The 5th wheel ball sticks up in my truck bed. Not bumper hitch ball (yes, have one of those too), but a big ball in the middle of my truck bed that tows trailers and our 5th wheel camper.
Had a 2x4 F150 with std trans....dropped my boat in the river in Pgh, did some boating and when done got the truck...backed down the ramp loaded the boat on trailer and tried to yank it out! No chance, my friend went home and got his Chevy dually with a 454 and dragged my truck and boat out. Ramp was really steep by the way!
Mine is only an F150 and has the borg warner t18 instead of the t19 4 speed transmission. Going over 60 miles an hour is a little much and the fuel economy drops off pretty bad. Driven below 55 on 2 lanes it gets 14ish. Most highway speed limits at the time were much lower. 324,000 miles and still going strong. Replaced too many parts to list but it still is going strong.
Very solid torquey engine, those 300 ci ford straight 6's. I drove dad's 95 2wd 5spd out to Utah and back to pick up my brother from college. So torquey that it would actually accelerate, albeit very slowly, from a stop. I forgot to downshift at a toll booth. Oops.
Cool rig for sure. Another 300-6 previous owner/lover here though. Bullet proof and lots of tq. Made to go 55 all day long and spin low rpms. Honestly any other half ton option in that era wasn’t much better for mpg. As far as resale, I used mine for years and sold it for more than I paid- 3400$ at 200+ miles. I bet in another 10-15 years they will go for 5-7 k easy even for a beat up one. I know my 01 super duty 7.3 was cheaper than a similar obs (pre 99)
My last 2campers have been 5th wheels niether one uses a ball. There is a pin on the trailer that slides into a notch on the 5th wheel receiver in the truck bed. Then a clamp closes to hold it in place. Never seen a 5th wheel camper use a ball. I have heard of but never seen an adapter to go from a goose neck ball to a 5th wheel hitch.
Sorry Dave, there is something in my pick up bed that WWW hooks trailers and our camper to to tow them. I notice it when I'm trying to slide something long into the bed or haul furniture etc. and I don't know the actual shape, just that it's in the way. LOL, maybe his wife wrote the ad and knows about as much as I do
I just pulled up behind a newer Ford this evening that had a ball hitch in the bed and thought of this thread.
I had an 81 F 150 4x4 with the 300 six and manual 4 speed. I was fresh out of High school (1989) that thing took 3 solid years of abuse and little maintenance. Those straight 6 4x4s will climb some very steep hills, and the deep snow performance was impressive too. When the motor died( too deep of a water crossing) I sold it to a friend. They fixed the engine and got 10 years of farm truck use out of it. I love old pickups.