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Old 10-15-2017, 12:17 PM   #1
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Ford 5th wheel hitch

I was ready to pull the triger on the purchase of a 2017 Ford F350 single wheel power stroke pick-up...Feel in love with the truck, but noticed that it sat MUCH higher than my current GMC 2500 dura max...So took some measurements of the truck bed (ground to top of bed rail) which is 60 inches and my 5th wheel (ground to bottom of nose that extends over the truck bed) which is 59 inches...It doesn't take a mathematical genius to figure out that I couldn't tow my 5th wheel with that truck...After many phone calls I found out that Ford had raised the F350's at least six inches from the 2016 version of the same truck...Which in my opinion precluded any one who owns a 5th wheel from buying a Ford F350 to tow their camper...If any one on this forum could tell me different, I would love to hear what you have to say, as I would still love to buy this truck, but NOT if I would have to modify the truck or camper to do so...What the HELL were the engineers at FORD thinking...:ang ry:
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Old 10-15-2017, 02:14 PM   #2
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Tommy, Joe has I believe the 2016 and has no problem.
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Old 10-15-2017, 02:17 PM   #3
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Just bought a 350. Still have a bumper pull but will look at 5th wheels next spring. Lots of folks on the Superduty forum pull 5th wheels without issue though.
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Old 10-15-2017, 02:57 PM   #4
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Tommy, here is a discussion I found on ford forum

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...el-towing.html
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Old 10-15-2017, 05:01 PM   #5
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Had a 2012 250 and 2013 350 both of which towed 5'ers without problem... there are two or three adjustments you can make if needed, but neither of the two in the middle below needed it and they both had the 20" wheels - love, love, LOVED those trucks !
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Old 10-15-2017, 06:19 PM   #6
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Tommy, Joe has I believe the 2016 and has no problem.
Mark
You are correct, Joe & Stan both have 2016 F350's...I called Joe and asked him to measure the distance from ground to top of his bed rail and it was 54 inches...Ford for some reason raised the stance of the F350 from last years model 54 inches to this years model 60 inches...The standard height of the nose of a 5th wheel as far as I know is around 59 inches...

I put this thread on this forum so others will know that they can not pull a 5th wheel with a Ford F350...I am going to call Ford in the morning and see what they have to say about this matter...
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Old 10-16-2017, 01:25 PM   #7
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I have a 2017 f350 drw top of bed rails is 57". The top of tailgate camera is almost 58". I pull a 2012 Redwood 36rl. I have 7" from bed rails to the camper. The truck squats about 3" with the trailer loaded for a trip and it is level. The truck has 245/75r17 tires I use a curt 20qt hitch
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Old 10-16-2017, 04:28 PM   #8
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My Denali is 64" empty. I have 6" bedrail clearance and trailer runs level. 13' 6" height. This is with a 6" lift and 35" rubber. Only alteration to the trailer was centerpoint airbags which raised it 2"
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Old 10-16-2017, 04:45 PM   #9
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Head over to Redwood forum and ask your question. Plenty of guys pulling 5th wheels with 2017 Ford 350's there.
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Old 10-16-2017, 07:21 PM   #10
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Leroy, Wwalker & Glamper
Thanks for the imput, but by reading your posts you all have heavy campers I own a Crossroad Cruiser which is much much lighter...Tried to talk to some one at Ford who could help but all I got was phone tag for about an hour...Might just do what Mark5W suggested and tow my camper to the dealership and hang the king pin off the camper and back the F350 under it...
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Old 10-16-2017, 08:04 PM   #11
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Understand you can always adjust the pinbox up or down -
I know on my 5'ers I could as much as 6" at least...
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Old 10-16-2017, 08:33 PM   #12
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I went from a 2011 F350 SRW 4x4 to a 2017 F350 DRW 4x4...I had to raise the B & W hitch to the top level and I have just shy of 6-inches between the rails and bottom of the 5-er with the new truck. I think I had just over 6-inches with the old set-up. As others have stated, there are ways to adjust the hitch and/or pin box to achieve the correct level.
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Old 10-16-2017, 08:36 PM   #13
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For those that raised the hitch or lowered the pin box, did the 5er ride nose high and cause problems or did everything level out?
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Old 10-16-2017, 10:25 PM   #14
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This looks interesting. https://www.lci1.com/correct-track-ii. I may look into this to raise my 5er.
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Old 10-17-2017, 06:22 AM   #15
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Quote:
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For those that raised the hitch or lowered the pin box, did the 5er ride nose high and cause problems or did everything level out?
neither of mine did - at least with 2012 and 2013 trucks and 12 and 13 5'ers...
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Old 10-17-2017, 10:35 AM   #16
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Originally Posted by gossamar View Post
I went from a 2011 F350 SRW 4x4 to a 2017 F350 DRW 4x4...I had to raise the B & W hitch to the top level and I have just shy of 6-inches between the rails and bottom of the 5-er with the new truck. I think I had just over 6-inches with the old set-up. As others have stated, there are ways to adjust the hitch and/or pin box to achieve the correct level.
Gossamar
with both your truck and camper on level surface with the camper NOT hooked up to your truck can you tell me what are the measurements on the truck from ground to top of bed rail, and on the camper from ground level to bottom of the nose of the camper.???

On my 2500 GMC ground to top rail is 53inches, and on camper from ground to bottom of nose is 59inches...AS you can see there is 6 inches between truck and camper...The Ford SW F350 top of bed rail measures 60 inches I would have to raise the nose of the camper up at least 6 inches just to get the truck under the camper...Nose up tail down...
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Old 10-17-2017, 04:21 PM   #17
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Man your over thinking it, just go to the dealer tell them you want to take a 350 home drop your hitch in the pucks and hook-up to your camper. Your getting ready to spend $70-80 grand, sales man may go with you but that's okay he can help you swap your hitch.
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Old 10-19-2017, 07:06 AM   #18
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UPDATE: I hooked up my RW load for a winter long trip the top of the box rail stands at 54.75". Hope this helps
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Old 10-19-2017, 07:56 AM   #19
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Yes sir that did help thank you and thanks to all that posted...It's a lot of money to spend and not be sure of compatibility...
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Old 10-19-2017, 09:20 AM   #20
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Tommy, I did some measuring with the RV hooked up. 51.5 to top of rail and 58 to underside of RV. Mark said something about the new ford squatting 5 inches when loaded. You might be OK with those numbers.
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