5th Wheel Hitch Rails

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travelinman

Active member
Joined
Sep 15, 2013
Posts
40
Location
California
I have a quick question about the rails on 5th wheel hitches. My truck previously had a 5th wheel hitch installed and the holes for where the rails were indicate that the rails were installed running lengthwise down the bed. The hitches I see now specify that the rails be installed going across the bed.

Is there a specific reason for this? When I get a hitch install I was thinking it would be nice to re-use the existing holes, however, it doesn't look like any of the kits are intended for that type of installation now.
 
I can't imagine how a hitch would work with the rails installed in a foe and aft direction. Any hitch that i know of would be facing to the side with rails installed that way.

Joel
 
I can't think of any structural reason, but crosswise probably allows greater flexibility in the hitch "feet" layout. If you were going to run the rails on top of the underlying frame member anyway, you might not even use a rail.  You could just have the brackets that attach to the truck frame protrude through the bed and bolt the hitch directly to them. But that makes the hitch design more dependent on the vehicle frame width and bracket position, so the rails allow for some location differences. Placing the rails crosswise let the hitch designed put the attachment points (hitch feet) pretty much anywhere and still line up ok. Adapts more easily to different frame widths and style, I think. The advantage of the longitudinal rails is that they may interfere a bit less less with cargo loading, at least with some shapes of cargo.

This is all conjecture on my part, but I've put rails in a couple trucks and have seen some of the differences.

As you have seen, the crosswise location is sort of "industry standard". I think Pullrite offers both types, though, so maybe your truck had a Pullrite before. This page for Pullrite shows two different mount styles.
http://www.pullrite.com/products/traditional-series-mounting-kits
 
My hitch rails run fore and aft, so it is easy to remove the hitch if one wants to remove it. Also can move the hitch forward or back as there are 4 position spots .
 
I wish mine ran fore and aft as I would like to move my hitch forward an inch or two to better balance it and the truck.
 
Elliott,
What brand of hitch do you have? I have a Reese 20K and I'm able to take the head off the frame, then remove the frame and rotate it so the pivot point moves foward about 3". You may be able to do that with yours depending on the brand.
 
The removability doesn't depend on the rail orientation - that's just the design of the attachment feet.  Most these days are easily removable, e.g. by pulling some pins. Some older hitches didn't use rails at all (see my previous message) but newer models do because they allow more flexibility in positioning. It's actually an easier installation as well.
 
I have a Reese 20,000 hitch 30867.  I spoke with their tech and they had me measure the distance from the back of the bed to the rails and the rails were correctly mounted.  I went through the Escapees Smart Weigh weight measurements, and with the trailer attached the weight on my front axle lightened.  I'm not sure how much forward movement I can do with this model.  I hope it's the same model as yours.
 
elliott-maine said:
I have a Reese 20,000 hitch 30867.  I spoke with their tech and they had me measure the distance from the back of the bed to the rails and the rails were correctly mounted.  I went through the Escapees Smart Weigh weight measurements, and with the trailer attached the weight on my front axle lightened.  I'm not sure how much forward movement I can do with this model.  I hope it's the same model as yours.

Go to this link (this is my hitch) and click on the installation details on the right side. Then scroll down to page 16.

http://www.etrailer.com/Fifth-Wheel/Reese/RP30081.html?feed=npn&gclid=COXPtcXhk8QCFTBo7AodcjcAuQ
 
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