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Old 06-15-2015, 07:59 AM   #1
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Best 5th wheel hitches

Hey all, i'm certain this is one of those overly repeated threads but in my searches didn't find what I was really looking for.

I am currently driving a 2015 ram 2500 crew cab short box without the factory 5er prep.

Has anyone installed rails into a 4th gen ram? any suggestions?

Next question is what would you guys suggest for a fifth wheel hitch for the crew cab short box? a 16K hitch would be plenty for our needs.

I am sort of eyeing the curt manual slider, more or less just in case...

Thanks,
Alex
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Old 06-15-2015, 08:06 AM   #2
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I can't help with the install but take a look at the Husky hitch. Very high quality and solid.

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Old 06-15-2015, 08:14 AM   #3
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4th gen 2500 Ram here. Went with the B&W Turnover Ball and their Companion 5th wheel hitch. Totally removable when not in use, returns your bed to completely flat when you take it out. The older model was rated for 16k, but the new one is rated for 20k. They even have a sliding Companion now.
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Old 06-15-2015, 08:53 AM   #4
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4th gen 2500 Ram here. Went with the B&W Turnover Ball and their Companion 5th wheel hitch. Totally removable when not in use, returns your bed to completely flat when you take it out. The older model was rated for 16k, but the new one is rated for 20k. They even have a sliding Companion now.
This ^^ in my opinion, best setup on the market. On my second one currently. The first did its job in a rollover accident last winter. Thankfully, the companion hitch is engineered to give way in the event of a rollover, and only then. My truck, with my wife and three young daughters, would have been pulled over along with our fiver had it not given way.
I love having the completely empty bed when needed as well. Just Saturday morning I pulled the hitch out. Took all of three minutes and it comes apart in two pieces so I was able to set it on the floor of my garage on my own.
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Old 06-15-2015, 12:31 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by Taranwanderer View Post
4th gen 2500 Ram here. Went with the B&W Turnover Ball and their Companion 5th wheel hitch. Totally removable when not in use, returns your bed to completely flat when you take it out. The older model was rated for 16k, but the new one is rated for 20k. They even have a sliding Companion now.
X2 - love my B&W Turnoverball and Companion. A little spendy, but great hitch.
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Old 06-15-2015, 12:54 PM   #6
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some advice

I have installed fifth wheel hitched in 2 4th gen Rams - the installs aren't bad. Both I did alone in about 2 hours each. There are many options out there but if you are going with a universal rail system, which I use, I recommend Curt brand - they are the exact same mounts as some of the others out there but are generally 15-25% cheaper to acquire. They have custom bracket kits that take out all need for modifications and guess work. I have a Reese 15k Pro fifth wheel and also a 20k goose neck ball on a plate that fits into the universal rails.

For the last year or so I have been considering upgrading my hitch to a double jaw rather than the slide bar type that I have, but what I have works well, just got back from a 1100 mile trek last night with no issues - even through the Pennsylvania mountains and the I95 traffic. Some out there today have rubber torsion blocks to absorb some of the highway bounce that you can get, especially in construction zones and I think that may be a plus. Generally speaking, a very nice hitch is far less expensive than upgrading your pin box.
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Old 06-15-2015, 01:02 PM   #7
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I love my Companion. Easy to put on & take off and simple to operate. A really high quality rig: plenty of steel and nice jaws.
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Old 06-15-2015, 01:03 PM   #8
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Another one for the turnover ball from B&W. Love mine. Works great. I think the ratings are 18k on older ones. The 16k units are the ones with rales.
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Old 06-15-2015, 01:41 PM   #9
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Frame brackets should be available to mount the rails.

PullMor makes a nice automatic slider which solves the short bed interference issue.

Etrailer should have it all.
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Old 06-15-2015, 01:53 PM   #10
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my 2014 RAM 2500 came with the 5 mount wholes in the box already. The mount frame is a easy removed by to levers on the frame. Reese also makes the frame that drops in the 4 fifth wheel mounts in the box of the truck. I have a 16K Husky hitch that fit the dodge frame in the box perfectly. Have had no problems with my slider.
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Old 06-15-2015, 02:07 PM   #11
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I installed a BW turnover ball hitch on my Ram 3500 dually.The new Rams come with cross member for gooseneck hitch head, it is a very simple bolt in application, I already had a Reese HI-Rise conversion hitch and it works with the BW mount, works like a charm!
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Old 06-15-2015, 02:38 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by avolnek View Post
Hey all, i'm certain this is one of those overly repeated threads but in my searches didn't find what I was really looking for.

I am currently driving a 2015 ram 2500 crew cab short box without the factory 5er prep.

Has anyone installed rails into a 4th gen ram? any suggestions?

