Hitch and Air Bag Install

[nfa1eab]

Alright guys and gals. I normally do everything I can to prevent other people from working on my stuff. I usually do all maintenance work my self unless warranty work. I even rotate tires that I know the dealership willl do because I don't trust them. Anyway. Buying a new Road Warrior toy hauler this week and decided to let "professionals" do my hitch and airbag install. Bad idea jeans on that one!
Passenger airbag installed incorrectly and looked like the Michelin man bending over for a bar of soap! Driver side and schroeder valves not tightened down. Then I checked the hitch.

Reese Elite 18k with under bed puck bracket installation. Not a cheap option. Handle on the hitch installed upside down. They removed my Roll Back2 bed cover and bed liner. I find nuts and fender washers rolling around in the bed. The stop bar to prevent the top from rolling back too far installed upside down. The hitch latching handle is installed upside down and one side of the hitch is loose and I can't move the levers on the other side. OK, so I am correcting all of this because I am not a moron and am very concerned about pulling 18k pounds down the highway with my family inside. What does does a normal person (that is not mechanically inclined, or not have the tools) do???
Why can't you go to a business that specializes in these installs and get good work?
Every time I have tried this in the last 10 years, I get the same result. Something I paid good money for, botched to the extent I could strangle them all and have to redo myself. I think I have finally learned my lesson. IF YOU WANT IT DONE RIGHT! DO IT YOURSELF! EVEN IF IT'S A PA IN IN THE ***!
Ok, done ranting.
Looking forward to getting my Road Warrior and never letting anyone else touch it, if I can.

 

[jmgratz]

Alright guys and gals. I normally do everything I can to prevent other people from working on my stuff. I usually do all maintenance work my self unless warranty work. I even rotate tires that I know the dealership willl do because I don't trust them. Anyway. Buying a new Road Warrior toy hauler this week and decided to let "professionals" do my hitch and airbag install. Bad idea jeans on that one!
Passenger airbag installed incorrectly and looked like the Michelin man bending over for a bar of soap! Driver side and schroeder valves not tightened down. Then I checked the hitch.

Reese Elite 18k with under bed puck bracket installation. Not a cheap option. Handle on the hitch installed upside down. They removed my Roll Back2 bed cover and bed liner. I find nuts and fender washers rolling around in the bed. The stop bar to prevent the top from rolling back too far installed upside down. The hitch latching handle is installed upside down and one side of the hitch is loose and I can't move the levers on the other side. OK, so I am correcting all of this because I am not a moron and am very concerned about pulling 18k pounds down the highway with my family inside. What does does a normal person (that is not mechanically inclined, or not have the tools) do???
Why can't you go to a business that specializes in these installs and get good work?
Every time I have tried this in the last 10 years, I get the same result. Something I paid good money for, botched to the extent I could strangle them all and have to redo myself. I think I have finally learned my lesson. IF YOU WANT IT DONE RIGHT! DO IT YOURSELF! EVEN IF IT'S A PA IN IN THE ***!
Ok, done ranting.
Looking forward to getting my Road Warrior and never letting anyone else touch it, if I can.

We had a similar problem when we had our hitch installed 3 years ago. They bolted the rails to the bed and not the frame and then forgot to put the pins in the hitch that secure it to the rails. Luckily I found it before I tried to tow. Ended up going to another place and paying for the install again. I let the Ford dealer know how unhappy I was. You just cant get good help nowadays.

 

[GOTTOYS]

I feel your pain!. Brought my new Silverado into a shop last Winter to have the custom mounts and bed rails installed. It was cold out and the truck won't fit in my garage. When I picked it up the tonneau cover was closed and a quick peek made it look like all was well. I drove off. The next day when I unrolled the tonneau to look it over, I discovered the floor of the box had several foot long scratches, the center bolts for the rails weren't installed and one of the other bolts was loose. A quick phone call later and the next day day I drove back to the shop (20 miles) and they installed the missing bolts saying they don't normally use them unless it's a slider hitch. The loose bolt, they claimed they tightened, later I found it still loose, and offered no excuse for the big scratches, only that they would give me "a deal" on getting a spray in bedliner if I came back in the Spring after my trip south for the Winter. I seldom use the truck to haul anything and debated about having the bedliner sprayed before I got the hitch installed. Now I have to remove everything to have it done correctly so the scratches can be covered. I won't be going back to Toppers and More in South St. Paul, MN. for sure....Don

 

[nfa1eab]

Well, after two hours of disassembling the hitch and reinstalling, following the instructions, adjusting and lubing correctly, the hitch is in shape to actually attach a trailer. Quick question. This is an 18k Reese Elite hitch in a 2015 Ford F250 Diesel. I am going to be pulling a Road Warrior 305RW. Any suggestions for which hole height to install the hitch plate in. If I can have that set, no one will have to mess with any thing when I pick up the trailer. Not that I don't trust them???

 

[BBslider001]

And this is why I never ever ever let anyone touch my truck if I can do the work myself, which is almost always. Even when I got a brand new transmission installed last Fall, I sat there and watched everything the guy did down to the last bolt. Even with me watching, he almost put too much fluid in it!Now I know how to remove and reinstall myself if I ever need to. I trust they guy, but still, not really.

 

[nfa1eab]

Well, brought the new Road Warrior home today. Nothing but good things to say about Chilhowee RV Center near Knoxville, TN. The combination of the 2015 F250 Diesel, Reese Elite 18k hitch, and Reese Fifth Airborne Sidewinder Pin box worked fantastic. I have Firestone air bags, but only put 11 psi in them. Thanks to Chris Ferguson who went to bat for me with Heartland for a tire upgrade from the junk Tow Max tires to Goodyear G614's. Rig towed like a dream. The Pin box made for a really smooth and stable ride, and no jarring movements. Could not be happier. From Alicia in the business office, who made the hard part pretty quick and simple to Wayne the service manager, to Zeke who prepped the trailer, and was very professional, with great attention to detail, and explained all operations and systems thoroughly. Heading for Sturgis in a couple of days to run her through a good shakedown. Chilhowee is not a big dealership, but I really enjoyed the purchase, prep, and delivery process. Good, genuine, hard working people that represent Heartland very well. Give them a look if you are in the market.

Sent from my SM-T900 using Tapatalk

 

[myla296]

My rant...an overly helpful service person was trying to accommodate me with an automatic sliding mechanism by using an adapter for the B&W turn over...and low and behold, they didn't think to check the placement of the B&W first...which was placed over the axle rather than by the directions (directions: 45.5", actual: 40"). So, once they drilled their holes for the adapter...they realized their error and OMG. The techs should have known as well but, didn't. And now I have learned that I may not have even needed sliding at all due to it's placement over the axle, and could just pop in the standard companion B&W hitch. So, here is my Swiss cheese truck bed, just to make you feel a tiny bit better, enjoy

 

[farside291]

I got one better, bought my first trailer, the dealership installed the sway bar and I go to check the sway bar and it was installed completely retracted. So I asked installer about it. I asked how am I going to make a right turn? He says you don't make a right hand turn you can only turn left out of the lot. I went and got the boss, what an idiot and 4 extra holes in the hitch.