Ok I agree......but what if it does fail?..................You don't need insurance till you have a accident....but I bet you got it.
I feel more comfortable and secure with a hitch that is made as "light and cheap as possible as commercial hitches" are because they have product liabily insurance if it fails they pay. Joe welder can't. Oh and they have been tested everyday......haven't heard of one failing yet...have you?

 

I personally have a B&W and recommend them to everyone I sell to, some go with it some go with a cheaper version and then wish they had gone with it. I have sold a hundred of these and never heard of a dissatified customer yet. My only reservation about them is the cost of the replacement *****, they are expensive. But at the same time I have never heard of anyone wearing one out either so they must be heavy duty.

 

I love my B/W. My dad broke his Drawtite, neck on the trailor sliped while driving down the road with about 4000 on the tongue. The ball no longer removable

 

I also have a B&W and I have the 5th wheel companion, so I can easily tow gooseneck or fiver and have a totally clean bed when not towing. Awesome setup.

I wouldn't even think twice about hooking up a tow strap to it. The Fiver Companion basically replaces the gooseneck ball with an 18K rated Fiver hitch. All the lateral stress of a moving 5th wheel trailer is directed to the gooseneck ball mount. If that hitch can handle that, then you will break your tow strap before you hurt that hitch.

 

John, lets make this an easy choice, PM me your zip code so that I can figure shipping in there and let me give you a price on the B&W, I bet it's not much more than the cheaper brands and when you figure in how much easier and quicker they install I bet you come out money ahead if you put a dollar amount on your time.

 

my vote is for the b&w, they are rated for a lot of weight, go to a completly flat bed floor when ya dont want them, and you can get the fifth wheel adapter from b&w that goes right in the hole the regular gn ball comes out of, and is still rated the same

 

The B&W is a nice product. The clean bed is and excellent feature, and I have yet to hear of someone say something negative about it. I don't have one, but if it wasn't for the fact that I already had reese rails and 5vr hitch from my last truck, I would have the B&W. In fact, even with the money I spent on the reese stuff, I still almost got the B&W.

 

What does the DOT say about welding gn ball mount to frame? I was told it wasn't legal (not by DOT) just another hotshoter. BTW mines welded.

 

I got mine welded up, **** nice setup too, and I've never seen it done this way.






That's 12" of bead, front and back on each side.

 

In answer to your question

In accordance to texas, and from a couple of hitches that I have seen my dad do, on something like a little hauler, u know above the one ton in accordance to DOT it must be bolted on, if you installed it yourself, If it already had it done prior to you getting the vehicle i have no idea about that. Bolt ons are apparantly safer due to less liability of welding on a hitch, IN all honesty not too many people know how to properly weld two pieces together, being a welders son, i know this for a fact and just watching other inexperienced or rookie ppl weld this says to me there is a fact it will not be done right. Bolts are weaker than a proper weld, but it is for liability and more user friendliness that they are requested that way. On your 2k5 ram it would be very difficult to actually correctly bolt on a hitch due to the boxed frame, so how do you bolt it on? without drilling holes in the frame? My question is that. On some vehicles, IE the fords it is much easier to bolt on a hitch, not on a ram though, I personally would rather have mine welded on regardless of warranty issues or not, Why do they make chasis 3/16 thick for a heavy duty truck? when the plate on most hitches if you are gonna weld them is that much thicker. I think to blame is the company that makes these trucks, the engines are getting much more powerful while the body parts are getting skimpier and of a lesser quality. Where is the happy medium here? THis is still an issue that i am confused about..

By the way, thats a nice gn hitch u got on there John

Tx

 

I can't believe you busted out the chickmagnet on my girlfriend man, that's hitting low

too bad it worked on me too

 

i dont know if i should be laughin

cause the chickmagnet worked on ur gf, or scared cause it worked on you... I might not want that kinda attention...

Tx

 

Am I missing something here?

 

Looks nice but I don't think you're supposed to weld on the top of the frame rails...........

 

it dont void your warranty...

And i guarantee, that you will rip the truck in half or bend the chassis frame before you rip that hitch off... Where to weld it? well thats totally up to you on your truck.. this was custom work that was done right... to each his own thats what I say..

On edit.. if my father did not know what he was doing, i do not suppose people with brand new trucks, 6.0's duramaxes, and even lil haulers, and cummins would not bring their vehicles with less than 10 miles on the odometer to get a hitch, whether it be welded on, or bolted on, its their choice and everything is discussed, all options with the purchaser.... With my dad you get top quality best in south texas work hands down... its simple really, if someone dont like it or want the best, there are other options out there... Quite frankly, neither of us lose any sleep over losin a client, and my dad stands by his work, as do I....
Tx