question for ford factory 5th wheel prep people

[IronJ]

so I have the factory 5th wheel prep with the 4 lil "pucks"....I have been using the b&w companion mount and today when I was loading it for a trip I noticed that one of the cams that lock the hitch in place had somewhat rotated.....only about 1/8 of a turn but NOTICABLY rotated.... (ie the cam should be 90 degrees to the slot once engaged and locked.

this really bugged me so I decided to take it apart and see how it it was secured.....

basically the cam portion is a nut that is screwed on and then has a roll pin pushed in to secure it by "friction" to the bolt....

I realize that once under load the force is on the threads and cam and not on the pin, but if it rotates enough it will come out of the slot......

has anyone else with the ford factory hitch and b&w had any issues?

I straightened the bolt and secured the pin better.....it was very solid so I feel its fine for this trip....but the continual rotation for locking and removal kinda bothers me and now I'm sure ill have to roll under the truck and check the thing every dang time for my own sanity.....

I think the cam should have the pin all the way THROUGH the bolt to secure it.....not just with a pin wedged against the threads?

any feedback appreciated!

 

[Bones]

so I have the factory 5th wheel prep with the 4 lil "pucks"....I have been using the b&w companion mount and today when I was loading it for a trip I noticed that one of the cams that lock the hitch in place had somewhat rotated.....only about 1/8 of a turn but NOTICABLY rotated.... (ie the cam should be 90 degrees to the slot once engaged and locked.

this really bugged me so I decided to take it apart and see how it it was secured.....

basically the cam portion is a nut that is screwed on and then has a roll pin pushed in to secure it by "friction" to the bolt....

I realize that once under load the force is on the threads and cam and not on the pin, but if it rotates enough it will come out of the slot......

has anyone else with the ford factory hitch and b&w had any issues?

I straightened the bolt and secured the pin better.....it was very solid so I feel its fine for this trip....but the continual rotation for locking and removal kinda bothers me and now I'm sure ill have to roll under the truck and check the thing every dang time for my own sanity.....

I think the cam should have the pin all the way THROUGH the bolt to secure it.....not just with a pin wedged against the threads?

any feedback appreciated!

I have the pucks in the ram and I think they are similar. I know it took me some time to make sure they were adjusted correctly. I can't see mine once I have the hitch locked into position and as long as the came bars are locked they should stay that way. I know when I adjusted them it has a cotter pin that goes through the locking arm to keep it in position and keep the cam locked. Maybe on of the jamb nuts are loose and allowing slack.

 

[Jim-Lynn]

so I have the factory 5th wheel prep with the 4 lil "pucks"....I have been using the b&w companion mount and today when I was loading it for a trip I noticed that one of the cams that lock the hitch in place had somewhat rotated.....only about 1/8 of a turn but NOTICABLY rotated.... (ie the cam should be 90 degrees to the slot once engaged and locked.

this really bugged me so I decided to take it apart and see how it it was secured.....

basically the cam portion is a nut that is screwed on and then has a roll pin pushed in to secure it by "friction" to the bolt....

I realize that once under load the force is on the threads and cam and not on the pin, but if it rotates enough it will come out of the slot......

has anyone else with the ford factory hitch and b&w had any issues?

I straightened the bolt and secured the pin better.....it was very solid so I feel its fine for this trip....but the continual rotation for locking and removal kinda bothers me and now I'm sure ill have to roll under the truck and check the thing every dang time for my own sanity.....

I think the cam should have the pin all the way THROUGH the bolt to secure it.....not just with a pin wedged against the threads?

any feedback appreciated!

I have the same truck & the companion 5th wheel. No I have to adjust 2 or 3 of the bolts a few times per year, every year. I just pull the pin, make the adjustment, re secure the pin and now they are tighter when mounted to the truck. To be honest with you I have never looked under the bed of the truck, as I have had no reason and it pulls our trailer like a dream.
I hope this may help you.

Jim

 

[IronJ]

There is a cotter pin on the top adjusting nut yes. Then there is a pressed roll pin through the lower cam part that goes in the puck holes. .

Those roll pins don't go all the way through though! ! It's actually 2 pins jammed in against the threads to keep the cam from turning when you lock the arms...

I adjusted mine as per the specs to have a slight resistance when I locked the cams....

I only noticed because when I had the arms locked in position with the hitch out of the truck ONE of the cams was NOT at 90 degrees to the handle postion...

