Firehawk II 5th hitch

[Darwin Maring]

Check out the Putnam Firehawk II 5th wheel hitch. It removes from the bed to give room for hauling stuff in your truck unlike the Scamp hitch that is always in the pay and poking holes in things.

Item 15053 and 15059 would be for the Scamp.

http://www.putnamhitch.com/products_fifthw...html#firehawkii

[Brian B-P]

That's a really interesting system, with lots of configuration options. Good find, Darwin!

My guess, however, is that there is only one size of ball, and that it is 2-5/16"... and it isn't a common ball-on-a-stud so you can't change it. Scamp chose to use a 2" ball, which is perfectly adequate for the purpose, but not commonly used (heck, maybe not used by anybody else) for in-the-truck-bed hitches.

If there is this compatibility issue (i.e. no way to couple a Scamp 19' to the Firehawk hitch ball), then there's also a fix: change the coupler on the Scamp. Again, there's nothing wrong with the stock one, it just isn't the common size choice.

Of course there's also another way: build your own ball mount (with a 2" ball, or better, a ball mount with common 1" hole to use any size ball), and make it removable like the Firehawk.

Height is worth considering, too. The Firehawk II mounts the ball surprisingly high for this style of hitch; usually the base of the ball is at or near the bed floor. The Scamp is set up assuming the ball is quite a bit higher than the floor, as well, so I think it's a good potential match. The gooseneck trailers I've seen with ball couplers usually have the coupler on an adjustable leg, to suit the ball height of the particular truck to be used; however, the Scamp coupler is in a fixed position.

[Darwin Maring]

I have asked all the questions to the maker of the hitch and will post their reply here.

If I can get the 2inch ball on that hitch I'm going to purchase it and mount it in my truck.

[Nita F.]

Darwin,

While researching Scamp 5th wheels 2 years ago, I found a site where someone was using this hitch for his Scamp 5th wheel. I wish I could remember where I saw it. Possibly it could have been on this site, pre-hack. I'll look tonight to see if I saved it.

Nita

[Nita F.]

Darwin,

I found the pictures of the other Firehawk II set up in the Scampers Yahoo Group in the photo section. Look for photo album #85 titled:
Scamp 5er hitch mods
By: stephenludley

The pictures were taken in 2005 but they show his set up.

Nita

[Darwin Maring]

I can not get to the photo. Will you send me the address to get there?

Thanks, DR

[Nita F.]

Darwin,

I don't think you can access the pictures without becoming a member of the Scampers Yahoo Group. Since you own a Scamp it will be another good source of information for you. Here is the link to the photos:
http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/scampers/...amp;m=t&o=5

Nita

I can not get to the photo. Will you send me the address to get there?

Thanks, DR

[Darwin Maring]

Nita,

Many thanks, that is exactly what I needed.
DR

[Brian B-P]

For those who are not willing to go through the process of joining the Yahoo group...
The setup shown by Stephen does involve changing the Scamp's coupler, and while he was at it he also made the coupler a different style, and mounted it on an extending arm. It looks to me like it is lower than the stock setup, as well as presumably fitting a 2-5/16" ball.

Here are Stephen's photos of his coupler setup, retracted and extended:




Thanks to Stephen Ludley of the Yahoo group for posting his mods, and Nita for finding them for us. I hope it's okay that I extracted these two images for this forum.

[ddayton]

Here is another option for a good in-bed hitch that is removable for full use of the bed. I use it with my Scamp 19’.

http://tinyurl.com/mga56

Yes, you will have to join the SCAMPERSOVERFLOWII group to view the photos – but it is worth it. You can view not only the hitch but also considerations for installing any similar hitch in a Toyota Tacoma composite (plastic) bed.

I feel that this is a better hitch than most as it uses a ‘standard’ receiver. This gives you the option of using your hitch ball bar in your standard (below bumper) receiver. Since I use an Air Shocker hitch for my Scamp it can also be used when pulling another heavy conventional trailer, such as a boat trailer.

Don

[Ed Felker]

Don:

I had sent you a PM about the hitch receiver. Where did you get it? Is it custom built?

Thanks.

[Brian B-P]

Don,
That's a very nice setup... thanks for sharing it!

I have the same questions as Ed... it looks like at least the receiver crossbeam is custom (or a custom mod of a conventional rear-mounted receiver frame), and the bed rails are presumably stock fifth-wheel system parts, but are the side arch supports custom as well, or are they adapted from the fifth-wheel system?