I have an old 5th wheel hitch in my Chevy 1/2 T which came out of a Ford PU. The conversion from Chev to Ford did not allow this hitch to be bolted directly through the Ford truck frame. Instead of being bolted to the main frame, the hitch is bolted thru the pickup bed support struts and just a few inches outward from the main frame. The bed support struts that run across the bottom of the pickup bed are themselves bolted to the frame.(The steel plates that the swivel receiver sits into are bolted thru the tire wells) I am towing a 6000 GVW 5th wheel. Any opinions as to the safety of this set up?

 

This is not a good safe hook-up. The 5-er hitch NEEDS to be BOLTED directly to the frame. There is no other option. If it is not bolted to the frame it will pull your bed off or pull through the bed.
Not good.

Jim.

 

Thanks Jim, You have only confirmed what I thought all along. I guess I will have to either spring for a Reese hitch (ouch) or have this hitch modified by a welding shop, so that it will bolt directly to the frame. I only used the present hitch to tow the rig home (about 15 miles of fairly level highway),after I initially purchased the 5th wheeler and hitch last week. The previous owner had towed this same rig all over the Pacific Northwest, but the hitch was bolted directly to his frame. By the way how do you like the 3.73 ratio for towing? I have a 351 1/2T 2wheel drive with automatic transmission. :-


Bill

 

I agree, that the hitch needs to be bolted to the frame, but before you go buy a new hitch, can you just redo the mounting points? My 15K little rocker has two strips that mount crossways in the bed. It came with HD angle brackets, that bolted to the outside of the frame, then the strips bolted to the angles. Bob

 

gilatrader;

elliott is correct, a good welder can make you the brackets you need or check with an RV shop and they may be able to hook you up with a supplier of the peices you need. Hope this helps.

Jim.

 

Is "Little Rocker" the brand name of your hitch and who makes them? Mine does not have a name on it and I would like to know who the Mfg. is.

Bill

 

Another possibility is lift the bed and have a piece of plate welded to the frame rails to accept your current hitch. Put the bed back down and bolt through the bed into the plate you just had installed.

Trail Rider

 

Thanks for your idea Trail Rider. Sometimes we cannot see the forest for the trees ! As I was standing looking down into the bed of my truck and scratching my head ,I was overlooking the bottom side. The base of my swivel hitch sits on the truck bed, just a couple of inches outward from the frame. I think 4 inverted "L" brackets drilled and bolted to the outside of the frame would give me something solid to bolt the hitch base to. That would be a much simpler solution I think.

 

I'm just trying to offer a little different perspective. Helping each other is what this board is all about.

Good Luck
Trail Rider

 

 

Here's what I did and it worked great.This was done to a Chevy before I had my Ford.The hitch I was given was narrower than my frame so I bolted 2 pieces of 2 1/4" x 2 1/4" x 3/8" boxtube between the 2 framerails essentially making two more crossmembers.Don't weld them,just bolt them in place.The box tube fit nicely between the top of the framerail and the bottom of the box.Drill thru the box,then the boxtube,then the framerails and drop 1/2" grade 8 bolts of the needed lenght thru the holes and tighten them up.Place your hitch plates in the correct location in your box and drill thru them,then thru the box and then thru the boxtube and drop your bolts thru,tighten them up and voila,you're done with a mount more secure than the dealer installed hitch thats in my Ford.This does stiffen up the ride somewhat,but it's not too bad.It's an easy afternoon project.I was able to do this without lifting the bed in the Chevy.Looking at my '92 F250 I can see that the space between the tops of the rails and the bottom of the box is quite a bit less than the Chev so different material would be needed for the crossmembers you bolt in.Looks like a slightly easier job.
If you look at dealer mounted 5th wheel hitches they usually just use 4 L brackets under the box to attatch to the frame.Going by this standard,my installation was overkill but it was simple and cheap and it saved me from buying a new hitch.
Dave