To see if this custom-fit item will work for you please tell us what vehicle you'll use it with.
This hitch is made for serious towing. With a gross towing weight rating of 25,000 lbs and a vertical load limit of 6,250 lbs, it’s built from sturdy steel and finished in a durable carbide powder coat to handle tough hauls. Whether you’re pulling long miles or loaded heavy, the solid build gives you that rock-steady feeling every time you hitch up.
The interlocking 2-jaw system wraps fully around the king pin for 360-degree contact. That design keeps the connection tight and cuts down on rattle compared to slide-bar models. It’s quieter, smoother, and feels locked in when you pull away—just the kind of connection that gives you confidence towing big fifth wheels down the highway.


Curt’s color-coded indicator tells you exactly what position the jaws are in—red for uncoupled, yellow for ready to couple, and green for locked in and ready to tow. The indicator is easy to see from the cab or the side of the bed, so you can double-check at a glance before hitting the road. The handle is lockable with a padlock (sold separately) and resets itself after you unhook, so it’s ready for the next trip.

The torsion head moves with your trailer for controlled coupling and a stable, quiet ride. By suppressing road shock and reducing towing noise, it helps keep things steady on uneven pavement or long stretches of interstate. Paired with the included plastic lube plate, hookup stays smooth and consistent every time.
When it’s time to clear out your bed space, just pull one pin and lift off the head—no extra tools needed. The fast one-pin head removal makes it easier for one person to handle without special equipment. With 4" of height adjustment built in, you can also fine-tune your setup between 13" and 17" for proper trailer leveling before you hit the road again.
Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Hello, everybody. This is Jeff at etrailer.com. Today we're gonna take a look at the CURT Universal Carbide Black Finish Fifth Wheel Base Rails. Now, these base rails will install in your truck bed. And they provide the necessary attachment points for your fifth wheel hitch installation. Now, when these rails are used with the CURT's Custom Mounting Brackets, which we sell separate on a website, these rails will cut in half the time it takes to install your fifth wheel trailer hitch.
We mentioned the finish on this. I'm gonna zoom in and sort of show it. It's a carbide black finish, sort of like a matte black finish, so it matches the finish if you use it on the CURT Q5 20K Fifth Wheel Hitch. Now, these rails are universal, so they will work with the following fifth wheel hitches. They work with the CURT brand, the Draw-Tite, the Hidden Hitch, the Reese, and even the Husky.
This part here will include the two base rails. Now, we mentioned the mounting brackets, the custom mounting brackets, the hardware, and an installation kit is all sold separately. The length on these rails, if we put a tape measure on them from one end to the other, right at 43 inches long. But that should do it for the review on the CURT Universal Carbide Black Finish Fifth Wheel Base Rails.
Ratings & Reviews
I ordered the hitch mount for a 2003 F250. When I received it the instructions said it doesn’t fit some 2003 models. Had I known this I wouldn’t have bought it. I had to drill several holes to make it fit and it was missing some hardware. It is not coming back off but I’m less than happy with the misinformation.
My 5th wheel package was robbed during shipping.
When I received it, the box had obviously been opened and then taped shut.
When I opened it, the base of the 5th wheel hitch was gone!
I called etrailer's customer support and they were amazing.
I sent pictures of the package I took before and after I opened the package.
The customer support rep said that was all I needed to do.
And they shipped a new base two days later.
I just received the base of the hitch.
I am extremely happy that etrailer's customer support was so responsive when I had a serious problem!
Thank you etrailer customer support!
This is the fourth time I've installed a 5th wheel kit on any of my trucks,i have done this many time. This time I went with three Curt 16443 5th wheel brackets. Poor instructions, I could have bought a different kit with better instructions for significantly less. Buy the universal 5th wheel kit from your local autoparts store.
Also, this kit only uses TWO grade 5 bolts to secure each bracket to the frame whereas the universal kit uses two bolts per bracket (four brackets total), nor can I seem to find an install video. Overall, I am not happy.
