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Video Transcript for Reese Elite Series Pop In Ball Kit Installation - 2021 Ram 3500
Hey, everybody. Ryan here at etrailer. Today, on our 2021 Ram 3500, we're gonna be checking out the Reese Elite Series pop-in gooseneck ball kit for trucks with the OEM prep package. We do get a lot of questions, people asking if this kit is gonna work with their particular truck or not, and as long as you have the OEM prep package in your truck, shouldn't have any issues. You know, this set-up should be able to just drop right in and you'll be able to utilize it. Now, Ram really did do a good job of thinking things through by incorporating the prep package into the truck bed, and it makes it super easy and convenient to use a gooseneck like this one or even a fifth wheel-type hitch.
So the way the kit is gonna work is super easy. Essentially, everything is just gonna kinda drop and lock right into place. So to kinda show that off, to get the ball out, there's gonna be a mechanism here and you'll lift up on it, kind of rotate it, that'll kinda keep it from dropping down. Ball comes right out. Let's get it in.
Same deal. Turn that, it locks, and you're unable to lift out on it. The kit does come with a rubber plug, so if you wanna use that, you can. Kind of playing around with it, I noticed that the factory cover does not go back in place with that plug in there. Not a huge deal.
If it we're me, I would probably just stick with this one. But if you did ever happen to lose this or break it, you know, at least you got a backup there. So rather have it and not need it, than the other way around. But that said, there is a couple of things I did notice about the ball itself that could potentially cause some issues that I could see is this mechanism here. So I like how it functions and how it operates.
You know, you have a couple places to grip there, but with that said, you know, this piece is plastic, all right So as we all know, plastic does tend to kind of wear down and crack and dry out and things like that over time. So just something to keep in mind. You know, that could potentially cause some issues, especially, you know, if you happen to have this like this and you're working with things, you happen to drop it and it landed, that would probably break. So something to think about. If it we're steel or metal, something you do not have to worry about there. And I can potentially see as well, you know, after putting your gooseneck on here and using it, you know, some grease maybe building up in there. One thing, you're gonna have to touch it, get your hands dirty. But also, you know, that grease might kinda cake up inside of there and, you know, start to kinda harden up and kinda limit the functionality of this. You know, it might be a little more difficult in the future after you put some miles on it. So not saying it will happen, just, you know, from looking at it and kinda playing with it a little bit, it's just something that came to my head. But with that said, you know, I do like how easy this is to get in and out, which will allow you to have, you know, that full bed access. And the same thing holds true with the safety chain hooks as well. So these are just gonna more or less be a drop in-type deal, little bit different of a setup here. You're gonna have these things that you pull up, you know, not the easiest to get up, but not hard by any means. You're gonna rotate that and these are going to just pop right out. So when you go to put it back in, one thing I do like since these kinda lock in automatically almost, you know, you're just gonna hold it like this, put it in, and those are essentially just gonna drop right into place. So a really simple, especially whenever you're putting 'em in your truck. There is something I do wanna address as far as the safety chain loops are concerned that not only myself but a lot of our customers figured out, and that's just the overall size of 'em, okay So they're nice and wide and they give you some space here, but some of the issues people are having is just the overall width here of the steel. It's really wide and that can cause a couple of issues. People are having a hard time getting their hooks to actually go in 'em. So just wanted to get a couple of examples here. So here, I have a hook. It's 5/16 in size, figured this is probably a pretty common size for gooseneck-type trailers. If you put it on there, I mean, it's not even close to locking in by any means, all right I thought, well, maybe we can go up another size here. So this one is 3/8 in size there, pretty big. I feel like most people, that's probably gonna be the biggest size on their trailer, maybe one size up. But even this one, you're still not able to get the keeper there to engage. So that could pose some issues. You know, if you had really big hooks, they would probably work. If not, what you're probably gonna have to do is figure out some other type of shackle or similar type of piece that you can put around here to get your safety chains to actually clip around everything and stay secure. So the kit actually does come with a sack. That way, you can put everything in whenever you're not using it and keep everything organized, you know, and you can just throw this under the back seat of your truck or keep in your garage, wherever you wanna keep it stored. And this will work out real well whenever you need that full bed access. You know, you keep everything together, your truck that'll be empty and you can throw in your lumber or supplies or wherever the case may be back here. So there's quite a few of these gooseneck kits available for this truck, and so I figured why not kinda pull down another one and check it out, kinda compare the two. So the one that I grabbed is the Curt one here. And side by side, they're pretty similar. However, the Curt has a few things that make it a little more user-friendly and kinda impress me a little bit more. Is either kit gonna work Absolutely. You know, they're both gonna get the job done. This one just has a couple more bells and whistles, I feel like. So the mechanism here at the top, a little bit different. You're gonna turn that like so to get it to engage. You'll turn it and that's what's gonna lock it in. You know, it's not as fine here and this is actually metal, so a little bit tougher, at least in my opinion. And when it comes to the safety chain loops, those are gonna have some improvements as well, at least in my opinion. So we kinda talked about some of the things that the Reese ran into. The Curt one, not really gonna be an issue. You know, these are much thinner as far as the width goes and they're pretty big. So you should be able to get your hooks on there. They're gonna work a little different. You're gonna have to pull these out, so that's kinda one of the downsides. You have a couple more pieces you gotta deal with, but, you know, not a huge, huge deal. And just to kinda show you what I'm talking about, I grab our chains here. You know, the big one, no issues at all, pops right on. And even the smaller one, the smaller one's a little tight, but you're still able to get that on. So probably a small improvement there. And like I said, it just makes it a little bit easier to work with, you know, whenever you're dealing with towing your trailer down the road. The ball is going to be 2 5/16 in diameter, so pretty standard size for a gooseneck-type trailer, and it's going to have a maximum capacity of 30,000 pounds. So that's gonna be the amount of weight that's pulling on the ball. Now, keep in mind, you don't wanna exceed the weight limits of your truck, so make sure to check the owner's manual. And that'll finish up our look at of the Reese Elite Series pop-in gooseneck ball kit for trucks with the OEM prep package on our 2021 Ram 3500..
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