Installing Gooseneck Hitch - 2024 F250

[CNC Molds N Stuff]

I've got a few trailers to move and a fair amount of stuff to haul.  You may have seen some of the trucks I hauled with my old truck.



Well, the new F250 didn't come with a hitch setup, so I needed to get one installed.  I was just going to pay somebody to install it for me.  I talked to three local businesses who do that sort of thing.  The first was quite nice, and completely unavailable.  They are retired and work part time when they aren't snow birding it up in Idaho for the summer.  It's still going to be a while before they get back to Yuma.  The second gave me irrelevant and misleading information, tried to gaslight me about what they had said made me feel uncomfortable with them if there was a problem.  The third made me more uncomfortable.  They wanted a cash deposit for a job slot 13 weeks out which was not something I've experienced for an "automotive" type shop, but what really made me uncomfortable was when the owner said they might have to lift the bed to install the hitch.  I didn't call him a liar, but I can say that since you are supposed to lift the hitch up against the bottom of the bed for assembly it seemed he was either snowing me to juice up the job, or he didn't really know how to install that hitch.  I would note I didn't try to negotiate with any of these shops.  In two cases I never even got to a ballpark price, and the one that gave me a price started backpedaling when I was ready to set a time.


How do you do this with the bed tilted up or removed? Yeah, bull!

I get so frustrated.  All my life I have done jobs myself.  Growing up working in a family grocery store 60 miles from town we learned to do for ourselves because generally we just couldn't get anybody to come out and do any work for us.  Plumbing, electrical, refrigeration, construction, automotive.  We did it ourselves because we had to.  As a young adult I couldn't afford to pay somebody to do my own jobs, so I did it myself because it was the only way to get it done.  Later in my business career I did hire out work and often it was not done as well as I would do it myself in spite of paying their asking price to do the job.   I'd say 50% of pros didn't give me a pro job.  Tire shops, plumbers, and auto mechanics come to mind.  Still, I paid because it was mostly more efficient for me to make my going rate doing my job instead of stopping working to do the job I paid them to do.  Now as I get a little older I find that I have the money to just pay somebody, but often I can't find somebody I really trust.  I wind up doing it myself because I don't really have any choice again.

So... I bought a B&W underbed turnover ball gooseneck hitch, and the fifth wheel companion to go with it.  I had rails in my last truck, and while it was easy to install and remove whatever hitch I needed the rails were always in the bed.  With the underbed turnover ball hitch nothing sticks up above the bed when the hitch is not needed.

My son came over to help me install it, and he pretty much took over.  I was HIS helper.  LOL.  We got a hole drilled in the bed, and we got it all assembled before he had to go.  I needed to go back through and torque all the bolts.  I did that next day.   I picked up a new creeper, a bigger torque wrench, and some torque sticks.  My old torque wrench topped out at 150 ft/lbs which was the torque spec for the heavier hardware on the new hitch.  I wasn't comfortable maxing out my wrench.  The torque sticks were "just in case."


Okay, I'm getting old. This makes the job easier.

[CNC Molds N Stuff]

I successfully torqued one bolt to 150 ft/lbs.  I never heard the second one click over the sound of me yelling when the socket popped off the nut and I smacked my hand on something under the truck.


The bad part about injuring yourself while working it getting blood all over your work. Since I was mostly working overhead I only got drops of blood on my face.

I'm not a big fan of torque sticks.  They only seem to work moderately accurately with some impacts.  I have heard that with the fast battery operated fast action compact impacts they tend to way over torque.  I was using my big old Ingersol Rand (from when IR was still okay) 1/2 inch impact.  They might have over torqued some, but this isn't critical to be exact like head bolts or modern wheel lugs.  I was able to get on everything with the torque sticks, a stubby wobble extension, and deep impact sockets.  FYI:  Supposedly you can use regular sockets when you are using torque sticks.  My best guess as to how they work is they are varying thickness, and the twist of the shaft absorbs most of the hammer blow limiting the amount of torque applied to the nut or bolt you are torquing.  Thinner ones twist and absorb more.  Thicker ones transfer more.  In any case I got it all torqued down.

[CNC Molds N Stuff]

Then I installed the release handle.  That was kind of tricky.  It bolts on right above a mounting bracket with multiple connectors mounted to it.  Not a lot of room to work, but it's on.  It's kind of a neat setup.  You pull the handle out and move it towards the front of the truck and a cross pin that secures the hitch ball is retracted so you can turn over the turnover ball.  Then you release the handle, and it locks it in place.  The handle sticks out in the wheel well of the truck between the bed and the frame.  I think I might go back and put some heavy shrink tube around the handle to reduce rattling and rubbing on the frame.