Product came without any hardware. Box was undamaged ,just no hardware with it.
I called customer service .They were very helpful and had the appropriate hardware sent out.
A week later the hardware package showed up and installation was straight forward. I started on the passenger side as that is the easiest because the drivers side has brake cables that must be disconnected .My truck is a dually so I jacked it up ,used jack stands,wheel chocks, and removed the wheels. This proved to make the installation much easier. Installation time 4 hours . Took my time. Had to drill a couple of holes for the front bolts to the frame but I am very satisfied . Took off one star for the bolts being missed. Etrailer is great .
I ordered this for my 2004 Ford F250 Super Duty. Shipping was fast and arrived in good condition. Installation was straight forward and works perfect for the multiple 5th wheel hitches I’ve used it for. Would buy here again if I ever need anything else. Also, the price was the same or cheaper than elsewhere and the detailed and helpful website was the deciding factor why I purchased here.
Bought these rails for my 5th wheel trail hitch and they out performed my expectations, they lined up with the factory holes in the truck frame and bolted right in and plus they held up to the few time I had to lock up my brakes when I was cut off. For sure i thought I would lose my rig with with the hitch breaking away or the rails giving out but they performed like they're supposed to do. I highly recommend them and more so cause of the great price. Can't be beat!!
Took me a month, but I finally got the Curt A25 fifth wheel hitch in my truck and took it for nearly 150 mile trip to see how it would work. My wife and I both were amazed at how quiet and the bouncing, snapping, popping and cussing were all gone. This hitch is absolutely amazing. Before, when I just pulled out of my driveway, the old fifth wheel would snap and pop loudly several times. It was so quiet with the Curt A25 (new one), both of us looked at each other and looked back to see if the trailer was moving with us. (It was) Thank you to Curt for building it so well and to all of the people at etrailer that recommended it and ensuring it was all right.
I have pulled a 16,000 lbs 5th wheel over 13,000 miles with this hitch and no issues. It arrived with the package damaged and the handle bent. Etrailer quickly replaced the part. The base will rust if not covered. If you remain hooked up for an over night stay, you will need to lower your jacks to stabilize and prevent rocking do to the hitch’s design. Great product.
One year removed from installation at this point. Installation went as well as could be expected, as my truck had 350,000 miles and 23 years in service at the time of installation. Compounding the situation was a very thick spray-in bedliner and a pretty severe bow in the bed from a dropped load. I had to leave out a few of the rail spacers on account of the aforementioned handicaps. I'll report that with some careful, coordinated bolt tightening, after all items were in place, I have 2 heavy, high quality 5th-wheel rails that work well. I'm in the salt belt, (the truck is from Phoenix), so I re-painted everything that was exposed and it's held up well so far. I'd recommend for other customers, both the product and the store. etrailer is great and so is Curt - this is my second Curt product from etrailer and both were great experiences all-around.
Easy to install, rebuilt the truck bed the 5th wheel camper was rear ended and destroyed the old hitch.
Great price for a decent product. I would have given 5 stars but the instructions are crapy. If your thinking of getting this kit and your a do it your self-kind of person. The 60 minutes install won't work. I spent 4 hours on mine. I was missing one lock washer I think even though it's not called out in the picture. Lay out all your fasteners first! There are two spacer/washers that are thinner than the rest. Make sure you get them in the proper location. The brake fasteners go between the plate and frame. From the instruction, it looks like they pass through the frame. They don't so I will need to remove the left plate to get that right. Other than that it's a great product that could use a better instruction sheet.
I HAVEN'T HAD ONE PROBLEM WITH MY HITCH. I bought it about a year ago. I arrived sooner than I was told it would and it is still in the box. I never opened it or installed it. But I do plan to.
