Bare with me this is a little long but I need to explain it all, looking for help.

Is anyone else having the same issue or has anyone heard of anyone else.

I recently bought a 2017 F250 4 door diesel 4x4 to pull our new 5th wheel camper. The truck has factory install trailer puck system for 5th wheel hitches and gooseneck trailers. I bought a B&W companion slide 5th wheel hitch for the Ford puck system.
I installed the hitch as per the instructions, The hitch has 4 feet on the bottom of the hitch, place the 4 feet on the bottom of the hitch on top of the 4 pucks in the bed of the truck. When I did this i noticed the hitch rocked from corner to corner, slight but enough to make loud clanging noise. I adjusted the bolts that fall down into the pucks on the truck to tighten the hitch down as per instructions. When i tested the slide on the hitch I noticed the slide was binding. I loosened the lock down bolts and the slide moved freely.
I contacted B&W thinking the hitch may be unlevel or to find out if there something else I need to do. B&W was great and said the hitch should sit level on all 4 pucks in the back of the truck, no rocking. B&W without question shipped out another hitch within a couple of days, no questions asked. The second was the same again. The customer service rep. took my concerns all the way up to the top of the company and engineers. B&W shipped out a 3rd hitch that was guaranteed and certified to be completely level. The 3rd hitch was the same. I felt like a fool at this point and turned to the NEW Ford truck pucks discovering after measuring and hours of leveling discovering NOT all 4 of the pucks in the truck are the same height. I went to my local Ford dealership and demonstrated my problem. Pictures were taken and sent to Ford and Ford told the dealership to replace the puck system, which was done a few days later. When I went to pick up the truck, I could see that the pucks were still not all the same height. There are no adjustments to the pucks. Ford sent out an technician of some type that did a bunch of measurements on the pucks with the bed on and off. The next day a special puck measuring device was shipped into the dealership from another dealership out west. The pucks were measured with the bed on and off the truck. So far Ford is saying the difference in height on the pucks are within their "tolerance" plus or minus 3mm. I find this really hard to believe that Ford can not get all four of the pucks in the bed the same height. Still waiting on my case worker from Ford Corp. to call back with the final options.

 

Can't tell but the weldement is probably askew. Make them get you a new one or shim the low side.

 

The pucks system has already been replaced. Ford Engineers told the dealership under no circumstances what so ever can they shim anything on the puck system, this has not been tested and approved by Ford. I believe the bracket that is welded on the frame from the factory during production was not welded straight and Cutting on the frame is no option. This truck is new only 4k miles on it. Bought it just to pull 5th wheel. Having second thoughts about the Ford factory puck system.

 

I know it doesn't fix the puck issue, but why not just go with the Andersen Ultimate Hitch at this point? Gets great reviews, is so much lighter, etc.

https://andersenhitches.com/Products...k-version.aspx

 

I looked at them before i bought..........My concerns was that the 2017 F250 is aluminum bed. The anderson hitch sits directly on the bed and if there was some type of sway or something odd happen there could possibly damage the bed. This was brought to my thoughts by a couple different RV dealerships.
And at this point I already bought the B&W.
Did not go with Ford (actually a Reese hitch) because they do not have a slide version. I love having a slide, hookup, unhooking, tight campground spots, ect.

 

I've not seen any concerns from 2017 owners who purchased Andersen hitches. I just purchased one, but haven't towed with it yet so I guess we'll see. My guess is RV dealerships tend to push what they're selling so any FUD they can throw at a product they don't carry, they will.

 

Agreed...........Good luck with yours, hope all goes well.

 

Man, it seems the only source of the issue that remains is the frame welding.
Hope it gets resolved quickly for you.

 

I agree, Thank you.......
I believe it was a bad installation and weld job during assembly. But as of this point Ford is saying their tolerance is 3mm, meaning all the pucks do not to all be the same height and be off plus or minus 3mm. I think is crazy, there is no reason why a company that has been building trucks for all these years cant make all fours the same height so the hitch will set level. No matter what hitch is used.

 

Interesting engineering challenge. There are of course millions of miles of successful 5th wheel hauling on 2017 trucks using the factory system. I wouldn't bail on the factory system, but you are unfortunately stuck in the middle of the engineering challenge/finger pointing. If it is in fact a frame or bracket misalignment you may need a new frame/truck. Ford will likely make that a difficult path of course. You could see if the ford factory 5th wheel (Reese, I think) mates up. I'd bet money it does - it's the tighter tolerances associated with your slider that are causing problems.
How much binding are we talking about? A slight rub, or hard up grinding? What feels like slight binding when rotating it by hand may not be noticed at all (or alleviated) with 2k+ lbs of tongue weight and thousands of pounds of rotating force. (Or, it could rip it off your truck)
Good luck. Interested to hear the outcome.

 

When the hitch is not locked down I can pull the slide back and forth with one hand.
When the hitch is locked down it takes both hands and all 210 pounds tugging on the hitch to make it slide.
So I can make it work but , its not right. AND I and B&W both think over time with it binding and using the slide, it may cause damage to the slide parts and possibly cause malfunction.

 

I'm in the same boat. I cannot budge the B&W by hand if all four pucks are adjusted tight. If I release two of them, I can slide the hitch easily.

I called B&W and we talked about it. I decided to blame the truck immediately since the bed is off center by 0.25 inches and the driver's door is far enough off it looks like it hasn't been closed all the way. It didn't seem much of a stretch that Ford would have some loose tolerances for the puck placement as well.

I haven't bothered my dealer yet about anything. I'm developing a short punch-list for the first oil-change. I'm curious to see how they rectify this for you. Thanks for posting.

Edit to add: I wonder if B&W may end up shipping a set of shims with Ford hitches to place between the puck and feet of the hitch as needed.

 

I have a rubber mat in the bed of my 2017 F350 with the Andersen Ultimate hitch with Ford puck system. No problems with the aluminum bed. Love the light weight,
Was looking at the same set up with a new F250 but payload capacity was too low for a midsize 5er and a heavy standard 5th wheel hitch.

 

Wow, sad situation. Ford is not known for stepping up on their non-existent mistakes.
A non-slider fit good in my new 450, but has to be tightened way tight to keep from 'clunking' in the pucks.
I do appreciate the pics of the underbed parts--had no idea how it was set up.
Can you tell which of the 4 legs is the low/high one? Any chance of YOU putting a shim under the low side if the peg will still engage the puck? That would seem to me to be the easiest way to get you on the road with no safety concerns. Tolerances are just that--fitment allowances. +/-3mm can be as much as 6mm at times, seems like you got the odd one.
Always remember my hot-rod days of finding an engine that was 'blueprinted' from the factory--that is, all the clearances fit perfectly. As compared to one that all the clearances were at the high end of the 'tolerance.'
Wish you luck in getting a positive resolution to this.

 

am I the only one that is really less than impressed with the whole "puck" system that the new trucks have??