I thought it was weird so I put a wrench on the cam and it turned back into position WAY to easy for my comfort....

I too thought the pin went through and it must be broken...so I removed the cam to find the pins DO NOT go through...

Evidentally they backed out or were loose from the factory.

So I drilled em out and reassembled it with new pins and LOCKTIGHT!!!

so far it's fine, but I can see the cams from under my truck, so I'll be checking them religiously for a while....

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[RoadJunkie]

Nope, no problems with my Ford/B&W cam locking alignment.

 

[IronJ]

And yes...my truck pulls the trailer like a beast....and with the recent suspension mods I haven't even needed to air the bags

(Once I get a this long 6hr drive under my belt I'll post more on that later)..

I love the companion setup ...the base is 3x lighter than the companion base for the turnover ball...

I can easily toss it in and out of the truck by myself...

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[MTPockets]

Mine has worked flawlessly. Instructions do say to grease the cams.

 

[1adam12]

I just bought a 2015 F-250 with the puck system and had to buy the adapter for my existing Reece 5th wheel. What I did notice is that, it is imperative that the adjustments are made when the levers are at 90 degrees to the holes in the bed. That way, when you make the adjustment and re-install the pin in the bolt/nut, you know that the bottom part is turning a full 90 degrees when in the locked position. Mine works perfect.

 

[SNOKING]

So, you are saying the T tabs are positioned with a lock nut and not indexed somehow to the bolt? Maybe there is a missing step. Once adjusted correctly and worn in a bit and re-verified, why not drill the roll pin hole through all the way and pin it with a new roll pin.

The T tabs on my Demco picture frame latches for my RAM pucks are indexed to the arms with two flat spots, and held in place by Nylocks. Adjustment is with shim washers up top. Very robust setup. Chris

 

[1adam12]

I hope I can explain this so that it makes sense - my square adapter has of course 4 T bolts that goes into the puck system. Each have a threaded collar that I had to assemble into the frame with a large nut that holds the collar. Then the T bolt slides through the collar which then threads into the locking arms that turn 90 degrees to lock or unlock the system. Each of these arms have a welded castle nut on them. The T bolt has a hole in the end that allows you to put a pin through the notches of the castle nut locking the arm to the T bolt. The adjustments are made incrementally in the notches of the castle nut. My system does not have Nylocks or any shims.

If this doesn't make sense, I can take a picture of my system if someone needs it. It's sort of hard to explain.

 

[JWalker]

I am using the Reese adapter for my Ram puck system. It took quite awhile to get it set up.

 

[1adam12]

Hmmm...that's weird. Must be a difference in the systems. Mine out of the box is less than 30 minutes to have locked in the truck and then all there is left to do is pin my slider hitch to it...just a couple of minutes.

 

[Bones]

Hmmm...that's weird. Must be a difference in the systems. Mine out of the box is less than 30 minutes to have locked in the truck and then all there is left to do is pin my slider hitch to it...just a couple of minutes.

It takes some time because you are only suppose to have a certain amount of play when you lift up on the assembly. It may lock in place but could still have up and down play in it. Mine did and I spent some time adjusting it to eliminate the play.

 

[JWalker]

It takes some time because you are only suppose to have a certain amount of play when you lift up on the assembly. It may lock in place but could still have up and down play in it. Mine did and I spent some time adjusting it to eliminate the play.

Same here.

 

[1adam12]

Understand. I guess I lucked up and had mine pretty close the first time I installed. I only had to do minor adjustments. All 4 points of mine are now adjusted so that when they are in the locked position, the arms are snug due to the locking T under the bed fitting tight.

 

[IronJ]

I know on my B&W it fit ok at first but after a trip I noticed the handles were not snug anymore....so I pulled pins and tightened the castle nut....

And now after my last trip another one is somewhat slack...

Not sure if it's normal ...I noticed the washers above and below the Handel are/were curved...maybe they are flattening with the tow..

sent from space via an invisible beam from a flying metal dish

 

[gary.chelette.5]

Had a Curt hitch for the Ford system come apart last November and sheared off two of the pucks. Then the rest bent until it came out. Of course they said installer error and didn't both to contact me. Found out the installer got the report and never contact me. So next step is to deal with them to see if they are going to pay for all the repairs and replace the hitch.
Make sure it's adjusted correctly and don't trust anyone at the shops installing.. check for yourself that it's correct.

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