Bed Liner and 5th wheel rails

[TowPro]

Any of you folks have your Reese 5th wheel rails installed by cutting out the bed liner and mounting the rails direct on the bed?



I have seen installs where they cut the bed liner out and install the rails onto the truck bed, but is it a PITA to get the pins in and out?



I had mine installed in my 98 by drilling 6-1" holes per rail through the bed liner, then used grade 8 washers to shim between the Reese split spacers and the bottom of the hitch rails to raise them up high enough so they fit over the bed liner. I also added 2 center bolts, through the bed with large washers just to stop flex in the rails. I called reese yesterday and explained how I had done this in my 98. They replied "we don't recomend doing it that way, but you have 5 years of history proving it was working fine"



Next break in the weather (maybe tomorrow) I will be installing the rails. I have the bed liner out of my 98 so I could just use the washer install, or I could cut the bed liner and install the rails right onto the bed.



If the pins are not a PITA to get in and out, I may go with the "cut out the bed liner"method because the rails would sit lower compaired to when I have them on top of the bed liner.

 

[DavidC]

I am surprised showing your location that you even have a bed left with a lay in liner. Here in Arizona I had a 96 gasser with a lay in and when I removed it 2 years later mostly sheet metal was showing on the ribs,wheel wells and various other parts. I would think you would want to mount the rails directly to the bed (cut out liner if required) to minimize problems with the rails moving on a plastic surface. I see your point installing/removing the pins with the liner cut out which probably will be a problem not for just the pins but your hands possibly looking like hamburger if you hit that liner on the edges. Of course if you can swing the $$$ for a spray in liner and mount the rails on top of it that would solve your problem. Just my opinion.

 

[BigMike]

When they installed my RBW hitch, they cut a section of the liner out. I haven't had any problems getting my hitch in and out. Just make sure they cut out enough to provide the clearance you need. When I had my bedliner installed, I didn't know I'd be pulling a 5er some day. Wish I'd had a spray in liner installed now.

 

[Dkevdog]

Cutting through the liner to install the rails is only going to contribute to an existing problem. You now have a guaranteed way to get moisture, dirt and who knows what else under the linder, where they can rub their way through your paint and rust out the bed. Get a spray in liner.



Kev

 

[BigMike]

You got an extra $500 you can loan me Dev. The way I look at it, what I have is better than nothing! I see lots of liners just like mine and the beds are holding up just fine!

 

[dewdo]

Thought I would throw in my two cents here. Why not go with a spray in liner? Solves the problem once and for all. No rust, No spacers, no cutting holes etc. Not much more than a drop in liner and 100% better.



On my first truck I was going to put in a drop in liner until I talked to my son who had a landscape business. He asked why I wanted a drop in liner? I told him so I could keep an eye underneath to check for rust. Then it dawned on me with the spray in you don't have that worry. JMHO



Dewdo in the other Washington

 

[BigMike]

Gee we get spoiled! I remember my dad's old '66 Ford PU. He had a camper. I don't think they had invented liner's by then. We hauled a camper around some of the time. Twenty years later, I sold the truck. Not much paint left in the bed, but it sure wasn't close to any kind of catastrophic failure. We just used it the way it was designed to be used.

 

[TowPro]

In the last truck, the bed liner "floats" underneath the rails. the rails are mounted on top of a 3/4" pile of washers, that pass through the 1" holes in the bed liner. Another advantage to this method is you only have 1" holes for the dirt to pass through to get under the bed liner. If I cut for the whole rail, I will have a large hole.



Now the new truck came with a bed liner already in it, which I switch into the new truck (for a couple more bucks on my trade). There was nothing wrong with my old liner, and it already has the holes drilled in it, already in the correct positions.



I did call about a spray in liner, but the run around $400. 00. Just a little out of the budget after the down payment

Originally posted by DavidC

. I would think you would want to mount the rails directly to the bed (cut out liner if required) to minimize problems with the rails moving on a plastic surface.

 

[Steve M]

I had an under the rail bed liner in my '98. It was cut out for the bed rails and would have been a pain to take the pins out. When I traded the truck and had to remove the bed liner to remove my hitch, I didn't have any paint left on the bed anywhere the liner was touching. That and there was alot of leaves and dirt under there. With my '01 I went with a heavy rubber bed mat with holes cut out for the legs on the hitch. I can easily raise it to remove the hitch or wash under it. Just my preference but I don't think I'd shim the hitch rails to raise them above the liner. Just my ever so humble opinion. Trade in is better when you can remove the mat or liner and show a clean undamaged bed.

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

I *really* hated to part with the $530 it cost for my over-the-rail spray in Line-X liner - but my RVing bud finally talked me into it - the satisfaction of the excellence of this type of liner FAR outlasts the memory of the spent $$$... It was especially important for me to make my decision BEFORE installing all the REST of my in-bed goodies...



#ad




THe spray-in stuff wears extremely well, resists rusting and dings - and provides added sound-proofing. I asked about recommended bed-rail strategy, and they said spray first, and then add rails over the top of the liner - we carefully installed the bed rails before the liner was sprayed in to get all holes properly located, then removed the bed rails, drilled remaining access holes for various items to be added later, like fuel lines for the fuel/tool box and ham radio antenna leads, etc - that way all newly exposed metal from drilling was well covered with the Line-X stuff...



It turned out to be a GREAT job, I love it, and the memory of that $530 is LONG gone!

 

[TowPro]

Must be a PITA to get your 5th wheel pin box over that rear box when hooking up :--)



Or am I missing something? It looks like you have to jack the pin up, get it over that rear box, then lower the pin to get it onto the hitch?

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

I got that rear box for when we're on longer trips and I need to carry lot's of extra crap with us - tools and such (never know when you'll run across a Ford in trouble... ).



On shorter, more local outings, the box comes out and stays home... I have a welder and enough stuff to fabricate a bracket at the rear of the trailer, and mount it there - just haven't done it yet...



But you're right, it is an extra pain to hitch/unhitch with the box in there - I have to crank the 5th wheel hitch up an extra 6 inches or so - the reason for that type box instead of the more conventional type with the notch in the fiver pin area, is that I wanted a box large enough to contain our 1 KW Honda generator...



In "normal", no-trailer situations, we use the box for quick and easy storage of groceries, etc. The box is not bolted in - it's retained by a cable, it's made of lightweigh aluminum, and 1 person can install/remove it in just a couple of minutes.

 

[NVR FNSH]

I have a Line-X spray in AND a factory under rail drop in bed liner that has been cut for my Reese 5th wheel rails. I don't have any problem with the installing/removing the pins due to the bedliner. It takes a light tap with a hammer to get the pins in/out - I have to use the hammer if the drop in liner is installed or not.



I recommend cutting the bed liner. As you noted the Reese rails will be closer to level with the bed liner and it will be easier to carry things like 4x8 sheets of plywood.



I typically use the drop in liner when I'm hauling stuff like busted concrete to the dump. The drop in liner is disposible as far as I'm concerned. The Line-X is really sweet when hauling dirt bikes - the tires don't slip like they do on a drop in liner or the painted bed... .



Brian