Next question is what would you guys suggest for a fifth wheel hitch for the crew cab short box? a 16K hitch would be plenty for our needs.

I am sort of eyeing the curt manual slider, more or less just in case...

Thanks,
Alex
Hi Alex,

We have a HiJacker Autoslide under bed mount.

We are very happy with this hitch. We also have a short box and can make a 90 degree turn and still have 1 inch to spar to the cab. At that point the hitch assembly has moved back 14 inches. Works very slick.

We have been across Canada and back, up to Yukon and Alaska and the hitch always worked great. Had one warranty work done to it and Demco looked after it.

The HiJacker hitch was originally made and fabricated here in British Columbia (this is where we bought it). It is now made by Demco. Demco is awesome and are very helpful. More on our truck, trailer and hitch on our blog.

Good luck.
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Old 06-15-2015, 03:33 PM   #13
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Another vote for the B&W turnover ball and companion!
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Old 06-15-2015, 05:13 PM   #14
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And yet another vote for the B&W Companion turnover. No rails in the bed and the ability to pull my goose neck flat bed. It now comes in a slider as well. I don't see how you can go wrong with it.
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Old 06-15-2015, 05:45 PM   #15
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5Th wheel hitch

I had a turnover B&W hitch in my truck when I bought my 5th wheel and I borrowed a B&W hitch to get my camper home but it wasn't a slider and after I backed it into my drive way I decided I needed the slider( I have a 2005 f250 ford short bed) so I had one installed and the slide handle wouldn't stay latched so they put me another one in. It didn't work either so I called B&W and they sent me one I installed it and it didn't work either.
Like I said the non slider one worked great but I wouldn't buy a B@W slider.
I bought the "Hijacker auto slide" and it works like a charm and it is cheaper than the other auto slides but it is high quality .
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Old 06-15-2015, 07:04 PM   #16
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which hitch?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Taranwanderer View Post
4th gen 2500 Ram here. Went with the B&W Turnover Ball and their Companion 5th wheel hitch. Totally removable when not in use, returns your bed to completely flat when you take it out. The older model was rated for 16k, but the new one is rated for 20k. They even have a sliding Companion now.
While I have been a loyal fan of BW for some time now and do agree with the quote above, there are other great hitches out there.
Reese, Husky, Curt Pro series and more. They all have to meet National highway safety so they are all pretty close, it mostly come down to options/ features or like I said loyalty to a brand.

SO if you get a middle of the line model from most any company you should be happy, just look at the type of mechanism is used if you need a slide type as maintenance to keep them going good shape.
So I hope this help and Happy Camping
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Old 06-15-2015, 07:21 PM   #17
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I know you folks have been talking BW--and I don't know that hitch. But I do know that you do not want a Manual Slider--of any sort. Reason why, time after time, RV park owners and others tell tales of late night arrivals and forgetting to move the manual slider only to pop a rear truck window. Too Late.
If you decide on a slider, go for an automatic; and I would recommend a PullRite SuperGlider: easy from the very start. Got our first one in 2009.
Now available on universal bars; and while not a totally flat bed, pretty easy to move in and out,
Your decision; But just warning--don't go manual. IMHO
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Old 06-15-2015, 07:32 PM   #18
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On a short bed a slider is a must, so unless you want to be getting in and out of your truck to pin-slide-pin then an automatic slider is the way to go. Pullrite makes the best and they sell a rail kit that fits the Ram factory 5er prep. I've used one for years now and am very pleased.


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Old 06-15-2015, 08:41 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by avolnek View Post
Hey all, i'm certain this is one of those overly repeated threads but in my searches didn't find what I was really looking for.

I am currently driving a 2015 ram 2500 crew cab short box without the factory 5er prep.

Has anyone installed rails into a 4th gen ram? any suggestions?

Next question is what would you guys suggest for a fifth wheel hitch for the crew cab short box? a 16K hitch would be plenty for our needs.

I am sort of eyeing the curt manual slider, more or less just in case...

Thanks,
Alex
I have to ask did nobody read the 2nd line in the post.
"NO FACTORY PREP" Must be the old rail type.
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Old 06-15-2015, 09:23 PM   #20
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Quote:
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I have to ask did nobody read the 2nd line in the post.
"NO FACTORY PREP" Must be the old rail type.
My F250 had no Factory prep for the original (2008) PullRite SuperGlider hitch; Local hitch guys did the work to set up the mounts and made it all happen; it was great.
Came 2014-and our new fifth-talked into a new Reese 16K with a Revolution pinbox (eg Sidewinder) in between...and the pinbox portion just failed 3 weeks ago.
Went back to a newer PullRite SuperGlide-using the now installed, older 16K Reese universal rails and it was easy-peasy to go back to the hitch we originally loved...and it's working great today.
Good luck.
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