Late-model trucks from Ford, GM, Ram, and Nissan ship with a factory-built mounting system in the bed. Look for the round access ports, and underneath them the steel hard points the factory engineered into the frame. Those hard points are called pucks. A fifth wheel hitch built for this system drops its mounting posts straight into the pucks, so there are no rails to bolt down and no holes to drill. PullRite has built towing gear in America since 1974, and we designed our OE Puck Series (OE = original equipment, the factory system in your truck) to fix the headaches every other puck hitch hands you.
The Problem With Fixed Mounting Posts
Most brands weld their mounting posts in fixed positions on the hitch base. That sounds simple until you try to install one. The hitch has to sit perfectly square so all four posts drop into the pucks at the same time and seat right. Get it slightly off and you're lifting, shifting, and guessing over holes you can't see under the base. Removal is the same fight in reverse: you have to lift the whole hitch straight up and level, all four points releasing at once, from the center.
That's a lot of weight and a lot of back strain for one person in a truck bed. We took a different approach.
Removable, Independent Mounting Posts
PullRite OE Series hitches use completely removable mounting posts that work independently of one another. You don't have to square the whole hitch over four blind holes at once. Instead, you set the hitch in place and install one handle at a time at opposite corners to square it up. The lift-it-up, set-it-down, try-again struggle goes away.
Brass Washers That Don't Bind
Each PullRite OE hitch comes with four brass washers. They drop into the factory puck and convert the rectangular puck opening into a clean round hole machined to tight tolerances around our mounting posts. A tighter fit means less chucking, the back-and-forth slop you feel through the truck when a connection is loose.
The washers are brass and copper alloy on purpose. Steel washers against a steel puck rust when they sit out in the weather, and rust eventually binds the hitch in the holes if it's left installed too long. Brass against steel doesn't seize that way. Our washers also drop in individually, just like the handles, so nothing is welded in place to bind. Some competing puck hitches weld steel washers to the bottom of the base, which leaves no room for truck-to-truck variation. We hear about binding from people who own those. With our modular design, we have yet to receive that complaint.
Built for Real-World Truck Variances
Trucks are mass produced, and no two frames come off the line exactly the same. Frame width can vary slightly from one truck to the next. We build extra space into the passenger-side base feet on every OE Series hitch to absorb that variance, so the hitch fits trucks that give other brands fitment trouble.
The Castle Nut: Fine-Tuning the Lock
Our mounting posts use a castle nut, which is premium hardware most brands skip. When you turn the handle into the locked position, you want a tight fit. Any gap between the mounting post cross pin and the puck mount lets the connection chuck under load. The castle nut lets you draw the cross pin up and pull the play out of the joint.
The castle nut has six crenel locations, so you get a usable position every 60 degrees of turn. That's six chances to land on a snug fit. Brands that use a single through-hole give you a position only every 180 degrees, which usually leaves the connection either over-tightened or a little loose. There is no in-between with two holes. Six gives you room to dial it in.
Thicker, Stronger US-Steel Posts
A lot of brands make their mounting posts from lesser steel and run them at 3/4 inch in diameter or less. We make ours from a higher grade of US steel at a full 1 inch. Each post assembly also carries a floating washer that adds support while you tow.
Ford trucks need a little more attention here. Their pucks sit closer together than GM and Ram pucks do, so we supply a thicker washer where the Ford layout calls for it. The mounting posts are the single connection holding your truck to your hitch and trailer, so we build them to take the load. Like every PullRite hitch and component, our OE mounting posts have passed and exceeded SAE J2638 (the industry strength standard for fifth wheel hitches).
A Hitch You Can Actually Lift
Because every mounting post assembly comes off, you can take real weight out of the hitch before you move it. Pull the posts and you drop roughly 10 pounds. Pull a couple of pins and clips to release the hitch head and you drop about 40 more. That's around 50 pounds you don't have to hoist straight up out of the puck mounts the way you do with hitches that come out in one piece.
Other OE Puck System Products
OE Series Rail Adapters
Already own a rail-mounted hitch? Our OE Series Rail Adapters convert it to a puck-mounted one. If you have a PullRite ISR Series hitch (ISR = Industry Standard Rails) or any other brand of industry-standard hitch with spade or tabbed base feet, these adapters let it work like the OE Puck Series hitches above. They break down into four individual pieces, use four independent mounting posts, and require no tools.
OE Series Gooseneck Cam-Action Ball
If your factory puck system includes a center ball mount, you can switch between fifth wheel towing and gooseneck towing. Our patented cam-action OE Series Gooseneck Ball installs and locks into the center ball mount with a twist, no tools needed. It also locks for theft protection, which most brands don't offer, and an optional chain plate is available.
Is the OE Puck System Right for You?
If your truck left the factory with a puck system in the bed, this is the cleanest way to mount a fifth wheel. No drilling, no rails, and a connection you can fine-tune and lift in pieces. From here you can look at the full OE Series lineup and the PullRite hitches that ride on it, including SuperGlide for short-bed automatic sliding, Super 5th for fixed towing, and SuperLite for lighter trailers.