Anyone with a Grand Design Reflection? (Hitch questions)
I'm retiring (for the second time) in February and my wife and I are considering a move up from our travel trailer to a fifth wheel for extended travel. When we list all of our requirements and compare them to smaller (read "not too heavy") fifth wheels, we keep coming back to the Grand Design Reflection 303RLS. The tow vehicle is a 2013 GMC Sierra 2500HD SLT 2WD crew cab/short bed with the Duramax/Allison combo. My questions are these:
1. If you have any of the Reflection models and a short bed, have you found that you needed (or wish you had) a slider hitch? I know newer units from many of the manufacturers have extended pin boxes and rounded caps, so I'm not sure how the clearances work out in this case. It seems to me that the old width of overhang/2 + 4" for pin-to-cab clearance is mainly for square-front trailers and/or those without extended pin boxes.
2. With the new trucks (especially the Chevy/GMC HDs) being so much taller than their predecessors, have you had any problems with either getting the trailer to sit level when hitched or with overhang-to-bed rail clearance? In other words, if you set the hitch plate low enough for the trailer to sit level, is the bed rail clearance too little?
I want to do as much homework as possible before spending significant amounts of money.
Thanks in advance,
Rob
1. If you have any of the Reflection models and a short bed, have you found that you needed (or wish you had) a slider hitch? I know newer units from many of the manufacturers have extended pin boxes and rounded caps, so I'm not sure how the clearances work out in this case. It seems to me that the old width of overhang/2 + 4" for pin-to-cab clearance is mainly for square-front trailers and/or those without extended pin boxes.
2. With the new trucks (especially the Chevy/GMC HDs) being so much taller than their predecessors, have you had any problems with either getting the trailer to sit level when hitched or with overhang-to-bed rail clearance? In other words, if you set the hitch plate low enough for the trailer to sit level, is the bed rail clearance too little?
I want to do as much homework as possible before spending significant amounts of money.
Thanks in advance,
Rob
