where to mount the hitch?

[pirogue]

hi, i'm in the process of buying a 2004 3670rl and will be using a f250 cc sb srw to pull the camper, the hitch is a 16k reese non slider and was wondering on opinion where to mount the hitch.

the person i'm buying it from has pulled the camper with 2 different vehicle's, the first being a f250 sb and hitch was mounted 1" behind axle not sure where the second vehicle position was. he says he didn't have any problems with it.

would like your opinion on that set up.

thanks!

[H. John Kohl]

Piroque,
I would contact Reese or look at there web site. They have the specifications for mounting their hitch in each type of truck. I have the 20K Reese in my truck and when I am hooked to the trailer I only add 60 lbs of additional weight on the front wheels. With 3020 lbs of hitch weight this tells me the dealer who installed it with Reese specifications positioned it correctly.
Best of luck and tow safe.

[Garin1]

Craig, welcome to the forum. Actually, every manufacturer I know of recommends that the centerline of the hitch be slightly forward of the rear axle.

[stiles watson]

The best counsel I have seen on this and other forums is that if you have a short bed TV, then you may need to think strongly about using a slider hitch. Not to do so may mean you have an accidental rear window break waiting to happen.

[Broome101]

Garin1 , that is what I have always heard as well 1-2 inches in front of axle centerline.

[Bill Frisbee]

quote:Originally posted by stiles watson

The best counsel I have seen on this and other forums is that if you have a short bed TV, then you may need to think strongly about using a slider hitch. Not to do so may mean you have an accidental rear window break waiting to happen.

Mr. Watson is right on the money! Whatever hitch you install, I agree with the advice to contact the manufacturer directly. The cost of installing incorrectly is simply too high.

B

[Bob Pasternak]

There is another formula that some people use: Half the width of the trailer plus 4 inches (comes out to 52 inches.). That way if you're in a jack-knife situation, you'll not have the trailer against the back of the cab.

[Glenn and Lorraine]

pirogue, not to knock the other suggestions but you are just getting way to many placements. For safety reasons alone, the correct placement of the hitch is ultra important and not something you want to guess at. I would strongly suggest contacting Reese directly.
Here's a link to their website...Reese

[DHenry]

I agree with Glenn, contact Reece and follow their instructions. My other advise is to have it professionally installed by an experienced installer.

[pirogue]

thanks for the welcome and and all the responses. i'm going to install the hitch my self and spent all day yesterday searching for the hitch placement and found a few different measurments and also like noted above the previous owner had mounted it to the rear of the axle. i thought i would give you veterans a shot.

i also know that the slider is adviced, but see so many people with sliders that hardly ever use them.

thanks for all the replies it's awesome to have this support!

[Bob & Lee]

when we installed a hitch from the old truck to my brothers new ford we went to the dealer and read the book they had with the measurements and copied the templet from the book, woorked great.

[Montana_5036]

I just finished installing the RBW x16 hitch on my 2002 F250. It was not very difficult to do. They recommended that the hitch be a minimum of 52 inches from the back of the cab and optimally 2" ahead of the rear axle. On my rig (full size bed) to get the 52" and get things to line up I was 1" in front of the rear axle. All bolts needed to be torqued to 65 ftlbs. The installation instructions for the Reese 16k can be found at http://www.reeseprod.com/support/sup...fs/30047IN.pdf . Check around on the web site for other hitch models if that is not the one you have.

[pirogue]

i will be needing to get a set of new rails from reese i may spend a lil more money and get the slider bars and bolt the head to that if possible.

i will follow the instructions as recomended by ya'll.

thanks.

[CmdrDewey]

Not to muddy the water but please remember to get the correct bolts. They are not standard but I can't remember the designation. They are a special type of case hardened bolt.

[Montana_5036]

Use grade 8 bolts, available at any hardware store.