Fifth Wheel Hitch for Ram 6.4 Box

pyoung47 wrote:
I'm always puzzled at the number of folks who have neither a sliding hitch or 4 x 4 and have never needed either. Sometimes, I wonder if these comments are not entered by tow companies and auto body/window glass people. I have both and use them frequently. The Pullrite is the standard of comparison, but it does offer some disadvantages. It's very heavy, you must couple/de-couple at a relatively straight angle, and If the truck is tilted at a different angle than the fiver, it's sometimes tough. However, I wouldn't own anything else after twelve years of towing all over the US, including Alaska, and Canada. Two wheel drive trucks are for fifties folks.

Its nice to see you mention the disadvantages to the Pullrite, some seem to deny the facts about the Superglide.

Good friend of mine finally got tired of the hassle of a Superglide , and went with the Andersen, and couldn't be happier, as am I with it .

There are just some simple facts about a slider, and there is no way getting around them like the automatic Superglide it can be a beast in more ways then one , difficulty in hitching ,unhitching, removing from truck etc. The manual slider , is just that , a manual slider, and a heavy beast also. Some don't like to hear all this ,but the Andersen solves all the convention hitch issues.

BobbyvCOLO wrote:
I have a Ram 2500 short bed and use the Andersen Ultimate hitch and have no issues. The nice thing is it only weight around 37 lbs and it's a piece of cake to remove and install.

No need for a slider with the Andersen, I would highly advice the OP to go with the Andersen hitch, and forget about a slider or a conventional hitch for that matter.

The deal here is once you have gone to the Andersen how more sense it makes over a conventional hitch.

MudChucker wrote:
Worth mentioning that while I have a slider hitch, I've never had to slide it and I have the mega cab with the 5 foot box (not a ram box)

The Megacab has the 6'4" box, the same as any short box HD Ram.

OP, I have the 6'4" box as well and have a manual sliding hitch. My fiver also has the rounded front cap, and the cap of the trailer has touched the rear of the cab while backing in to tight spots with the hitch in the towing (forward) position. If I put the hitch in the rear (maneuvering) position, there is no danger of hitting the cab and the pin box easily clears the tailgate as well.

So my take is that you may not need to use the slider all of the time, but there will likely be a time when you need it. I would get a slider for those times.

I'm always puzzled at the number of folks who have neither a sliding hitch or 4 x 4 and have never needed either. Sometimes, I wonder if these comments are not entered by tow companies and auto body/window glass people. I have both and use them frequently. The Pullrite is the standard of comparison, but it does offer some disadvantages. It's very heavy, you must couple/de-couple at a relatively straight angle, and If the truck is tilted at a different angle than the fiver, it's sometimes tough. However, I wouldn't own anything else after twelve years of towing all over the US, including Alaska, and Canada. Two wheel drive trucks are for fifties folks.

I have a Ram 2500 short bed and use the Andersen Ultimate hitch and have no issues. The nice thing is it only weight around 37 lbs and it's a piece of cake to remove and install.

I currently have a Ram shot bed had with a slide hitch. I have been towing two different fifth wheels and have never used the slide. I believe this is due to the design of the front cap on the fifth wheels. I'm going to sell our hitch.

Me Again wrote:

The front of the 5th wheel mostly dictates if you need a slider, plus how careful you are with backing.

If you have the RAM puck or willing to install them, this is a good hitch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebnUyxo7KX8

I have this hitch in my 2017 RAM 6.5 short bed. I need it getting into the driveway at home. It gets real close backing into my storage space, and it's pretty hard trying to keep an eye on how close the corners are getting. To slide back, I just flip the handle, squeeze the brake controller levers together so the brakes lock and slowly move forward. Only CON on this hitch is that the bottom half is heavy.

Otherwise, very easy to use, no chucking, see when you are locked in to the king pin, and you can back up at an angle - being careful of course to not hit with the lowered tailgate.

Lubricate the rails with white lithium grease.

More concern to me is going to be the OPs weights. 14K pound fiver behind a 2500? Good luck on that!

Worth mentioning that while I have a slider hitch, I've never had to slide it and I have the mega cab with the 5 foot box (not a ram box)

I have a 2017 Ram with the 6'4" box. I don't have a slider hitch. I have a new 2019 5th wheel (FR Salem Hemisphere) with a rounded and tapered nose though. The nose shape on your 5th wheel will dictate if you need a slider or not. A B&W hitch was recommended to me by a well respected member on here and what I purchased. I have no issues with it at all and recommend the B&W brand hitch as well.