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Fire19's avatar
Fire19
Explorer
Jun 10, 2013

Hitching mirror on Pin box.

I just purchased a tonneau cover for my truck when we go camping but now I cannot see the fifth wheel hitch to hook up unless I get out and look. Has anyone had this issue and what did you do? and I am not willing to take off the tonneau cover. Is there a way to mount a mirror the pin box or trailer so I can see?

16 Replies

  • We have a mirror on our Laredo. Doesn't do much for me. I am able to see the hitch when I turn around.
  • We are newbies with a FW and tried the add on mirror. It did not help my DH much, so he raises his seat all the way up so he can see the hitch over the cover rails , aligns the truck, backs up to within a few inches, then I adjust the jacks to the proper height, give him the thumbs up and he slides right in with a satisfying metal clunk! I would say by the 4th hook up we figured it out and we gave each other high fives! I think he could do it alone quite well if he had to by getting out and making the jack adjustments himself.
  • I run my seat up to full height so I can see the hitch skid plate. Then I use the rear view mirror to align the pin with the hitch. It was a little clumsy at first, but now I can usually back right up to it. DW is outside at the landing gear controls and is getting good at getting the pin box at the correct height. I usually don't even have to get out of the truck.

    But I do NOT have a tonneau cover like the OP. Don't know how that would affect my procedure.
  • I just use my outside mirrors to line up with my 5er, back in, WITH TGATE DOWN, get close to the fifth wheel, get out and make sure I'm lined up and at right height, then back onto fifth wheel slowly. Voila.
  • Go to the auto parts store and purchase a rectangular convex mirror. The larger the better. Then get yourself a right angle shelf bracket at the hardware store. Using double sided "3M" mounting tape (it's made for external use on vehicles), attach the mirror to the shelf bracket, and the bracket to the leading edge of the pin box. Adjust the bend so that you can see the hitch as you back under the pin box. Problem solved for about $15. I used this system on my previous fiver, which had no factory installed mirror, for years with great success. There are similar commercial pin-box mirrors made for this function, but they utilize smaller mirrors, don't work as well, and cost a lot more.
  • Take a look at a Cougar-they have a built-in mirror that works OK. Might give you some ideas on how to mount a mirror on your pin box. It would probably need to be a fairly large mirror. Maybe use a camera on your truck instead of a mirror?