question for RAM short box owners

**AllenV** · 09-27-2022, 01:02 PM

I am evaluating possible new trucks. My current truck is a Ford crew cab short bed where the bed is 6' 8" ( ford calls this 6 3/4 feet ). I use a manual sliding 5th wheel hitch. This configuration has been no problem.

The RAM truck (3500 Crew Cab, 6' 4" box, 4x4) specs the short bed as 6' 4" long. Fully 4 inches shorter than the Ford. Is this somewhat shorter bed of any concern? Do all of you Ram owners happily maneuver your 5th wheels, albeit with sliding hitches?

A related matter: any new truck would have the factory-installed in-bed mounting holes for a new 5th wheel hitch. Opinions on what hitch to use to tow my 303RLS are welcome. I presently use a bargain-basement Husky 16K with manual slider that will not move to the new truck as it needs the old-school in-bed mounting rails.

**Terryaz** · 09-27-2022, 02:58 PM

I use the B&W Patriot on our 303rls and have no problems with tight turns. We have a 2016 Ram 2500 short bed.

**Calbar** · 09-27-2022, 04:19 PM

Originally Posted by AllenV

I am evaluating possible new trucks. My current truck is a Ford crew cab short bed where the bed is 6' 8" ( ford calls this 6 3/4 feet ). I use a manual sliding 5th wheel hitch. This configuration has been no problem.

The RAM truck (3500 Crew Cab, 6' 4" box, 4x4) specs the short bed as 6' 4" long. Fully 4 inches shorter than the Ford. Is this somewhat shorter bed of any concern? Do all of you Ram owners happily maneuver your 5th wheels, albeit with sliding hitches?

A related matter: any new truck would have the factory-installed in-bed mounting holes for a new 5th wheel hitch. Opinions on what hitch to use to tow my 303RLS are welcome. I presently use a bargain-basement Husky 16K with manual slider that will not move to the new truck as it needs the old-school in-bed mounting rails.

I use the B&W Companion that is 5" back from the gooseneck and I have not had any issues with turning and my Solitude is a wide body so I have an extra 2.5" of width on each side compared to your 303.

Rob

**jasonl78** · 09-27-2022, 05:45 PM

2017 Ram 3500 Megacab with 6'4" bed AND Ramboxes. So not only is my bed shorter, it's also narrower. I went with the Andersen Ultimate rail version and it's been everything its been advertised to be over the last 5 years. Don't see myself every needing to switch to a different hitch.

**AllenV** · 09-27-2022, 06:24 PM

Originally Posted by Calbar

I use the B&W Companion that is 5" back from the gooseneck and I have not had any issues with turning and my Solitude is a wide body so I have an extra 2.5" of width on each side compared to your 303.

Rob

Originally Posted by Terryaz

I use the B&W Patriot on our 303rls and have no problems with tight turns. We have a 2016 Ram 2500 short bed.

Originally Posted by jasonl78

2017 Ram 3500 Megacab with 6'4" bed AND Ramboxes. So not only is my bed shorter, it's also narrower. I went with the Andersen Ultimate rail version and it's been everything its been advertised to be over the last 5 years. Don't see myself every needing to switch to a different hitch.

Thank you all, This is useful input that eases my concerns regarding a smaller truck bed. I am also making good use of your experience with hitches to query their web sites. Plenty of time for hitches as a special order truck will take a while. (Ford quoted me two months. I have not yet dropped in at the Ram dealer to ask them.)

**luvmyrv** · 09-27-2022, 07:14 PM

Originally Posted by AllenV

Thank you all, This is useful input that eases my concerns regarding a smaller truck bed. I am also making good use of your experience with hitches to query their web sites. Plenty of time for hitches as a special order truck will take a while. (Ford quoted me two months. I have not yet dropped in at the Ram dealer to ask them.)

2 Months???? There are people on this forum that have been waiting over a year for their Ford factory orders. 2 mths wasn't possible before Covid and all the related shortages came up. I think that Ford dealer is stringing you along.
With regards to Ram....I placed a factory order on a 3500 on Jan 25, 2022. The truck just got built last week and hadn't shipped yet as of the end of last week. By the time it's on the dealers lot, it will most likely exceed 9 mths. That is kind of on par with others in the forum here who ordered in this past year. The biggest hang up with my build was the 5th wheel prep package (factory puck system), was in short supply and I am told still is. Had I wanted to forego that and go with the rail system, the truck would have been built long ago. I was willing to wait for the factory puck system, as I am done with rails in the box of the truck.

