Hooking and unhooking of axis

Also, some 5th wheel hitches don't pivot side to side, only front to back

If you are at a 45 degree angle to the truck when you hitch up, how will you get the trailer out? Remember, that when you pull forward, the trailer will cut inside the trucks tracks by quiet a bit.

Sounds like you will be better off finding a storage yard.

Ken

A fifth wheel reacts a lot more slowly to TV input to begin with. Meaning you have to move a lot farther with the TV to make a direction change to the 5er. Maybe you should look at TT's. You can back them into tight spots quicker and easier with a lot less truck maneuvering to get it there.

Gjac wrote:
I currently back my Class A next to the side of my house,and it is tight to back into do to the garage on one side a tree and and sloped ground on the other side. My question is if I switched to a 5th wheel is there a tolerance of how straight the truck to the 5th wheel has to be to hook up and unhook? Also how level does the ground have to be to hook and unhook?

There are three things to keep in mind.

First - Hitch style: If you go with a sliding hitch, and I will reference the Pullrite Superglide since I know it, You need to be within 14 degrees of center. This is because the capture plate on the pin box has a wedge on it positioned right behind the pin.

Second - Trailer height when hooking: With most hitches you can hook up directly from the side or 90 degrees from center if necessary. Having the trailer at the right height is important so you slightly lift the front of the trailer with the hitch/truck when hooking up so you do not put extreme lateral pressure on the legs of the fifth wheel.

Third - Chocking the wheels: This is very important! Quality chocks placed securely under tires, front and back on both sides. This will keep the trailer from spinning sideways when you are trying to get under it.

As for uneven ground, most quality hitches pivot both front to back and left to right. The helps mitigate the uneven ground problems.

My concern is when I back it into the driveway to get it next to the house I may be at a 45 degree angle with a slope right where the truck would be. I have been looking at shorter 5th wheels 24-28 ft. I noticed that the ball hitches like the Anderson hitch would seem to allow more movement pivoting around the ball vs the flat disc on the 5th wheel trapped tight by the locking jaws of the more common hitches. Would this type cause less binding on unlevel ground?

My non sliding Reese can hook/unhook at almost any angle.

First thing...all hitches are not created equal. Some will hook/unhook at most any angle, even with truck at different height side to side. The B&W hitches work well for this, as do some others.

The other thing if you need to turn very short, right before unhooking, you will put some bind on the FW suspension and tires.

Jerry

If you have an auto-slider hitch, the truck and trailer centerlines have be parallel to within about 5 degrees. Any other type of hitch will allow you to hookup at almost any angle. I have never found unlevel ground to be a problem. I suppose if the truck and trailer were sitting on seriously different planes that could be a problem.