B & W 18k Patriot hitch settings

Everyone is probly getting sick of my posts already for which I will apologize in advance for.

Bought the said hitch and took it out of the box and thought it was a simple thing to adjust from low to high. NOT. Wow, this thing has a multitude of adjustments. VERY impressed. Point is, I have no idea where to set it at to save time if you will before picking up new coach next weekend. Truck is a '15 F350,cc,4x4,sb, 18" tires. Coach is a BC 3560 SS. Never had a coach w/ radius/cut corners and old Reese 16k I think was positioned just ahead of axle. The B & W can be set so trailer is close to cab, lil ways back or further back from cab for kingpin location at whichever height you choose. With the Reese, I was at lowest setting, so I set this up in same manner, but not sure of distance back from cab or even if the height is right. Am thinking ahead before picking RV up cuz the hitch would have to come out, taken apart and re-done/torqued all over again.

What do you folks recommend? I know moving the kingpin forward will put more weight on steer axle (had 1,000 lb to spare with the Reese and old coach and 2100 lb pin wt). Really don't want to utilize the trial and error method.

I have a 18k B&W Companion Turnover ball hitch on my 2006 F-250. I had no problems with that hitch. I set it at the middle point then I could adjust it either up or down as needed. Actually it is pretty easy to adjust but you need a small box wrench to hold the nuts on the inside of the frame.

I now have a 2016 F-350 with a 20K B&W Companion Turnover ball hitch. I like it better than the older 18k. With my F-350 I had to have it dropped to the lowest position for my BH to ride lower. The F-350 bed is about 5" higher than my F-250.

You may have to adjust the pin box on the trailer to get it to pull level.

B&W is a great hitch but just watch out for the U-Bolts. The threads galled on my when I took the hitch out. Went back in with 5 Grade bolts and strap iron to replace the U-Bolts and it worked well for a number of years...

BC

I think we adjusted our B&W companion about 3 times! Sorry, cannot help with specifics, but last move was to move it towards the rear slightly, to allow room for trailer's basement door to raise when hitched.


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TravelTiger said:

I think we adjusted our B&W companion about 3 times! Sorry, cannot help with specifics, but last move was to move it towards the rear slightly, to allow room for trailer's basement door to raise when hitched.

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I had my 18k B&W and 20K B&W moved to the furthest point to the rear to get room between the back of the truck and the 5th wheel also..

BC

I am planning on ordering a B&W 18k Patriot this weekend as I am getting a new coach. I currently have a Reese hitch and my initial thought is to measure the current height of the Reese and set the B&W to the same height. I think this would at least be a good starting point then can adjust accordingly? Thoughts?


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On my 2012 F250 FX4 SB I set my B&W Companion all the way down and forward, the 5er I pulled was a 2013 Palomino Sabre with radius corners, had no problems




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pjones1969 said:

On my 2012 F250 FX4 SB I set my B&W Companion all the way down and forward, the 5er I pulled was a 2013 Palomino Sabre with radius corners, had no problems

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That is a great 5th wheel. Only thing I found is that you need to watch the U-Bolts. I had them on my 2006 F-250 and when I went to remove the hitch the U-Bolt threads stripped...
I ended up using 8 grade bolts and strap iron. The U-Bolts are special made for B&W.. Can't find them in the open market..

BC

Kbvols said:

I am planning on ordering a B&W 18k Patriot this weekend as I am getting a new coach. I currently have a Reese hitch and my initial thought is to measure the current height of the Reese and set the B&W to the same height. I think this would at least be a good starting point then can adjust accordingly? Thoughts?


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I thought this hitch was a simple "plug-n-play" and just had adjustments for low to high depending on what you wanted. Then when I opened box, saw it had something like 12 different settings to choose from----hence my post here. Think I'll let the dealer adjust it and if need be, play with it afterwards.

As for the question above, what I see on this hitch is that you can have at same level as the Reese, but can mount it as such that the kingpin/front of trailer will be close to cab or further back but not beyond center of axle. Think this is a really cool thing and had no idea about all the settings. Based on what I've heard and read about this hitch, it's a top notch one. Got mine from Tweety's.

Will advise what was done sometime next Sun or so as we are picking it up next Sat and won't be home until very late.

Thanks for all the replies. Feel like a kid in a candy store!!!

NYSUPstater said:

I thought this hitch was a simple "plug-n-play" and just had adjustments for low to high depending on what you wanted. Then when I opened box, saw it had something like 12 different settings to choose from----hence my post here. Think I'll let the dealer adjust it and if need be, play with it afterwards.

As for the question above, what I see on this hitch is that you can have at same level as the Reese, but can mount it as such that the kingpin/front of trailer will be close to cab or further back but not beyond center of axle. Think this is a really cool thing and had no idea about all the settings. Based on what I've heard and read about this hitch, it's a top notch one. Got mine from Tweety's.

