Question on Reese Fifth Wheel Hitch Installation

[airmoore]

Hello Everyone

Hope all of you are doing well, I just had a Reese 15K Slider Fifth Wheel Hitch installed by a local dealer. I know I am being picky, but...



Under the 2 rails that run across the bed of the pickup there are these "spacers" that they used in bolting the rails down. These spacers are under the rails, and are just pieces of steel to fill out the indention in the bed so that the bolts and all will fit flush. They are gold in color and stick out from both sides of the rail, and were not held straight when tightening the bolts so they are not straight and are not uniform, that is, some of them stick out more on one side than the other, etc. I do not like the looks of them as the entire bed is linexed in a nice black finish. Besides the looks, do any of you know if this is standard, does the normal installation have spacers under the rails, and if so, what do they look like or are they as noticeable as these. I do not remember seeing these types of spacers on other trucks, would just large washers of some type work? Any help would be appreciated, I just does not look like the normal method of attaching it, thanks

Clint

 

[dmurdock]

Mine's the same. . those are the exact type of spacers that came with my rail kit.

 

[Royal]

There are eight (8) of these spacers in each kit. They are cadmium plated to prevent rust. I have Rhino liner coating and when I installed my hitch the spacers only protrude about 1/4" on the side of the rails. If the rail bolts are torgued down properly, you can't possible move them. They are required to distribute the weight load onto the mount brackets under the bed that are bolted to the frame. They fill in the space of the louvers in the bed floor. If yours are not like this you have a poor installation.

 

[B.G. Smith]

Reece slider

I have the Reece slider and the only spacers I have are under each bolt, the bolts go through them. Mine stick out about a quarter inch but all are uniform. I bought some bedliner spray at Auto Zone and sprayed them to match the bedliner, it doesn't stay on too long and requires respraying occasionally. bg

 

[jbone]

ditto--think they came with kit--I had the pleasure of moving my hitch from my 2500 into my 3500 (about half day). When I reinstalled I painted them and of course lined them up, cause I was doing it, not some kid getting $7. 50 an hour..... R, J. B.

 

[JBlock]

Sliding hitch

How do you gentlemen like the sliding hitch setup,, i want a fifth wheel too, But we have a short bed.



Any coments. Is it expensive I saw cost of a double of grand for 15,000 hitch avail back.



Joe

 

[B.G. Smith]

Sliding hitch

JBlock, the one I have is the mechanical style, you have to get out and shift a lever to slide it back or forward, it works fine although I don't have a short bed, it is in the five to six hundred dollar range. I think the 2 grand + one is automatic. bg

 

[JBlock]

That sounds better

Thanks for the update, I think manual is just fine for parking and backing up. Joe :-laf

 

[B.G. Smith]

Perfect

I heard that.

 

[airmoore]

Hello Everyone

Thanks to all of you for your helpful suggestions. I have a friend of mine who is in the Linex business, and we are going to take the hitch off the truck next Friday. we are then going to put a coat of Linex on the rails (not too thick so the pins will still fit) and also coat the "spacers". We will then reinstall properly with the spacers straight and correctly aligned. I think that will look much better and will be very nice for those times when the hitch is not in the truck, have any of you done anything similiar to this? Thanks again for the help...

Clint