Community Forums

IC2 · 04-25-2016, 08:38 AM

Grinding or machining of spacers to fit a particular oddly shaped truck bed flat is for sure not 'reengineering' the design. As far as the orientation of that pad - either way is correct, depending on the width of the bed rib channel per their instruction sheet, pg 2 (Companion? - 5th Wheel Hitch | Single Point Attachment | THE B&W ADVANTAGE).

"Locate the two plastic foot pads. Each pad attaches
to the base through a slot at the end of the base leg.
Before attachment, check the width of your bed rib by
setting the wide face the plastic foot in a bed rib, see
figure A1. If the plastic foot does not reach to the
bottom of the bed rib trough, turn the plastic foot over,
see figure A2 & A3. Locate four 1/4" machine screws,
1/4" flat washers, 1/4" lock washers and 1/4" finish
nuts. Insert the machine screw up through the bottom
of the foot pad through the slot and attach it with a
1/4" flat washer, 1/4" lock washer and a 1/4" finish nut,
see figure A3. Do not tighten hardware at this time, so
that the plastic foot is able to move back forth ........."

Adding any gusset or reinforcing would be reengineering the base and yes, B&W should take a look at the OPs mode of failure rather the us here on a forum second guessing the cause - and hopefully he has given them plenty of info so that they can take a look at that design.

wingnut60 · 04-25-2016, 09:04 AM

IC2,
I wasn't aware, either, that B&W had changed the base design, nor did I ever think that a pickup bed would be anything but level/flat side-to-side. Learn something every day, just glad I don't have to use the spacers...
Joe

IC2 · 04-25-2016, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wingnut60

IC2,
................nor did I ever think that a pickup bed would be anything but level/flat side-to-side..............
Joe

But we own Fords

and have the old style hitch bases

wingnut60 · 04-25-2016, 10:19 AM

"Many of the GM beds actually have a camber to them. One guy actually ground his spacers to fit the curve in his bed."

How does one know that his particular GM has a crowned bed? Is this a known mfg situation on all GMs?

Steadfast · 04-25-2016, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wingnut60

"Many of the GM beds actually have a camber to them. One guy actually ground his spacers to fit the curve in his bed."

How does one know that his particular GM has a crowned bed? Is this a known mfg situation on all GMs?

What B&W told me is that most of the Chevys have the forward and back camber. The way to tell is to take your hitch out and use a 4' level in the same slot that the plastic runners are using. If you can rock the level, you have a camber.

918jeeper · 04-25-2016, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steadfast

What B&W told me is that most of the Chevys have the forward and back camber. The way to tell is to take your hitch out and use a 4' level in the same slot that the plastic runners are using. If you can rock the level, you have a camber.

Just checked mine with the hitch out. No camber issues. I have a long bed dually. Curious if this is more common in the short beds?

Cummins12V98 · 04-26-2016, 07:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bayouguy

Well, I see it differently. It's not a GM problem either. As another posted stated, a hitch should not have to be reengineered by the installer, whether it is professional or the consumer. What B&W (and/or) any other manufacturer should do is state that their hitches should not be used in certain vehicles, in this case, GM with the so-called cambered bed design, or redesign the hitch at the factory so it will fit. All hitch manufacturers should provide all of the required hardware to install the hitch without any modification whatsoever prior to installation. What do you think would happen if the hitch is modified in some way to "make it fit" and something would happen down the road a bit? Do you think that the consumer would be not held accountable? It's bad enough to have to fight to sometimes have warranty items covered.

I agree but the problem is all of a sudden GM beds appeared with a camber. A call to B&W will get the issue fixed.

Cummins12V98 · 04-26-2016, 07:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wingnut60

"Many of the GM beds actually have a camber to them. One guy actually ground his spacers to fit the curve in his bed."

How does one know that his particular GM has a crowned bed? Is this a known mfg situation on all GMs?

Look at the first picture, there is a gap under the spacer.

Steadfast · 04-26-2016, 08:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cummins12V98

Look at the first picture, there is a gap under the spacer.

Look at the picture again, there is a gap under the spacer because the base is bent. That was the reason for the post in the first place.

clifford j · 04-26-2016, 08:46 AM

I'm having a problem wrapping my brain around comments and the gap under the spacer. First ,if the hitch plate was flush on the bed in the original installation why isn't there a dent in the bed rib. If there is a gap under the spacer after the hitch got bent where did that gap come from. That means the mounting bolt pulled upward and bent the cross beam underneath. (only way a spacer gap can happen). A jerk forward would put downward force on the rear spacers / bed . Once the hitch bending occurred it caused the mounting bolt to pull upward. Seems like B&W uses the same spacer for all applications and dose not take into consideration the difference in rib height between vehicles. I don't think the OP did anything wrong with the installation I think the design is crap.

CLIFF

Steadfast · 04-26-2016, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clifford j

I'm having a problem wrapping my brain around comments and the gap under the spacer. First ,if the hitch plate was flush on the bed in the original installation why isn't there a dent in the bed rib. If there is a gap under the spacer after the hitch got bent where did that gap come from. That means the mounting bolt pulled upward and bent the cross beam underneath. (only way a spacer gap can happen). A jerk forward would put downward force on the rear spacers / bed . Once the hitch bending occurred it caused the mounting bolt to pull upward. Seems like B&W uses the same spacer for all applications and dose not take into consideration the difference in rib height between vehicles. I don't think the OP did anything wrong with the installation I think the design is crap.

CLIFF

Just a few points: The picture is of the stabilizer leg on the front, not the back. I am sure my bed would have bent if there wasn't a under-bed cross support right underneath the tip of the stabilizer. The stabilizer bent instead of the cross support.

clifford j · 04-26-2016, 11:47 AM

AH, so, the bending was from pressure going forward ,like stopping hard or backing up the rig. Still think it's a crap design.

CLIFF

Cummins12V98 · 04-27-2016, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steadfast

Look at the picture again, there is a gap under the spacer because the base is bent. That was the reason for the post in the first place.

Look at the left edge of the base it is HIGHER than the top of the ribs of the bed. That means the bed has a camber. You can look down the inside of the left edge of the base and see it is straight.

Cummins12V98 · 04-27-2016, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clifford j

AH, so, the bending was from pressure going forward ,like stopping hard or backing up the rig. Still think it's a crap design.

CLIFF

The "CRAP" design is GM's cambered bed that was NOT on any of the truck beds when this B&W product was designed. Put the blame where it belongs. I am sure B&W is working on a fix for this. GM sure won't do anything about it!