Because the gooseneck ball is retained in the hitch you are unlikely to lose it, and when not in use its stored ball down so it's not in the way for regular loads in the pickup bed.  I'm not sure yet how that will work with the companion fifth wheel hitch, but I'll figure that out when I get to it.

[CNC Molds N Stuff]

I may put a cover in the hitch ball hole and keep the ball under the seat of the truck anyway.  I haven't decided just yet.

I still need to install the safety chain loops.  I may change the gooseneck trailer to a fifth wheel hitch instead.  As near as I can tell gooseneck trailers require safety chains in all fifty states, but fifth wheel trailers do not.  On the other hand if I do I'll have to lift that heavy fifth wheel adapter into the truck anytime I need to use the former gooseneck trailer.  Turning the ball over is a lot less work than loading and unloading the fifth wheel hitch in the bed of the truck.

I also need to install the pigtail plug in the bed, but that's pretty easy.  I just need to decide where I want to drill another hole in the inside of the truck bed.

[CNC Molds N Stuff]

****** ALL DONE ****** (10/16/2024)

Finished it up with a grinder. Many years ago, when a group I read online was thick with masters of all, I was a bit taken aback by all the folks who would say, "I just freehand sharpen drills with a grinder." Well, now I just sharpen drills with a grinder. Today I had to drill four holes in the bed of the new truck for spring loaded chain loops. The only 11/16 drill bit I found looked like it had a poor shallow grind for wallowing its way through steel truck frames... In fact I think that's what it was last use for, and I'm sure I was the one who put that grind on it. I walked it over to the grinder and put a sharp aggressive three facet grind (6 if you want to be technical) on it for aluminum and punched the holes I needed right through the stiffener and bed of the truck. (There were already holes in the steel under bed goose neck ball hitch plate.

After that it was just the usual fat guy trying to work under a truck to get the springs and nuts on the under side of the chain loops.

All finished up. Next project electric running boards so my wife can get in and out of the truck safely without my having to run around the truck with a step stool. Yeah, I keep a step stool in the bed right now.

I keep telling myself I'll get some nice CBN wheels for one of the grinders so I can sharpen lathe bits, drills, and even split points all on one machine and I still haven't completely worn out a set of the cheap grey stones they come with. I probably should dress them more often though.

Anyway now, "I just free hand sharpen drills on the grinder." It's not even very hard once you've done a few. 3/16 and up is pretty easy. I have sharpened smaller by swinging a magnifying lamp over the grinder, but the smaller drills are so cheap I just buy them in batches.

[Flat Baits]

Thanks for posting.  Don't have a need for a gooseneck right now, but I am thinking about installing a fifth wheel in my truck.  I was just going to go with the rails, but I like the low profile of the reverseable gooseneck. 

How much was the whole package?  It might be worth going this way not to have rails in the bed of my truck. 

How long did it take to install? 

I'd like to see the fifth wheel companion when you set it up and install it.

[CNC Molds N Stuff]

Bought everything from eTrailer. 

$699 Gooseneck made for my truck with truck specific instructions.
$1099 Fifth wheel companion. 
$71.71 Hopkins 7 pole plug kit for in bed. 
$125.49 Tax
$00.00 Free Shipping
1995.20 Total

I might get the Curt instead of the Hopkins plug kit next time.  They have some sort of insert that isolates the screws from the aluminum bed if I recall. 

The fifth wheel companion is over kill and pretty heavy for a "removable" hitch.  There  are other cheaper, lighter less expensive fifth wheels designed to attach to a gooseneck hitch.  The Companion is rated for more weight than my truck is rated to tow, so I would have definitely looked at the other lighter options if I had known about them before I made my purchase. 

My son drilled the bed and installed most of the hitch one day with me acting as his helper.  I think that part took about three hours.  The next day I torqued all the bolts.  That maybe an hour.  Mostly because I tried to torque them by hand at first.  Once I switched over to the torque sticks it went fast.  Maybe 10-15 minutes total.  The third day I installed the plug and the chain loops.  Maybe 2 hours total, and part of that was finding and sharpening my one 11/16 drill bit.  I also spent a lot of time stressing over shooting screws in the bed to mount the plug socket.  I guess 6 hours, but if I was ready and had to do it again I think I could do it in 4-5.  eTrailer says it should take 4-5 hours to install. 

Sure, I'll post a picture in and out of the truck after I set it up.  I was thinking about doing that this afternoon.  Its breezy and not to hot today.  I was also thinking about chasing some quail out in the desert later this afternoon.  Today is opening day of quail season.