch and gooseball. worth it imho.

Had the previous version (signature series) in my last truck. Works great.

 

On my few week old F350 FX4 I chose to go with the old style rails across the bed design. It may not be the cleanest look or newest production, but it is tried and proven to work time after time. I ordered the quick mount bolt on mounting kit which bolts straight to the frame with no holes to drill through the frame. You do still have to drill through the bed to mount the rails to the frame adapter.

Any how, the other reason I went with the old style rail system is that the slots in the rails allow the rails to do double duty as tie down points for the hooks on the end of tie down straps.....almost worth the price just for that function at times.

 

I was also looking at the Reese Elite 25K for my 6.5' box but the specs do not mention that it has the slider option which could be used in some turning situations. Any thoughts.

 

From ford it does not come with a slider. I have the 25k Reese from Ford and with only one pull so far I really like it. Haven't pulled the hitch out yet but I like the fact it leaves the bed clean and flat.

 

I thought perhaps the F250 short beds with factory prep can get the reese slider now. Check the ordering guide to be sure. It is new.

 

I bought my Reese Elite independently from Ford. Reese has an 18K with Slider for short bed trucks.

Reese Elite 5th Wheel Hitches and Gooseneck Ball Hitches.

 

Many new trailers have their front end caps designed to allow for use on a short bed with no slider. All Heartland brands have adopted this. Every trailer is different so pick that before picking a hitch...

 

You are right about the new RV front designs. I chose the Raptor 365 LEV from Keystone. There web page shows the trailer works fine with a 6.5' truck bed. The ship weight is 14365 and the carry capacity is 3635.
One mechanic I talked to says the Reese 18K will be fine and it will fit the Ford factory 5th wheel prep kit. If I go with the Husky 26KGlider, there is an adaptor plate for the Ford prep as well.

 

Yep, Reese make the factory prep so the Reese Elite fits. The Ford hitch is just a Reese Elite with a Ford sticker on it. Average price on the web is around 1200 for the 18k and 1600 for the 25k. With an 18k GVWR and almost 4k on the pin, your right at the limit of the 18k. If it was me, I'd spend the extra 400 for the 25k. You didn't mention if your 350 was a DRW truck. That much pin weight is a lot for a SRW.

 

The truck is a 350 SRW.

 

25K hitch and no less with that load. You also need the DRW with that much pin wt.

I hauled a 15K 5er with my F250 for many miles with a 3100 king pin on it and it did just fine and was within limits of the axle and the tires..but I would not want to put anymore than that on it.