Customer service for product selection and order entry were excellent and focused on my interests and needs. The hitch, custom installation kit, and harness were shipped very quickly and arrived sooner than expected. Everything arrived in excellent condition. Assembly and installation instructions were very clear and specific, and I was able to assemble and install everything with no problems and in a very reasonable amount of time. Total cost was roughly half of what it would have been if I had purchased the products and had them installed by a dealer. I am very satisfied with my experience dealing with etrailer.com, and would highly recommend them to anyone shopping for towing products.
Amazing product. Perfect fit. Great pri ce.
Installation of the Curt C16443-204 custom rail kit was a snap on my 2000 F350 dually. The instructions were pretty generic but not to hard to figure out. Once in place it was easy to line line everything up to fit the hitch in and tighten everything down.
Only pulled camper for 20 miles so far, but hitch seemed to work great! Very easy to install and put together. Took about 3-4 hrs start to finish.
It is well built. Directions could have better illustrations. Putting handle together was the most difficult part of process. It dropped right into my existing rails. Have not hooked my fifth wheel yet, but very satisfied with the finished product.
Ive been using this fifth wheel set up for about 5 months now and I don't have any complaints. I pull a 2022 Heartland Cyclone 4006 toyhauler fifth wheel. Loaded down its usually weighing between 18 to 20,000 lbs depending on what we are hauling.
Easy to order from etrailer with fast shipping. Ordered on Mon estimated delivery on Fri but came in only 2 days for a deliver Wed. Curt A25 hitch packaged very well good instruction easy assembly on tailgate filling installed and torqued in less that 30 mins.
Ordering from etrailer was a great decision! I got a confirmation email for my order within minutes and an email it had shipped in just a few hours. I was given an expected delivery date and it actually showed up a day early. I’m super impressed with the customer service! I bought a fifth wheel hitch and found an [online] video for my truck and hitch that was extremely helpful, especially since all the RV dealers in the area were two months out to install it. All in all dealing with etrailer has been a great experience and I will definitely be going back for any of my other RV needs!
My wife and I installed this in 3 hrs. We are in our mid 70’s. We had access to a 2 post lift which made this much easier as we could raise and lower the truck as needed for access. Although some say the instructions were vague I had no problem, just read them through first and begin. As the instructions stated some vehicles may have some differences as we found that the hole for the front driver side bolt needed to be drilled into the frame. After the bracket was mounted we just used the existing hole in the bracket as a guide. We previously installed an AIR LIFT AL59393 kit and it works great with this rail kit. We did our research to be sure they worked together. If you want to be sure about compatibility call etrailer and talk to one of the experts.
Very solid and well built. Installation took me longer than advertised. The instructions were a little vague, but I figured it out. A few extra carriage bolts and flange nuts would have been nice. All in all, everything lined up perfectly when I measured carefully as outlined in the instructions. I towed with it yesterday for the first time, and it worked great!
Thanks Etrailer for great customer service and quick delivery. Received my rail kit in time to install for my weekend trip. Michelle s. Was very helpful in getting me the right part and at a great price.
Thanks"
Walter,r
Super fast shipping! Many thanks!
Normally I'm pleased with Curt hardware/equipment, but this time I'm not as impressed. This 5th wheel rail and mount kit was supposedly designed for my 2002 F250, however the mounts that bolt to the frame didn't fit properly. I had to ream out the factory holes in the frame to allow the front bolts to secure the mount to the frame, and I had to ream out two of the holes in the mount to allow the rear rail bolts to work. Also there is a hole in the center of the mount as well as a corresponding hole in the frame that could be used to provide a 3rd securing bolt for the mount to the frame, however the frame is designed with a concave portion the and the mount is flat. A spacer could be used to fill the gap, or the mount could have been designed to better forth the frame in this section. As it is, there are only 2 bolts per mount securing it to the frame. When I have time I'll find a spacer to fill this gap and add a 3rd bolt to better secure the mount and thus the rails to my pickup. The carbide finish looks great and the rails and mount are built strong, just they could have been designed to fit better and more secure than they were.
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