**Calbar** · 09-28-2022, 06:51 AM

Originally Posted by AllenV

Thank you all, This is useful input that eases my concerns regarding a smaller truck bed. I am also making good use of your experience with hitches to query their web sites. Plenty of time for hitches as a special order truck will take a while. (Ford quoted me two months. I have not yet dropped in at the Ram dealer to ask them.)

I agree with @AllenV. I ordered my truck Mid Dec 2021 and took delivery Mid August almost 9 months to the day I ordered.

Rob

**RoyBell** · 09-28-2022, 10:40 AM

I managed 3 years with a Megacab (short box) ram and goose ball setup. With that being said, I moved to an 8' box and can turn way sharper mainly because I am not concerned about hitting the cab.

Something to keep in mind, the 8' bed in the Ram allows you to upgrade to a factory 50 gallon fuel tank. That is worth it alone. The range on the regular tank is abysmal.

**Tom Traveler** · 09-28-2022, 01:02 PM

Originally Posted by AllenV

I am evaluating possible new trucks. My current truck is a Ford crew cab short bed where the bed is 6' 8" ( ford calls this 6 3/4 feet ). I use a manual sliding 5th wheel hitch. This configuration has been no problem.

The RAM truck (3500 Crew Cab, 6' 4" box, 4x4) specs the short bed as 6' 4" long. Fully 4 inches shorter than the Ford. Is this somewhat shorter bed of any concern? Do all of you Ram owners happily maneuver your 5th wheels, albeit with sliding hitches?

A related matter: any new truck would have the factory-installed in-bed mounting holes for a new 5th wheel hitch. Opinions on what hitch to use to tow my 303RLS are welcome. I presently use a bargain-basement Husky 16K with manual slider that will not move to the new truck as it needs the old-school in-bed mounting rails.

2022 Ram 3500 DRW short bed here, pulling a 43 ft. Solitude wide body. I put a Pullrite slider in the factory puck setup. The setup works great with no turning issues. Granted, I do have to deal with a 280# hitch but that has not caused any problems for us. After checking with Pullrite, MorRyde (pinbox), and GD for their OK, I pull the hitch with the 5th wheel when I need to. With the space in the MegaCab, we hardly ever need to.

We considered the long bed but we wanted the extra interior space of the Ram MegaCab and, as the truck is also our daily driver, we didn't want to deal with the extra length of the crew cab long bed. The 31 gal fuel tank is a drag but we intend to switch to the 51 gallon Titan after-market tank.

We got lucky on the order. Placed it on Dec 28, 2021 and took possession on April 11 with all the options we wanted, including the OEM puck system. So far, the truck has worked out great.

**AllenV** · 09-29-2022, 10:00 AM

This is all great input. Thank you for helping me out.

Now I will up date you with my experience of the last few days here in the Albuquerque area.

As I mentioned above, I went to my Ford dealer and no trucks. They had a couple of DRW F-350 due to arrive and offered those. Then told me the wait for a new build is 2 months. That is what they told me. However, for other reasons we scratched a new Ford from our list.

Then, at our local Ram dealer. They also had no trucks (meaning diesel suited for towing a fifth wheel.). They further had only bleak news about the availability of a custom order, or any truck at all. They are allowed only 22 trucks per year. A customer order just comes out of the allotment.

So, off to the Chevrolet dealer. There we found 3 examples of the Silverado 2500 HD, Crew Cab, with the Duramax diesel. 2 of those had the fifth wheel and gooseneck pucks factory installed and all the towing goodies. The sales manager told us that in the last 2 years he has had only a trickle of HD trucks. Just individual trucks every now and then. Then suddenly GM sent out these 3 trucks. Since he had 3, he was willing to work a bit on price (not a lot.) He did say that a custom order , if approved by GM, would be about 4 months to delivery.

One of the on-the-lot 2500 HDs had all my must-haves as well as adequate payload capacity for the 303RLS. We bought that one and pick it up this afternoon.

FYI, the Chevy standard bed is 6.8 feet (82 inches) long. Just a bit longer than my F-250, which now must be sold.