TC 40D

[wihakowiSteve]

OK, I need to jump back in here looking for some advice.

I have a gooseneck trailer for my rig and implements (plus hangover, I mean overhanging, stuff). I am familiar with the detachable and flip up ball mounting apparatus available but I now have a major(?) challenge!

The rig I now have for towing is an F-250 with a dump bed. I have seen dump bodies with balls permanently mounted on the frame under a trap door in the bed but the dumping apparatus on this rig uses a single cylinder that is located right smack in the center of the axle where the ball would have to be. I have the large (and very heavy) plate with ball welded on that was bolted through the floor into the frame of my old rig. Any thoughts on how I can utilize the dump bed and have the hitch?

Only plan so far is to tack nuts onto the underside of the frame members, permanently tack on the "spacers" that go between the frame and the bed, drill holes in the bed and use some sort of "quick attach" bolts (T-bolts or giant wing bolts?) to temporarily attach the plate whenever I need it.
In order to use the dump bed on a job, I would have to load the plate into the bed, get it into position, bolt it in to place, attach trailer, load tractor. Go to job, tractor off trailer, unattach trailer, unbolt plate & remove. After all is said and done, I would probably want to clean nuts and spacers to make sure that crapolla that fell through holes in bed doesn't conflict with a good bolt/nut fit?
Would be a pain but would it work? I see no other way.
Help! Thanks Steve

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Is it the regular box on the F-250 with a dumping kit added or a dump truck box which would have had to been added to a chassis cab truck. Either way I would not hitch to the dump box because it his hinged on two pivot pins and when towing all the force would be on those two points which is not safe. Best bet is to get a tag along for behind the truck or go to the trap door idea. You can go to this board and ask them as they will be able to offer more help then I could and someone there might run the same outfit your thinking of. <A target="_blank" HREF=http://forums.ford-diesel.com/ubbthreads/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=UBB16>http://forums.ford-diesel.com/ubbthreads/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=UBB16</A>

 

[BKColeman]

THEBUS,
I looked up the forks tonight. They are made by Loflin. The final price was $645 (as part of the tractor package price). The original quote was $660. The dealer had the same forks on a skidsteer he was using in his shop moving tractors around and such.

HTH

--Brad

 

[wihakowiSteve]

Robert, Thanks for the response.
It is the stock box with an after market dump kit.
You are correct that the box is really only held by the two only medium duty hinges on the tailgate end -- I was hoping that by bolting through the box, through spacers and into nuts in the frame that I would gain the same strength that a factory setup would have with the bolted on box and through bolting to the frame. No?
It seems as though it would be the bolts to the frame that are bearing the brunt of the force not truly the box itself. Of course, there is the issue of the spacers (HD bushings that the bolts pass thru) between the frame and the bottom side of the box being a couple of inches long - possibly being prone to being forced backward by the weight of the trailer - therefore the plate/ball is not truly bolted directly to the frame. Of course it isn't in a factory install either!
Hoping I don't have to dump my gooseneck trailer!
Thanks, Steve

 

[Anonymous Poster]

The bolt through idea may work. If it is a trp door setup, you might also make a 'blank' that can be screwed in when the ball is not it... then the bolt holes wouldn't get plugged.
Couple other variations on s theme. If space underneath permits, attatch something more substantial than spacers to the frame.. like bolt on a metal plat that has a sturdy angle iron riser attatched to it, to bolt to. wide base contact to the frame, tapering off slightly at the bolt point.
Also, could leave a ball-mount permanently mounted to the frame, and only have a small trap door in the bed for the ball to go through and attatch. When the ball is out, a small blank could be attatched to the bed, so your payload doesn't escape.
Just ideas. Perhaps one will work for you, or perhaps a variation may work.
Chris

 

[wihakowiSteve]

Thanks for all the great suggestions Soundguy, I like the one about putting "dummy" bolts in the holes in the bed so stuff doesn't fall through. They could not be actual bolts that hold the box to the frame though, or the dump mechanism would really struggle to get it up! Perhaps some kind of "pop-in" or "screw-in" plugs that wouldn't fall out with a dumped load but could be removed easily enough to put the real bolts back in.
Making a heavier reinforced spacer is probably what I will try. Unfortunately, I can't go with any kind of trapdoor arrangement because, as I stated originally, there is a moving cylinder right smack under where the ball needs to be in the bed.
Thanks again for all the help, Steve.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

So you are basicly going to bolt the box down the the frame when you want to haul, It seems like it will work if you get the strongest bolts you can. Another idea is to visit a machine shop and let them give you a couple ideas as most of them guys are quite smart when it comes to these sorts of things but with out ever trying what you are thinking I do not know how well things will work but it sounds like a good plan and I would like to know how things turn out when you are done along with a couple pics maybe. Have fun with this project and take care.