Base Rail Kit for 5th Wheel Hitch on 2018 Ford F-250 with Aluminum Bed

Question:

Hey Jason, I have my rails installed on the truck and I have questions about the Hitch. The hitch you sell appears to be made of steel. I understand that Anderson makes a lighter 16K hitch that is available. Do you carry this? Also the tailgate on my F250 is 22.5 inches from the top to the bed/ Do I have to remove the Tailgate or is the Hitch tall enough to clear the tailgate and the sides? PS the rail installation went fine. Less than 90 min.

asked by: Byron

Helpful Expert Reply:

The B&W Universal Base Rails and Installation Kit for 5th Wheel Trailer Hitches - 10 Bolt # BWRVR3200 will fit your 2018 Ford F-250 with aluminum bed but B&W doesn't recommend it. You will want to use some sort of spacers/isolators that help prevent galvanic corrosion due to the dissimilar metals.

My recommendation is to use the B&W Custom 5th Wheel Installation Kit for Ford # BWRVK2402 which will give you brackets that require no drilling into your frame and also comes with the galvanic isolators to use on trucks with aluminum beds. This will greatly decrease the installation time and give you the needed isolator/spacers.

Either rail kit will be compatible with the Andersen Hitch you mentioned # AM3200.

expert reply by: Jason S

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Bryon

7/27/2018

Jason S.

7/27/2018

Andersen does make a lighter aluminum hitch but we do not carry it. With aluminum being a more flexible metal, we understand the draw back of that as much as it may help with the weight. The rails are steel and thus you still will have the steel and metal issue to deal with that your isolators had to be used to deal with. We figured that a steel hitch that is still only 55 lbs is a better lightweight option so we don't carry the aluminum version. I'm glad the installation went well and the hitch will give you the height you need so you won't need to remove the tailgate for use or change to a 5th wheel tailgate. I've attached a photo a customer sent of this hitch in their Ford to help.