truck bed prep for FW hitch

[BHowell]

Just bought a new fiver. Previously pulled travel trailers so I need a 5th wheel hitch. My truck has the OE drop in liner and my first thought is to pull the liner and have a sprayed-in liner put in. Don't really like the idea of having slots cut in the drop in liner for the hitch rails. But I could be wrong.

What do you guys think??

 

[Dieselnerd]

Since the drop in liner will scratch the paint and the cuts for the hitch will let water in, rust and corrosion will occur. I have a spray in liner with my fiver hitch and wouldn't have anything else.

 

[DonTX]

Ditto on that, this is my first ever truck with a Rhino spray in liner, and I love it! The previous owner put it in, no idea what it cost, but worth every cent he spent!

 

[B.G. Smith]

Get the hitch(not installed) before you have the bed sprayed and take the rails in with the truck, they sprayed mine at no extra cost, you will have to do a little cleaning of some of the holes in the rails after they are sprayed but it makes a nice installation. / bg

 

[BHowell]

truck bed prep

Guess I'll remove the bed cover and pull the liner out tomorrow.

The local Rhino dealer wants $300 for the std. spray in liner.

I'm also thinking that since I'm going with the Superglide w/Superrails that I'll have the hitch installed, bring the FW home, remove the hitch and have the bed sprayed so the holes will get the benefit of the spray.

 

[Jeepinjason]

If you do spray it after the holes are in, tape up the bottom of the hole so that the liner does not get into the hole that the pins drop into.



Also, I am eventually going to get a spray in liner, but have been spending too much money on performance mods so I just cut holes in the liner and installed the hitch on top of it. The Superglide is easy to take out and when I do, I just tape up the holes with black duct tape and you can hardly tell they are there and that keeps out the water and grime.

 

[BHowell]

Hey Jeep,

You said the Superglide is easy to take out. The tech at Pullrite said the hitch weighs 175#. I was thinking I'd need a hoist in my barn to take it out? Does it come out in pieces?



Bill

 

[Superdawg]

The hitch comes out easy with 2 people lifting it . It weighs at least 175#, I think more. Fantastic hitch though. Tom

 

[Jeepinjason]

You can take the top part off with just two pins if you need. The top probably weighs 50 pounds and the other 125 is in the main part of the hitch. I am fairly large and can lift it out on my own while it is still together. I have a cart on wheels that is about 4 inches shorter than the back of the tailgate, so I really don't have to move it all that far. I have lifted it off the ground a couple of times and it is a beast that you would not want to walk around the block with!



I installed mine by myself. The only tough part is cutting through the bed. Even though I measured several times I was still off by a bit, so make sure that the first hole your drill is small like a 1/8" drill bit. That way you can easily adjust after seeing where the bit comes out of the bottom compared to where it needs to be. Also, make sure you buy a high quality hole saw bit. I went through a $15 one and ended up going back for a $35 bit and it was much easier. Installing it is certainly something that can be done by someone with basic tool and reading ability.

 

[BHowell]

Another approach a friend my mentioned is to leave the hitch attached to the trailer, pull the hitch attachment pins, jack up the trailer and pull away with the truck. Would probably be a little more time consuming reinstalling the hitch.

 

[WHazelwood]

Hey Jeep,

You said the Superglide is easy to take out. The tech at Pullrite said the hitch weighs 175#. I was thinking I'd need a hoist in my barn to take it out? Does it come out in pieces?



Bill

I added a small chain hoist in front of one of my garage doors and it's easy to back under the hoist and lift up the hitch, pull out and set the hitch on a dolly that I then slide under a bench till next use. Takes about 10 min to take out and about 15 min to install.

Pullrite makes a great hitch.

Keep grinnin,

 

[Mark Baker]

I did the DIY-Herculiner roll-on initially then had my Reese 18k Signature Series hitch installed. In hind-sight, i would have done the hitch first then apllied a liquid bedliner: Herculiner, Line-X, Rhino, etc. I love the Reese with it's huge 4-way pivoting head, that requires a 12" lube plate, not a 10. Head comes off super easy with 2 cotter pins, although i can lift the whole unit without too much trouble and I'm a skinny guy.

 

[231jasonS]

Do the hitch install first..... I did mine after and the measurements were a little off due to the thickness of the liner. And no liner in the holes so i had to paint them. Would have been better to install hitch first.



After you drill your small holes for the pins tighten your brackets before drilling the bigger holes. Mine were dead on with the brackets slightly snug. Once i tightened them they moved and my bed holes were slightly off.



Dont try and torque the bracket bolts on the front brackets to the specified torque settings as it will bend your brackets. I called Pull rite and they said its a very common mistake . They said the were revising the instructions but may not have done so yet. Per pulrite only flatten the lock washers on these bolts. The torque specs are just generic guide lines for the size bolt not the aplication.

 

[BrianJ]

I just got the 18k superglide and per Pullright customer service, the hitch weighs in at 215lbs. The rails are an additional 100 lbs. I already had a Rhino lining so no problems there.

 

[RJOL]

Just go with the B&W TurnoverBall hitch with the Companion adapter. You just have one 4" hole in the bed, which the under bed hitch fills up when you bolt it onto the frame. Doesn't make any difference if you do the spray on liner before, or after installing the hitch. If you do the spay in liner first, and are concerned about the edge around the hole, just paint the edge after you're done cutting the hole out...



B&W Custom Truck Beds, Inc.

 

[Grizzly]

Hey Jeep,

You said the Superglide is easy to take out. The tech at Pullrite said the hitch weighs 175#. I was thinking I'd need a hoist in my barn to take it out? Does it come out in pieces?

Bill

If I may ask, what will it cost to have the PullRite installed? Is it better then most hitches?