Hi everyone,

I spent the morning at Newby's RV in McMinnville TN getting my Reese underbed hitch rails and Reese 18K slider installed. This was their first 2011 SuperDuty. I wanted to post a few pics so folks could see what the Reese 18k slider and short bed install looked like.

The hardest part wasn't installing the rails but getting the slider rails adjusted so that there was no bind for the slider and making sure there was no slop with the "T" pin legs. This hitch has so many moving parts. Later, I plan to install an in-bed RV connector instead of using the bumper connector.

It turned out well. I got the preassembled 18k hitch/slider. The slider works better than I thought. The rails were 90lbs and the hitch/slider is 198lbs. The pucks look like they sit up pretty high but they might be less than 1/4" above the bed ribs. The hitch head is wide and I need the 12" lube plate. My pin has the 10" lube late now. The hitch head falls to the handle side due to the weight of the handle so you have to take that into consideration when backing up and aligning. Because of the height of the truck bed, we left the hitch head height at the lowest level and it worked out great.

The front cap will hit in the towing position if I turn extremely sharp. The slider provides plenty of clearance for the tight campgrounds and for backing into my driveway. I had wanted a B&W Companion but after doing some measurements and being just a tad doubtful, I decided to go with the Reese because of the factory "bolt on" solution and the guaranteed cab clearance. (Thanks to Rickatic for all the info and feedback as we both have similar sized rigs. Rickatic has a B&W Companion with the Hearland Big Horn which has the best cab clearance in the RV business! My Cedar Creek is good but does not have the scalloped sides)

I'm very pleased with the payload capacity on this truck over my '08 F250 (which had to have Timbrens to keep the bed level).

 

Yup...same hitch I have, works well. I have found with my 5er that I don't need to slide it back much but it is nice to have.

Heavy little thing isn't it!

I have a push cart that I slide mine onto for storage.

It appears to me that if you look along the rails down low where the brass levers are...it appears that the head of the bolts are facing in. Just confirm that is what I am seeing.

Mine were on backwards from the factory. I figured it out when sliding the hitch by hand and the bolt threads were catching on the brass release handles.

Looks good.

 

Nice job, nice looking rig. I enjoyed our discussions. Keep in touch

 

Who but Rick would figure that out right off the bat!

 

Just curious why you wouldn't go with the 8' bed and the factory installed prep pkg?

 

Preference. I didn't want or need an 8ft bed.