I am putting a hitch on my single axle truck the last trucks fifthwheel had a big frame so i ran the braces from the plate up the sides of the truck frame and welded them to the fifthwheel frame. Were are they run to most of the time to the bottom of the frame and if so is the frame plated?
I was going between shops and it hit me the shop i work in is less than 150 feet from a diesel fuel island and there is truck after truck with hitches i could look at so every time i could i went out and looked at there hitches but i havent saw a hitch i thought was built right.
Post #15 here should help a bit https://forum.millerwelds.com/forum/welding-discussions/26400-hitch-plate-for-a-dump-truck
Just me or does that thing look really light, doesn't look like 3/4" plate even? Haven't measured but i'm pretty sure on my truck the hitch is 1" plate. Also IMO if you're going for a heavy hitch, drill it for a 6 bolt pintle.
I will try to get you a couple of pics of mine in the next few days. The one on my single axle was installed as soon as I bought the truck. I didn't have a lot of confidence in the attachment to start with, but I had complete confidence in the man who did it. The plate is 7/8 T1, but the only brace is a piece of 5/8 x 4 running straight forward to the crossmember. It has moved some huge overloads in the last 17 years, and totalled a 25 to pintle hitch, but the plate hasn't given at all. The one on my tandem truck is, I think, 1/2" plate, welded to the frame. It was on the truck when it came from a large, state-owned utility.
There are a couple of not very good pics of the one on my single axle in the first post on this thread: HeavyEquipmentForums
I plan on taking mine and fabricating it with thicker steel such as 3/4” but this is how mine came with my rig and you can see how thin and easily bent it is.
My plate is 3/4 it is on the bottom of the frame rails insteed of going up inside the frame because i want a frame with roller.I have 1/2 plates 8 x18 on the sides of the frame holding it up then i will have braces from the bottom of the hitch running up to the truck frame.
I started on a goose neck hitch last night i made some scrap iron trying to figure what would be the best way to do it. I torched out 4 parts i was going to grind them so i could weld today i am glade i didnt because i need 2 alike and 2 backwards and i had cut out 4 alike. Then today i went with a easyer better ideal.
I wanted it as close to the axle as it could be and if time wasnt a problem i would have found a sliding 5thwheel so it wouldnt be in the way. Its bolted to the frame rails and tacked welded together i went for a spln down the road to see if it would be ok and it seems ok.