Reese R20 installation question

[jfaberna]

I have a question on hitch installation. Since my Dually came with factory fifth wheel prep, it needed a frame to adapt to the Reese R30 hitch. That installation part went well, then they had me drop in the leg brackets into that frame and pin them, next you are suppose to just set the working part of the hitch onto the bracket and pick the set of holes that work for the right height for your 5W. What we found was the alignment for the 4 bolts that go thru the hitch, then the bracket leg, then the other side of the hitch don't easily align. We finally got 3 installed, but the 4th looks like it is going to need something reamed out a little. I'll probably call Reese on Monday, but are these hitches usually not aligned and need modifying?

[Irlpguy]

The shop where I bought my Reese hitch offered to install mine for me. Standing in the office I could hear this banging coming from the shop and when I went out to see what they were doing I blew a gasket. The idiot installer was hammering on one of those bolts trying to get it to fit in the hole. I stopped further work and took my truck home and once there I found with a proper tapered bar I could line them up and get the 4 bolts in. All must be loose until they are all installed.

I then found that it required a pry bar to get the hitch out of the bed rails as they did not line up properly either. I disassembled the unit again and made very minor adjustments on both legs using my vise so that when assembled the leg brackets or whatever you want to call them went in and out of the rails easily. The adjustment was less than 1/8" but it made a huge difference to installing and removing the hitch.

I like the hitch but was not impressed with this problem and even less impressed with the people I bought it from.

[DQDick]

Not sure what to tell you. Installed my reese hitch first with a 16K head and then changed to a 20K head and the holes were aligned both times. As Ed mentioned, the first time I assembled it I didn't tighten anything I didn't have to until all the bolts were in place.

[jfaberna]

The 3 bolts that I have in are loose with the nuts barely on to keep them from falling out. The 4th is loosely in one part but misaligned enough to not go on thru the last part. I have some friends who know terms like pry bar and bull pin who think they can easily fix it, but at a minimum I have it close enough to get it to a professional if need be.

[jlb27537]

Jim, My past experience with hitches, is the holes align with no prying or needing a taper bar to get a bolt in.

My 2 Reese's and my current B&W all went together perfectly. A call to Reese on Monday would probably be my next step.

If you got it locally, maybe a swap for a B&W. After having a B&W, I really like it better than my Reese's.

Bummer, new truck and hitch and don't fit right.

Jim

[jfaberna]

Okay, I have it installed and torqued in. Here's what I think the problem is. Reese's instructions say to put the legs/brackets into the rail or adapter first, then set the top part of the hitch on top and slide in the 4 bolts. That's where I had the 1/8" hole alignment problem on the 4th bolt. So realizing I didn't have the tools to bend or force that much steel anywhere, I removed the hitch with legs mostly installed out of the adapter. With no strain on the other end of the legs I could easily align the 4th hole and install the 4th bolt. With the bolts installed but very loose, I place the whole hitch assembly into the adapter in the floor. It dropped into the adapter. But while a tight fit, the weight of the hitch made it fall in with just a bump here and there. I then put the pins and cotter pins in, then torqued the hitch head bolts to their required 75 ft-lbs.

So maybe Reese needs to change the order of the leg install?

[1retired06]

quote:Originally posted by DQDick

Not sure what to tell you. Installed my reese hitch first with a 16K head and then changed to a 20K head and the holes were aligned both times. As Ed mentioned, the first time I assembled it I didn't tighten anything I didn't have to until all the bolts were in place.

Dick, were you able to go from the 16 to 20K head and use the original rails in place?

[K0LCB]

Hey Jim, glad you get figured out!

[jlb27537]

Jim, Love it when a plan goes together.