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Member
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Location: San Marcos, TX | Howdy from Texas,
Still in a state of shock. There's a brand new Ford SuperDuty F350 crewcab Diesel 4x4 long-bed pickup in my driveway. I have no idea how it got there. What the heck did I do this weekend? I have fuzzy memories of signing some papers at a dealership -- woke up this morning and there it was. Think I might need professional help if anyone knows a good psychiatrist.
At any rate, this shiny new truck came GN equipped and ready to pull once I get 500 miles on the engine for the break-in period. Meanwhile I've taken a close look at the hitch and must confess I'm a little worried. The Ford OEM product is actually a Reese Elite. It's an interesting system. The ball hitch itself is removeable and lives in a black nylon bag under the back seat along with the safety chain cleats.
There's a recessed plastic lifting latch at the top of the ball. You pull it up, twist it 90 degrees, drop it into the receiver in the middle of the bed and turn the latch back to its original position. Genius. But what worries me to no end is the method by which the ball is retained in the receiver. There's just these two little metal ball-bearing type spheres that protrude half-way out of the side of the hitch. That's all that holds it in place. My wife took one look at it and said, "what if we hit a bump, is the trailer going to buck and pop that thing right out of the bed?" I didn't have a good answer to that. In all honesty it doesn't look like it would be all that secure. Of course the down-weight of the trailer nose will be holding it in place *most* of the time, but what about something sudden and unexpected somewhere down the road? I suppose I could live with getting rear-ended by my own trailer, but I'd never forgive myself for what it would do to our darlings riding in the rig.
Guess what I'm looking for here is some feedback from any of y'all who are using this hitch -- the Ford factory OEM gooseneck or the Reese Elite series gooseneck, which is the same thing. I just can't imagine a major manufacturer putting something unsafe on a product costing many thousands of dollars, and a web search shows that RV people like it, but I'd sure like to hear from horse trailering folks. You can't relieve my guilt about this mammoth purchase but I'm hoping you can aussuage my fear of this thing and make me feel better about it. Preferably to the point of happiness I felt on Friday when I polished off that bottle of Jack and said "Honey, let's go to the Ford dealer."
Edited by CenTex Chris 2013-07-01 7:40 PM
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 560
 
Location: Mena, AR | I wish there was a like button for posting. Enjoy your shinning new truck! |
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Expert
Posts: 2954
 
Location: North Carolina | Without having seen the OEM hitch, I'd bet that the metal retaining balls are secured in place by a metal pin. Likely the plastic handle lifts the metal pin allowing the balls to retract. Craftsman socket wrenches with the button use a similar locking system. I would not be concerned with strength of this locking mechanism. The key issue is making sure the balls are truly locked into position. Is there any indication that the hitch is locked besides mashing the plastic latch flat with the trailer? |
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Member
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Location: San Marcos, TX | @bjhouten: Thank you but I'm still in the denial phase. Acceptance comes later, hopefully.
@hosspuller: Nope, the only indication is the plastic latch falling back into its normal flush position. Surely it's secure that way. Just hoping to hear from some Ford owners confirming that it really is. Thanks! |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 402
Location: Lockport, Illinois | When you lift the plastic tab on the ball, it pulls up a tapered rod allowing the steel balls to be pushed back into the casing,which allows you to slip the ball in the receiver. If you don't pull the tab you can't put the ball in the receiver. Once you push the tap down it makes the balls rigid and they stick out of the ball post. There must be a grooved area in the receiver that the balls go into. This set up has been used for years in the Milton connector for air hoses. |
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Member
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Location: San Marcos, TX | @BigT: Many thanks for your reply. Sure enough, I've seen this type of locking system used on pressure hoses and such, just as you've mentioned. What furrows my brow is finding a larger version of that mechanism with the security of a Big Heavy Thing like a horse trailer relying on it. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 402
Location: Lockport, Illinois | Are you able to lift the gooseneck post of your horsetrailer? This is the amount of pressure that is being exerted on the locking mechanism on the ball. The integrity of the two balls would be the only thing in question. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 824
Location: Kansas | I can't picture the removable safety chain cleats-how does that work? Mine have springloaded cleats, which seemed like a good idea at the time, but is really a pain. |
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Member
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Location: San Marcos, TX | @terri s: There's a pretty good picture of the cleats (and the ball) on the Amazon product page for this item. At least it's got some good user reviews! Hope it's okay to post that link:
http://www.amazon.com/Reese-30137-Under-Bed-Gooseneck-Accessories/d...
There are some rubber caps covering the holes in the bed for the ball and the safety cleats, and boy are they stuck on tight. I have an appointment with the dealer tomorrow and I'm going to have him show me the easy way to pry them off. That'll be my first time to see this whole system put together and ready to tow.
