5th Wheel Hitch for '93 W250

[JFitzgerald]

My truck has no 5th wheel hitch yet. I am having a friend build me a 30 ft. flatbed gooseneck for hauling my slide-in camper, Jeep and fourwheelers. He looked under the truck to see about putting a ball in the bed and said there was very little space between the bed and frame to do it like he normally would (so everything is underneath but the ball). There is also a crossmember in that area. We looked in his hitch catalog and it was like the pre -'94's did not exist. He is thinking he will need to use a big piece of 1/4" steel plate in the bed, bolted thru to the frame with spacers between the bed and frame rails.



What has everyone else done? Is there a company that makes a bolt on hitch for a first gen? I would like to have only the ball sticking thru the bed floor, so I could remove it easily and have a flat floor when I need it.



Thanks for any advice!

 

[merryman]

Take a look at www.quickhitch.com

I have one of their reversable balls on my 2nd gen, and it works very well and seems plenty strong with a 30K rating. I am pretty sure they make it for 1st gen. I installed mine with a friends help( and he is really non-mechanical) in a couple hours. No drilling in frame required and flat bed when ball is in down position.



Vaughn

 

[JFitzgerald]

I know there are a lot of first gens out there towing fifth wheels. What do you guys do for a hitch? Thanks

 

[RustyJC]

Checkout the turnoverball gooseneck hitch at www.turnoverball.com . I just installed one (along with the companion RV 5th wheel hitch) on my 2002. They list a model for the first generation truck as well.



Rusty

 

[JFitzgerald]

Originally posted by RustyJC

Checkout the turnoverball gooseneck hitch at www.turnoverball.com . I just installed one (along with the companion RV 5th wheel hitch) on my 2002. They list a model for the first generation truck as well.



Rusty

Thanks Rusty. That looks like a real nice setup. $325 seems a bit high, but maybe it's worth it for the convenience, and it appears to be well designed. I'm thinking about it. They actually recognize that Dodge made trucks before '94!



Anyone else have other suggestions?

 

[RustyJC]

Well, actually, $325 only gets you the gooseneck hitch. The 5th wheel companion hitch is an addition to that, although they do give you a discount if you buy both the gooseneck and 5th wheel hitch at once. You're right, though - the whole setup is pretty slick engineering!



The important thing to me in going this route was that the system uses a true double-pivot 5th wheel hitch. The 5ver doesn't know that it's not tied to a standard Reese or DrawTite 5th wheel hitch. I didn't want one of the gooseneck adapters that modify the trailer with a long add-on adapter arm that goes from the pin box of the 5th wheel trailer down to the gooseneck ball - this adds too much torque loading to the 5th wheel frame that it was never designed to carry. A number of RVers who have gone this latter route have experienced frame failures in the pin box area of their 5th wheels.



Rusty

 

[JFitzgerald]

I guess I used the wrong term. What I need is a gooseneck hitch, not a 5th wheel hitch. Now I see that a 5th wheel is like a semi truck hitch.

 

[merryman]

Jfitsgerald.

I tried to E-mail you direct.

I believe the Cody hitch will fit the 93, and I took mine off and its for sale. If interested E-mail me. You can check out the product at www.quickhitch.com

-- email address removed --

 

[merryman]

John;

When I try to E-mail you direct, my computer does funny stuff, so don't know if I got to you.

I just checked the instruction booklet for the Cody hitch and it has instructions for installation on the '93 and older trucks as well as seperate inst. for the 94 and later----its just a matter of which holes you use.

Sorry if I doubled up on msgs.

Vaughn

 

[JFitzgerald]

Got your message, merryman. I sent you one back too. This BBS system apparently uses it's own mail system when you email, not your regular email program. Anyway, I talked to my friend again, and he said he could make my hitch for under $100, so I'll just go that way. Thanks for the response and the offer.