Fifth Airborne Sidewinder problem

Question

Just installed topic title by my lonesome without forklift, etc.
Anyone wanting to know how pm me.

But that's not why I am posting. Ran into a small, actually large problem when done.

The distance between bedrails and fifth wheel is 3.5 inches higher than with my old one which had already made the front nose high. Axles have already been flipped. Although there are holes left in the wings to adjust the pinbox they can't be used because the pivot of pinbox would be above the wings and destroy them.

The hitch is already at its lowest setting.

Cutting the wings would solve the problem but I'm sure that's a no-no.

Any thoughts before uninstalling and returning?

greende · Answer

You may have to put a lift kit on the 5er. A trailer shop can weld a spacer to jack it up some. May need to take the sidewinder back off :(.

dayle1 · Answer

Can you lower the hitch in the truck bed? When I needed to lower my hitch, I had to modify the hitch crossmember at the bottom in order to use the highest holes since the bottom contacted part of the slider mechanism.

Some people have trimmed the outer portion of the brackets that hold the pin box, but that is because they can hit the sides of the pickup bed on tight turns and they only cut the horizontal portion, not the vertical part. Not sure how much you would have to cut off to clear the Sidewinder.

beaker · Answer

Some people have trimmed the outer portion of the brackets that hold the pin box, but that is because they can hit the sides of the pickup bed on tight turns and they only cut the horizontal portion, not the vertical part.

The "outer portion of the brackets that hold the pin box" are called the wings. If I could cut 3" off horizontally, that would allow the turret and pinbox to install 3" higher solving my problem.

But I need "someone in the know" to tell me that it is structually sound to do it.

dayle1 · Answer

Beaker wrote:Some people have trimmed the outer portion of the brackets that hold the pin box, but that is because they can hit the sides of the pickup bed on tight turns and they only cut the horizontal portion, not the vertical part.The "outer portion of the brackets that hold the pin box" are called the wings. If I could cut 3" off horizontally, that would allow the turret and pinbox to install 3" higher solving my problem. But I need "someone in the know" to tell me that it is structually sound to do it.I can't imagine that removing 3" would be OK unless new wings were welded on higher.  But call Reese, they must have had this issue already.  The Sidewinder/Revolution is available as a factory option on some brands and models, so this shouldn't be a surprise issue.

jbc28 · Answer

I have the 19k version. The problem I ran into was the top of the "air bag housing" would contact the underside of the trailer if I went up higher in the mounting holes. I had to modify my hitch head to lower it to compensate for the additional height of the sidewinder.

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