Will advise what was done sometime next Sun or so as we are picking it up next Sat and won't be home until very late.

Thanks for all the replies. Feel like a kid in a candy store!!!

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You will find setting the back and forth front to back has very little effect on the front axle weight of the truck. Personally I would set it back if you have a SB and non slider model hitch. Diesel truck are pretty heavy on the front axle and weight on the rear axle has very little effect on the front. Even if you remove 150 lbs for the front axle, this will not effect handling that you will notice.

The old 2" in front of the axle started years ago with gas powered trucks which were much lighter on the front axle.

Chris

SNOKING said:

You will find setting the back and forth front to back has very little effect on the front axle weight of the truck. Personally I would set it back if you have a SB and non slider model hitch. Diesel truck are pretty heavy on the front axle and weight on the rear axle has very little effect on the front. Even if you remove 150 lbs for the front axle, this will not effect handling that you will notice.

The old 2" in front of the axle started years ago with gas powered trucks which were much lighter on the front axle.

Chris

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Chris

Do you have this particular hitch? If so how do you like it? I was planning on getting the slider although I currently have a slider and have never used.


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SNOKING said:

The old 2" in front of the axle started years ago with gas powered trucks which were much lighter on the front axle.

Chris

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My 2012 was a gas model, moved up to a diesel DRW last year, it has the factory puck system, stayed with the B&W, it's a great hitch IMO


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Kbvols,

I was sold a slider hitch with my '03 F250 sb,cc,4x4 and used it maybe 2-3 times in 11 years. Sold it to a tech at local dealer for a non slider Reese w/ 4 way swivel head (orig Reese was non swivel). Have I been very close to cab? Yes. Would I go back to a slider? No. Everyone has their reasons as to why, but IMO, one should not get themselves in such a position to begin with. I figure that's what "D" is for on gearshift lever. If you have to jockey things a few times, so be it. Cannot understand why one would want to be at a 90* angle in the 1st place. Kinda goes back to my college days at a Ag & Tech college. One class I took had us backing up a tractor w/ a trailer. Course I would stomp on either the right or left brake while backing to aid in turning the front of the tractor. Instructor came over and told me NOT to do that. Pull ahead if you have to, but do NOT stomp on the brakes for that causes a lot of stress to front end even with wheels turned. So after that, I seldom did and same goes w/ my semi. Pull ahead to get a better angle or to avoid the preverbal "jacknife".

As I mentioned above,I've never had a coach w/ radius or cut bottom corners as mfrs are doing this on account of many RVers towing w/ short box trucks. Am guessing too this will allow for a non slider hitch to make a sharper turn and not make contact w/ back window. Still not a good idea to get in that predicament in the 1st place. Course being a wise azz that I am, drop in 4 low (if 4x4) and use front bumper to push whoever is in front of you out of the way to make room for yourself.

****UPDATE****

So we picked up our new BC 3560 SS yesterday, and thought dealer would adjust it. Seems they would only adjust it if it was too close to either cab or top of box rails. Ends up that as I had it adjusted already in lowest and forward most setting and the results are:

-- Had at least 9"-10" clearance between box rails and bottom of coach! Holy mackerel!!
-- PLENTY of clearance between cab and front of coach and no problem w/ tight turns (tighter than I've made in past w/ old coach).
-- No "looseness" w/ pin, chucking etc. Had 5th Airborne pinbox installed by dealer, so that helped here.
-- RV has flat front end (front compartment door), so was unable to keep my mudflap attached to receiver as it would've nailed front of RV while turning. Removed and tossed in back of truck.
-- Pinbox is as high as it will go frame, so it cannot be raised to lower the front anymore.
-- Tailgate is wicked close compartment door and almost a 2 person job to hook up if done at an angle. PITA to get into box to hook things up so to speak.
-- Kinda weird having to partially "open" the jaws to hook up, but is rock solid when it does latch. Darn high truck, need a 5 gallon pail to stand on to reach the handle/safety pin.

Don't think I'll move it back any cuz it rode very well (tho empty) and only added 100 lbs to front axle. Will re-weigh it this Wed after we get it all set for this upcoming w/e outing.

NYSUPstater said:

So w
-- Kinda weird having to partially "open" the jaws to hook up, but is rock solid when it does latch. Darn high truck, need a 5 gallon pail to stand on to reach the handle/safety.

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Rich uses this:


Alltrade 647596 Truck Tire Service Step, Fits up to 13-Inch Deep Tires https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002Q8TWI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_9MJizbVN0W35Y


But get some type of self stick rubber to keep the arm of the step from scratching the wheel.