Valley Underbed 5th Hitch

[Jetson]

Has anyone heard of the new underbed 5th wheel hitch by Valley? It looks like it has 4 attachment holes in the bed and no rails in the bed. I haven't been able to find a price for it yet.

 

[DuallyDean]

5th wheel hitch

I haven't seen the hitch, but ANY type of 5th wheel or gooseneck hitch that is not in some way directly bolted to the truck's frame would never go in MY truck. I have had the unfortunate experinece of having my 16' gooseneck go up on two wheels when the Case 1845 skid loader I was hauling broke a chain and slid off one side of the trailer. It broke the trailer coupler (slightly bending the 2-5/16 ball to one side) and seperated from the truck, but the plate never gave way. The saftey chains did their job, which they would not have if the plate tore loose from the sheet metal bed.

There's just way too much tonnage to take a chance of it comming thru the back of the cab on me.



If the hitch mounts anything like a gooseneck ball, there will be heavy duty bracketry under the bed mounting it to the framerails

 

[Fireman]

Jetson,



Also check out Pullrite's Super rails for their Super5 hitches. They have brackets that attach to the frame rails beneath the bed and are connected to the hitch rail with 1" dia. pins. The rails them selves are 2" heavy wall tubing. This setup is stout ! You can remove hitch, Rails, and pins in just a couple of minutes. I removed mine yesterday. I really don't care for the holes, but the setup is nice and very strong.



my2c

Fireman

 

[ARARAR]

Upside down 5th wheel

Never heard of the Valley, but I have a heavy duty pullrite which is commonly refered to as an upside down 5th wheel. Great ride. not cheap though. I thing they have two models; standard about $800 and the heavy duty about $1500 depending on which distributor your buy from. Factory does not sell direct.

 

[The Sequel]

This is an old thread, but does anyone have any experience with this hitch lately? It was appealing to me but I was hoping for some firsthand knowledge.

 

[Jetson]

I bought one in July '02 and am still using it with no problems. I have noticed that after reinstalling it in the bed, I need to tow with it a while and then retighten the scissor clamps that attach it to the mount. I can hear popping or creaking sometimes when I start and stop as the hitch strains against the scissor clamps. I tow about 11,000 lb. 5th and have double towed pulling a small utility trailer with a 600 cc street bike on it.



I like it. I don't actually remove it often, except when carrying motorcycles or dirt. I have never used the rubber plugs that cover the holes in the bed. Even carrying dirt, not much falls through the little holes.

 

[zues]

I have the valley under bed hitch system and it works great. The only thing I don't like is the 5th wheel hitch itself is pretty heavy for one person to lift in and out. I also have the gooseneck adapter for the same system and it works great too.

 

[JFaughn]

I'm not sure if this what your talken about , my came with a valley fold down ball and it has a framework that is attached to the frame, it is rated at 30,000 , seems high to me but that what I read off of it.

 

[RottenRon]

I've been running the Under Bed System hitch you are talking about for a year and have been completely happy. I have to echo a previous post which stated that he retightens the scissor clamps after towing a few miles, I do the same. I've got about 15,000 kMs on it towing a 10K pound 5th wheel.



I find it's a lot easier to remove the hitch if you separate it into two pieces by taking out the pivot pin that allows side to side pivoting. The pin is easy to take out and the two pieces are then light enough to lift up without hurting your back.



I put mine in and out on a fairly regular basis (twice a month or so).



I'd recommend the hitch.



Ron

 

[CajunDieselMan]

I have the 16K UBS hitch for over a year and tow a 30 ft fiver and, so far, it has performed well. I decided on this hitch because the Reese hitch bars in the bed of my old 2000 2500 would make the spray-in bedliner bubble up. The owner of the dealership from where I bought my RV recommended it and he seems to be a decent guy. I do go under and check the bolts frequently, though. Heard things about drilling into the frame and got worried--this hitch doesn't affect the frame.

 

[DaveG1983]

Very slim chance but I’m looking for the gooseneck hitch for this underbed system. Has anyone seen one around anywhere?

Much appreciated!
D