Recommended 5th wheel plate change for my truck?

I have a recycled steel place about 5 miles from my place where I can buy it by the pound. They even have diamond plate aluminum I can get to make the frame look pretty.

I also have access to a nice welder and can weld. I'll have no problem making it myself, I was just looking for an easy solution but not if it cost $500 and still doesn't fit my truck without modification. Now if it was a dual plate with mounting for a 5th wheel & gooseneck with chain attachments then yea maybe I'd look at it for $500.. But no I'm not buying a piece of steel with a couple of brackets for $500 because it looks pretty..

 

This is the option I've been considering. I found a few near me on facebook marketplace even a bit cheaper than those but no shipping cost. I just haven't decided if I want a big ### semi 5th wheel on the back of a pickup lol.

 

So I forgot you keep mentioning a bolt on gooseneck ball too. Do you mean something like this.?


So those mounting holes will line up with a Hitchcrafters mounting plate for the Binkley/Holland 32k, or maybe the new 34k head they they are offering..

So an idea that you may like better.. Get that ball mount for $165, & maybe copy cat the way this dude made his mounting plate. Homemade, yet looks quite professional too me. Very similar in design to the Holland stationary semi truck mount I posted earlier..

He gives a pretty good idea how to do it. Adapt this design slightly for your Ford. Then just 4 bolts, you can switch back & forth between a goose ball, & 5th wheel as needed..

5th wheel hitch

 

That's a nice FW35 top plate but I still don't see how that mounting bracket works. Looks like the angled part that bolts to the side of frame is facing the wrong way (towards the inside of a C channel frame when it should be on the outside edge.)

 

If it's going to be a dedicated 5th wheel trailer puller it's not a bad idea. Those full size 5th wheels wont ever wear out on a little truck.

 

Seems pretty reasonable actually. The parts and hardware alone were probably half of that easily.

 

Mines a 24" slider, but should bolt up like this. Outside of the rails..
Never drill holes, or weld to the flange. Only make holes through the web..

 

Yeah, I don't know if you noticed, but that says it's a 1998!! Dang 5th top plate must have seen very little use in those 22 years. LoL Thing looks almost new to my eyes..

 

Okay I see. I was just picturing it wrong. What's the web and the flange? I know you are not supposed to drill holes on the top or bottom horizontal sections of a C channel frame. I that what you mean?

 

Yep, you got it right.