go with your gut like with the wiring....cut that crap out get a B&W w/companion and a set of bags. then you can just tow what ever you want and all you have to worry about is smoking out the ricers with a load and dodging scales and not if your going to lose a load

 

Are you sure about the law on the license and what you can pull? All I would worry about is your gross vehicle weight. I thought that with a private personal vehicle you could drive whatever with a class D. The commercial licenses are only for, well, commercial vehicles. A class D will operate the largest motor homes and such just fine as long as it is their own equipment. I also thought as long as you are under 26,000 and private you wouldn't have to stop at the scales.... (Now that I think about it: We just made an across the country trip and I think I saw some states that had lower numbers than that. I had already made up my mind that I wasn't stopping at any. I didn't, and we never had any trouble.... Don't know if I was legal or not, but we made it through just fine so that is all that counts.

Ok - How to post a pic on here: ( I stole this from here:
https://www.dieselbombers.com/About.php )

How To Attach An Image

There are 2 ways to attach an image

1. When Starting a New Thread or Post Click the button on the Editor and insert the image location of the image that's already online somewhere (I recommend photobucket.com but there are lots others. I also use googles picasa), Right click the image you want and select copy image location then paste it in the pop up and your image will show on the thread.

Now if your image isnt already online you will need to upload it here as an attachment.

2. When starting a new thread scroll down and click manage attachments this will allow you to browse your computer for the file and upload it to diesel bombers.

Alternatively you can upload your photos to your user album and refer back to it.

Read more: https://www.dieselbombers.com/About.php#ixzz0tHJgwugF

As for whether to weld or not to weld: I would go by what Dodge says here:

http://www.dodge.com/bodybuilder/year.pdf

There are very specific rules about this and it isn't for the faint of heart. I hope they haven't screwed up your frame on your truck. As long as you don't overload it, you should be fine. It would help though to see pics of what they have done and of the hitch you are putting on.

When I did mine I went the route of making 'clamps' for the frame. Mine clamps all the way around the frame because of it's tube design. Mine is way overkill; but it also won't fall off or apart. You could hang my truck and a lot more weight than that from this hitch and it's mount. If you poke around in this area you will find my hitch install pics:
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b353/millcoI think it is in the 06 folder. I know it is labeled hitch when you find it. Sorry I can't get you closer. I can't look at that terrible, corrupt website from this server anymore....
If you want, shoot me a PM or an email with your number and I will see if I can't give you a call a little later today. I just hate to see anyone have to have a bad install. On my bro's they just drilled through the frame and put bolts through. When they tightened them down the collapsed his frame a ways. You can use bolts; but you have to use a spacer inside the frame to keep it from collapsing. The metal in our frames is 3/16" thick so it can be crushed when tightening up the bolts. Welding is a bit tricky as well. It can be done, it is just a little tricky.
I hope this helps a bit. (Oh, and as you can see: LONG posts are just fine . . . LOL

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Sorry, I guess I had it at picasa.... I couldn't get there from that server either so I didn't know until now.
Look here for the hitch pics I wanted to show you:

Picasa Web Albums - Dan - 5th Wheel Hitch

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Oh, make sure you look at the first two pics on this page. I took them myself in a parking lot. They were under a 1st gen Cummins. I really would not tow more than a VW Bug with that install..... It was just kind of a scary one I happened to see as I walked by. Apparently there are installs out there like this! (There were two of these brackets per rail. The other bolt or two in each rail was just into the bed sheet metal.)

Picasa Web Albums - Dan - Poor Hitch In...

 

I couldn't believe that wiring hack job. But then again, i'm really picky about wiring since it's more of a specialty of mine. That companion hitch would be awesome, but I really can't justify the cost. 700? holy crap. If I knew I'd be doing a whole lot i'd go for it. How do you like your airbags?

Millco: It varies state to state of course. And here, we don't even have a class d license. With a class c license here (the basic license) you can drive any vehicle with a gvw and gvwr of 26000 or less that holds less than 16 people. You can tow 10000 gvw or gvwr or less. But your combined weight cannot be more than 26000. Since I have a class b cdl, I can drive a single vehicle with proper endorsements. (airbrake which I have, tanker, or hazmat). The weight doesn't matter until you tow something. If the gvw or gvwr of the trailer is over 10000, the combination of gvw and gvwr must be less than 26000. My pickup has a 9000 gvwr. I haven't looked at the trailer, but being what it is, I highly doubt that it is only 17000 gvwr. The weigh station said it doesn't matter that if it's my own cargo or not since it is a flatbed. If it was a recreational trailer, it wouldn't matter. I think here they have dropped the signs down to any vehicle 20,000 gvw or more must stop. There are a couple scales on the way down, one I'm not sure how to get around, the other one i know how to get around, but I don't trailer would fit down the road. They are now using cameras and dvr recorders mailing out tickets instead of chasing you down every time. Hopefully I can get everything on this other trailer.

After seeing the pics of the shady fifth wheel mount, i'm afraid to put up any of what's on mine. Looks strangely familiar. Those clamp mounts you made look great I'm not sure how i would do it with where the holes in my bed are. But i'm hoping to come up with something like that. Right now I gotta head to bed. Gotta love graveyard. Thanks for all the help. It's greatly appreciated. I'll probably shoot you a pm in the next couple of days.

 

I hope it all helped (That was the intent!).
One thing I forgot to mention is you will also be limited by what your pickpups gvwr is (Or gcvwr as it were). If you have a 2500, I'm not sure what your combined gross would be. For my 3500 it is either 20,k or 23,k so I suspect they rated them that way to get under the cdl license requirement. There is also something going on here with the insurance companies. I am pretty sure these rigs will (and do sometimes . . . ) haul more than what they are rated for. But you also have to try and realize what the 'worse conditions' would be that they could possibly be in and limit everything accordingly. (I had to laugh the other day at a full size Toyota in the body shop. Seems the frame was bent down behind the rear axle. . . . Something to do with a very large horse trailer in tow. The owner was over heard asking: 'That horse trailer shouldn't have done that; should it?' . . . . I'm pretty sure they told him to go buy at least a 4500 to tow that many horses Some people! Of course: I shouldn't ask if you saw my pics of the large trees on my flat bed. . . I went easy and all was fine. My buddies Duramax complained about hauling that load though. . . . )

If you want, give me a yell. I work gravely also. . . So I know what you mean. I may have the dimensions of those clamps. If so, it would help a bit with your install. As for where it bolts through the bed. I guess I am of the mind set now to just drill some new ones. All in all it doesn't seem to matter as much as I used to think it did. Shoot, I just added some more Idaho pin stripping to the Mega I suspect. It was worth it though! I will always remember the fun we had after we got in there! Thanks baby!!

 

Hey Millco, I didn't forget about this thread, I just got really busy with overtime at work, building an air compressor, air bags on the pickup, and wiring the tow setup. If it's not too much trouble I would really appreciate it if you have those clamp dimensions. I just got done bead blasting and painting my rails so i need to get them in some time. I might have a deal worked out to use a 25' gooseneck for the trip. Once I get the rails in, get a ball plate and i'm good to go. Guess i'll shoot on over to c-list and post a wanted ad. Thanks again.