@BigT: Thanks for that suggestion. I had the same idea and I'll probably try it out -- maybe just a slight little "trailer up" on the jack once it's hitched to see if it pops that ball out out or lifts the truck bed up a bit. Still a few days away from that, though... the new Ford and our old C&C aren't getting married until this weekend.
Edited by CenTex Chris 2013-07-02 2:34 PM
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Elite Veteran
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Location: Tenn/Ala. | Originally written by terri s on 2013-07-02 10:48 AM
I can't picture the removable safety chain cleats-how does that work? Mine have springloaded cleats, which seemed like a good idea at the time, but is really a pain.
I install my B&W and leave the springs off. The loops drop right down just fine, but aren't such a pain to bring back up. Just a thought you may think about trying. I've not seen any downside in over 10 years of doing this. |
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Member
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| Sorry, getting a little off subject here. I, too, have the spring loaded cleats for my safety chains (B&W turn over ball set up). To make matters worse, I also have a rubber mat in the bed of my truck through which I have cut out oblong holes for those cleats which allowed them to retract BELOW the level of the rubber mat. Nearly impossible to "lift" them without the use of a screwdriver (or similar pointy object.)My solution . . . I got 3 lengths of NYLON bailing twine about 16 inches long each. I threaded all 3 under the cleat, doubled them in half, then braided them and tied a knot in the end. The end result is a "handle" about 6 inches long which allows me to pull the cleats up and hook the safety chains. The bailing twine is flexible enough to allow the cleats to retract all the way back down, so the only thing sticking up above the mat is the "tail" of the braided nylon handles. Takes a long time for the nylon twine to deteriorate, and when it does, I have a huge FREE supply out in the barn. |
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Expert
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Location: Rocky Mount N.C. | Originally written by Summerset93 on 2013-07-02 5:57 PM
Sorry, getting a little off subject here. I, too, have the spring loaded cleats for my safety chains (B&W turn over ball set up). To make matters worse, I also have a rubber mat in the bed of my truck through which I have cut out oblong holes for those cleats which allowed them to retract BELOW the level of the rubber mat. Nearly impossible to "lift" them without the use of a screwdriver (or similar pointy object.)My solution . . . I got 3 lengths of NYLON bailing twine about 16 inches long each. I threaded all 3 under the cleat, doubled them in half, then braided them and tied a knot in the end. The end result is a "handle" about 6 inches long which allows me to pull the cleats up and hook the safety chains. The bailing twine is flexible enough to allow the cleats to retract all the way back down, so the only thing sticking up above the mat is the "tail" of the braided nylon handles. Takes a long time for the nylon twine to deteriorate, and when it does, I have a huge FREE supply out in the barn. Got three trucks that we use zip ties as handles for pulling up the safety chain cleats. We've taken all the spring holddowns off of them also. |
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Elite Veteran
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Location: Kansas | LOVE the idea of removing the springs. Can you tell me if it is obvious how to do this? Barring that, zip ties are my new favorite construction tool. I have used them to attach seats and backs to a frame for my lawn chairs, and fix fence. Wish I'd thought about a handle of some sort. Great ideas, guys-thanks! |
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Expert
Posts: 3853
Location: Vermont | The only downside of not installing the springs is the rattling you'll hear from the bed area...new trucks are much less rattle-prone than the old ones...:) |
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Veteran
Posts: 188
Location: Ingalls, Ks | Got one its works excellent. If your worried about it, take it out and have something else installed. I looked past 5 other trucks to get one equipped with the factory "Reese" system. Just my opinion! No worries here. The world pretty much turns on plastic these days. |
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Member
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Location: San Marcos, TX | @301duster: Much appreciated. Finally pulled with it for the first time this weekend and couldn't be happier. I'm no longer concerned about the hitch, it seems to be a fine system. My worries now turn to figuring out how I'm going to pay for all the Diesel this thing drinks. I had to swipe my card twice at the pump to get all 37 gallons in the tank! |
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Elite Veteran
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Location: Tenn/Ala. | Originally written by terri s on 2013-07-03 11:25 AM
LOVE the idea of removing the springs. Can you tell me if it is obvious how to do this? Barring that, zip ties are my new favorite construction tool. I have used them to attach seats and backs to a frame for my lawn chairs, and fix fence. Wish I'd thought about a handle of some sort. Great ideas, guys-thanks!
If it is a B&W, you just remove the nuts from underneath, the springs fall off, then reinstall the nuts. Other than being hard to reach and dirty, it is really easy.
And mine is a diesel, so the rattle has never been a problem. If it were to be, that's what the radio volume knob is for. |
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Ford OEM gooseneck hitch...?
