Fifth Wheel Hitch Kit Installation - 2000 Ford F-350 Pickup
Customers compare RP50082-58 to these similar products
Products Featured in this Video
How to Install a 5th Wheel Hitch Kit on a 2000 Ford F-350 Pickup
Today on this 2000 Ford F-350 pickup we are going to install part number RP50082-58 from Reese. Also our 22K Reese fifth wheel hitch part number 30033. The first step involves removing the spare tire and take it down temporarily so you have some access to work underneath the vehicle to tighten up the nuts and bolts. The second thing we want to do is go to the driver side of the vehicle and disconnect the the hanger that holds the parking brake cable. That will get reattached to the frame bracket when we install that. This is the back side of the nut that we just took off of the bolt so we will just pull that out of our way. What is going to happen is this is going to get sandwiched between the bracket and the actual frame of the vehicle when we reinstall it. The next thing we are going to do is go to the bed of the truck and we will put the first rail in and mark its location. As you can see here we have got the first rail in the bed of the pickup and what you need to do is measure from the edge that we see facing us towards the edge of the bed itself. Then we want to make sure we have the rail even left to right. 01:06
When we measure it left to right to center it there is a crease in the bed itself that makes a good place to start off from. At this point we are going to mark the locations where we are going to drill our holes out in the bed of the pickup. We are going to use this hole and this hole the two holes on the very outside of the rail in the frame rail and those are going to connect to our frame brackets underneath the bed of the pickup so we are going to find the center and then mark it. Just a quick trip back underneath the bed we are going to install a piece of wood next to this cross member close to the gas tank which is straight below so this will give us extra insurance that we do not damage anything else. We will just put that wood in there and then drill it out. We will start off with 1/ 4 inch bit and then after we have the holes marked and drilled we will enlarge those to 9/ 16. 01:59
We are going to use this square hole on the frame bracket. It is going to go straight into the frame like so and then behind that it is going to get this flat block, lock washer, and a nut. It is going to go through the square hole in the frame. We will install it into place and then we will go to the back side and install our hardware. We are just going to leave that finger tight and install the U bolt going towards the front of the vehicle. Next we are going to install our U bolt. It is going to wrap around the frame. Mostly with this bottom tab on the frame bracket and of course we will match this course with the same one on top and we will install our conical tooth washer and the nut. Now we are back over on the driver side. We are going to take that bolt that we removed earlier and put it right there and we are going to take our nut and just thread it on there. We are going to install the frame bracket just like we did on the passenger side and then we will reinstall our brake cable back on to this bolt. We are going to take the nut off and put this wire form over it on the hanger for the brake cable. Put the nut back on it and when you tighten it all down make sure this part of the form goes in this hole here. For now we will just leave that loose and that will be one of the last things we do. We are going to put our rail back in position, we are going to in our bolts and in some cases it hits the corrugation where the bolts goes through down in to the valley then we would need that spacer to go in there. Since it is right on the corner where it goes down we are going to use the spacer between the frame bracket and take up the space underneath the corrugation. 03:55
Try to slip that into place and make sure you do not crush the corrugation when you tighten the bolts down. We will put our hardware into place. The flat block first, then a lock washer, and then a nut. Repeat the same process back on the driver side. We have got our front rail mounted in loosely. Now take the bottom half of the fifth wheel hitch and use it to place the second rail. Make sure it is square and just like the front rail we will mark our holes, drill them out, and install the hardware. Next make sure the rails are square with each other. We are going to start off measuring from here to this edge in the bed itself. Get it equal on both sides and check diagonally to make sure we are square. Just like the front rail we are going to find the center of the holes, mark them out, and punch them and drill them. Take the fifth wheel back out, move the rail out of the way. Same as last time we are going to take our blocks and put them between the bed and this piece of the hat channel that way it does not get crushed when you tighten the bolts. Take the rail and put it back into place and put the bolts back in. Now set the base of the fifth wheel back in to place. Once you put it in here shake it around a little bit and make sure you can take it in and out easily. Then we can start installing the rest of the hardware on the two bolts and then we will snug them down hand tight and then we will check them again and tighten down all of the bolts. We have got them half way tightened. Give it a quick check. We are still good. Now that we have got them hand tight we can torque them as specified in the instructions. 05:58
Now we will start work on the U bolts themselves. Snug them by hand just like you did the other bolts. When they are tightened down evenly we will torque them to specs. One of the last things we have to do is tighten the bolt back in to that. Take the base of the fifth wheel back out. We have got two more bolts to install. We are going to install here and here yellow arrows. Just drill them out with 1/ 2 inch bit and the bolt in and tighten them up on the bottom and we will be almost finished. To make access for the hardware when we used the 1-1/ 4 hole saw and just went right through the heat shield just below it. First put in the conical tooth washer and nut. We have got our base rails installed on the vehicle now work on the hitch itself. In this case we are going to be using part number 30033 22K fifth wheel hitch from Reese. We will start off with the base and then we will install our hitch pins first. Next we will install these two brackets. These use a type of bolt that looks just like a wheel stud and it is going to into place for starters. Then when you tighten them down they will sink in. Those are going to get the lock washer and a nut. Do the same thing on both sides then we will torque those down as specified in the instructions. Next we will install our pivot beams. It is going to fit in the center and use two hitch pins and clips to install. Next we will install the head assembly itself and do the same thing. Same thing again, pin and clip. One more on the other side. Next install the handle. A hole here and here and you have to line them up. Install the cotter pin. Bend it down. Our handle is installed. Install the cover for the handle. With that, that finishes our install of part number RP50082-58 that is the rails and the quick install kit and also our 22K Reese fifth wheel hitch part number 30033.
Info for this part was:
Test Fit:
Joe V
Test Fit:
Randy B
Test Fit:
Brent H
Video Edited:
Zack K
Video Edited:
Joshua S
Video Edited:
Andrew L
Video Edited:
Dustin K
Video Edited:
Chris R
Video by:
Andrew K
Installed by:
Cole B
At etrailer.com we provide the best information available about the products we sell. We take the quality of our information seriously so that you can get the right part the first time.