Sorry, I cannot read the max rating.
I have a drawtite in mine since 2003 (I think).. Stay with bolting it in. Use #8 bolts if available.

Wow this post has drawn all sorts of attention. Wish I could say I am pure Alaskan but I’m not. I moved up here 7 years ago from upstate NY but married a Alaskan born. I’ve always been the type to build or fix stuff rather than spend way more money when I could have built it for way cheaper. Fits in well up here in Alaska.
Hitch is rated for 26,000 and 5,000 tongue weight.

Thanks for the diagram for installation that should come in handy.

After looking at my metal tap my father in law and I scrounged around for around his property I realized mine is to thin. Ranging from 3/16 to 5/16 angle iron and a sheet of either 1/4 or 5/16 flat steel. I measured a friends who has a bolt on gooseneck hitch and his is 3/8 steel. Think I might try to go look for some more metal that’s thicker since I don’t want it to be breaking.

I have a friend who has one up here. He just pulled his off because he is making a flatbed and is sticking it on his flatbed. His has a nice bow to it...... I would say it needs some angle iron under it to prevent it from bowing and what I’ve read about welding to the frame just doesn’t sit well with me.

Also the guy I bought this from had it on his dodge and he just welded c channel on and then bolted this to it. I should have mentioned I plan to put this on my f350 8ft bed

AlaskaPilot95... I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment regarding welding on the frame, especially in the area in between spring hangars. Any welding done on the frame AFT of the rear spring hangar is not likely to cause problems.

What are the possible problems? (annealing the frame, crack initiation and propagation in the heat affected zones where the metal's crystal structure reorganized itself during the cooling, creating stresses, bla bla bla)

Since you have a Wallace Forge gooseneck trailer hitch, why not pattern your DIY mount after the Wallace Forge Hideaway universal underbed mounting platform designed to mount that hitch?

Like the similar Fold A Ball and Remove A Ball gooseneck hitch products from Reese / DrawTite, the newer version of the Wallace Forge Hideaway fold down ball like you have uses three mounting holes per end, rather than two.

It looks like this:
https://wallaceforge.com/images/FoldingHitchBall001.jpg
Wallace Forge Part Number 2025161

And the Wallace Forge under bed HideAway universal truck mounting arrangement looks like this:
https://wallaceforge.com/images/Cata...6%20Ver1.0.jpg
Wallace Forge Part Number 2026666

And the dimension to the HideAway underbed mounting arrangement are as follows:
https://wallaceforge.com/images/HideawayRefPrint.jpg
Dimensions and Range of adjustability

After all is said and done, you might still find it cheaper to order the 2026666 mount from Wallace Forge, with the confidence that you will be receiving a Made In USA product from a US company that has been in business since 1942.

I agree. Save yourself the trouble and just use their product since somebody already went to the trouble to engineer it and save you the liability. It probably comes with the 1/2" Grade 8 hardware needed to bolt it to the frame as well, which that type of hardware can be difficult to find locally sometimes depending on where you live.

Now does the top face of that gooseneck assembly sit totally on top of the pickup bed with bed sheet metal sandwiched in between the carriage bolts, or do those two pieces sit flush with each other with the bed on top with a smaller hole cut out for the ball? And that newer one I notice doesn't have the safety chains built into it the way his does...

Well I found a plate of 3/8 steel today which I could beef up underneath the bottom with some angle iron but still not the 1/2;3/4;1 in everyone says to use for the plate. My friends is a bolt on kit not sure the brand but his uses 3/8 steel so I don't know if I would be better off to just buy a bolt on kit or keep scrounging for metal (which is free).

By the way thanks for that kit number i couldnt find one that would work with my style before.

According to most descriptions the ball parts sits on top of the bed and the framing goes under the bed. Im not sure if you would have to cut out the square in the bed or just sandwich it

It depends on what you are trying to pull I suppose. 3/8" might be fine for lighter trailers. A piece of 1/2" or 3/'4 steel plate cut and hole punched and then maybe powder coated could easily end up costing nearly as much as that mounting kit that Y2K posted. Unless you think you could come across a piece of scrap steel like that for free.

I’ve looked all over in the places I have access for anything thicker but have not found anything bigger than 3/8. I could have thicker if I cut it off a dump truck or dozer we have sitting around but don’t really want to cut those apart. Looks like I’ll have to buy one of those kits or just keep waiting for a big slab of metal to show up

having a hard time digging up a price or availability on that WF underbed mount. I would contact them directly with a picture of yours and make sure the holes would still line up on that older one you have.

Yeah I might have to do that. I found one made by curt but they want like $190

If hell bent on a diy kit, then double up on the 3/8 stock, if piece is big enough...

Ive thought about that just doubling stuff up. I think I might have enough to do that. I have a sheet of 3/8 and 5/16 flat stock plus all the other 3/16 to 5/16 L angle iron. Just don't know how strong stuff is when you double it up. Would like to find a bigger piece than 3/8 but can't seem to find any without going and buying it.