bkuuz1, Your new truck stats help a lot with a recommendation, which I will now list, in order of preference:

1. Ford Factory Hitch PREP under bed, with any of the following three 5th wheel hitches over the bed designed to click into the pucks, also listed in order of preference:
A. Trailer Saver BSD air ride hitch
B. Reese 25K Signature / Elite Series (or Ford branded equivalent)
C. B&W OEM Ford (Just like the Companion, only it clicks into the pucks)


2. B&W Turnover Ball gooseneck under bed, with Companion over the bed. This Companion is not as preferable as the B&W that clicks into the Ford factory (or Reese aftermarket) pucks. But the business end of the hitch (the jaws and plate) is the same on both types.


3. Reese puck system under the bed, with any of the three hitches listed under #1 (A,B, or C) over the bed.


Because you have a 2015 that already has the frame holes drilled and already has the bed floor stamping designed to fit the Ford Factory hitch prep, I'd highly recommend you go that route, if you can find one.

I recently saw a Ford factory hitch prep take off on my local Craigslist. It is a complete bargain, even if purchased new from Ford, because of the engineering and execution the factory hitch prep has, which is far superior to the similar, but definitely different, Reese puck system.

While the pucks themselves are the same, and the spacing apart from each other is the same, and all the Reese and Ford hitches and accessories fit interchangeably... the Ford engineered substructure is far superior than the Reese aftermarket retrofit system, both in the way it is constructed, and the manner in which it attaches to the truck frame.

If you didn't have a 2011 and up, then I would have recommended just getting the B&W Turnover ball and the related Companion. But since you have a 2015, I recommend you get the Ford factory hitch prep, and then you can get any hitch you want above the bed.

 

Excellent post. Rep sent.

 

Thanks for all the help guys.
Y2KW57, thanks for the detailed write up. When I had contacted the my local dealership they passed me on to a local business that installs the B&W hitches. I certainly would rather have had the factory set up but when I bought my truck it didn't have it. I had figured I would be able to add the under bed mount when I got a minute but we ended up buying a new fifth wheel this week and need to pick it up tomorrow. I spent all day calling around to places looking for the Reese under bed mount. Every one of the authorized Reese dealers I spoke with said they weren't familiar with them and would have to do some research and get back to me. The few that called me back, all said it would take a week to two to order the mount in. I even contacted Reese's customer web site and waited on hold for almost thirty minutes and after talking to them, the guy suggested I use Etrailer and if they didn't have the mount it could be drop shipped from Reese.

I guess my question is are you guys saying that the under bed mount from the Ford factory is built different then the Reese mount? It was my understanding they are the same mounts?

 

My understanding is that it is made by Reese to Ford's specifications.

 

Yes that is ABSOLUTELY what I'm saying. Above the bed, the pucks you can see, are the exact same. But BELOW the bed is where they differ.

The Ford underbed piece is better engineered. Ford holds two different patents on two different iterative designs of the Ford version. Reese holds the patents to their puck and cam arm retention system, but Ford owns the Ford substructure, which is quite different than the Reese sub-structure.

Ford worked in partnership with Reese, but Ford was more demanding, and wanted more than what Reese initially produced for the aftermarket in the original Signature Series kit. Ford also had to design for production installation on an assembly line, so I'm sure some of the difference addressed those needs as well.

The Ford design is an all welded, fully tubular weldment that ties the front and rear rails together with the gooseneck base. The Reese under bed rails are open formed channels (bottoms are open), not fully boxed and are bolted together as individual pieces, not welded together. This is necessary as the Reese design is an aftermarket product intended to be retrofitted after the fact with the least amount of hassle to the installing dealer.

The Ford design accounts for adequate clearance of the exhaust pipe that humps over the axle, even during extreme twist ditch manuveurs, and even when the exhaust pipe is at maximum thermal expansion when hot. Ford does this by transitioning to formed 1/2" plate where the hitch rails cross over the exhaust pipe. By contranst, the Reese channels cross over the exhaust without the same clearance allowance..

The Ford design mounts to the truck frame rails using both horizontal and vertically oriented bolts... so there are basically 8 shear pins (bolts) biaxially. The Reese design uses only four bolts, all horizontally, which offers only one axis of shear pin protection.

A picture would be worth a thousand words here, but I don't have time right now to dig up the photos, and in your case, it is too late anyway, since you've already got the B&W installed. Not a bad choice. Built right here in the USA, just one state away from you.

The advantage of the B&W is the square gooseneck ball hole with a throw bolt pin retainer, which permits other types of uses that would be more difficult to create with a round hole that has a proprietary retractable ball bearing type retainer.

Fill the longitudinal gaps in your corrugated bed stamping before setting your companion hitch up, to avoid stress concentrations on just the humps of your bed floor stamping. Follow the B&W instructions on loosening and retightining the U-bolts to the center post. Some people take short cuts here, and it causes problems for them down the road.


Sounds like you're good to go!

 

Good information, Y2KW57.