Leveling 5th wheel question

Lots of variables but I can turn full lock forward without contacting the cab with an old square front trailer. But it depends on your particular setup.

idtrout1 wrote:
I have followed this issue a lot on another forum and here is what I have heard. Raising the ball on the anderson hitch "will not" solve your problem about hitting the side rails on your truck because it is the hitch inside the box hitting the rails not the trailer. So there are 2 ways to mount the block on your 5th wheel kingpin. When you mount it with the kingpin behind the ball on the you have more clearance from the cab but if you try to make any turn aroung 40 degrees or more you will hit the rails. So what folks are doing is mounting the bracket on the kingpin so that the kingpin is in front of the ball. Basically moving the trailer closer to the cab. By doing this it will give you approx 85 degrees of turning radius. There is a lot of discussion on this subject on the GrandDesign forum. I also have the anderson ultimate hitch in my short box truck I run it with the ball set on the middle hole and have the kingpin so that it is in front of the ball on the hitch.

By switching the adapter so the ball is to the rear of the pin, I think I am moving the whole trailer about 8" closer to the cab. I would think that I would be dangerously close on even a moderate turn. Am I missing something?

idtrout1 wrote:
I have followed this issue a lot on another forum and here is what I have heard. Raising the ball on the anderson hitch "will not" solve your problem about hitting the side rails on your truck because it is the hitch inside the box hitting the rails not the trailer. So there are 2 ways to mount the block on your 5th wheel kingpin. When you mount it with the kingpin behind the ball on the you have more clearance from the cab but if you try to make any turn aroung 40 degrees or more you will hit the rails. So what folks are doing is mounting the bracket on the kingpin so that the kingpin is in front of the ball. Basically moving the trailer closer to the cab. By doing this it will give you approx 85 degrees of turning radius. There is a lot of discussion on this subject on the GrandDesign forum. I also have the anderson ultimate hitch in my short box truck I run it with the ball set on the middle hole and have the kingpin so that it is in front of the ball on the hitch.

Ditto. With the adapter flipped the other way the pinbox mounts hit the tailgate.

I have followed this issue a lot on another forum and here is what I have heard. Raising the ball on the anderson hitch "will not" solve your problem about hitting the side rails on your truck because it is the hitch inside the box hitting the rails not the trailer. So there are 2 ways to mount the block on your 5th wheel kingpin. When you mount it with the kingpin behind the ball on the you have more clearance from the cab but if you try to make any turn aroung 40 degrees or more you will hit the rails. So what folks are doing is mounting the bracket on the kingpin so that the kingpin is in front of the ball. Basically moving the trailer closer to the cab. By doing this it will give you approx 85 degrees of turning radius. There is a lot of discussion on this subject on the GrandDesign forum. I also have the anderson ultimate hitch in my short box truck I run it with the ball set on the middle hole and have the kingpin so that it is in front of the ball on the hitch.

If you raise both the hitch head and the pin box, that should keep the front of the trailer at the same height and might buy you a little more room to keep the pin box clear of the bed rails.

This assumes the overhang has sufficient clearance already.

It should have no significant impact on towing.

IdaD wrote:
Which way is the adapter flipped? If your pinbox is close to hitting the bedrail you can switch the adapter around which would move the trailer forward and presumably move the pinbox forward and away from the bedrail.

That works also but then he may have clearance issues with the cab on his truck in a tight turn situation.

IBcarguy wrote:
I've got a new Jayco 5th wheel and I'm using a Andersen Ultimate hitch. The trailer is just about level however the edge of the pin box is very close to the bed rail when in a tight turn into a driveway or when the trailer is crooked to the truck. I don't want to raise the upper ball one hole and loose my level rig. The pin box has several mounting holes and I think I can adjust the pinbox to set closer to the bottom of the trailer. Then I think I can raise the ball one hole, giving the pinbox more clearance to the bed rail without changing the height of the front of the trailer. It sounds a little confusing but my son came up with this and after explaining it to me like I was a six year old, it made sense. Question is does changing the position (up/down) of the pin box in the mounting bracket effect anything? I don't think it will change anything but I'm no expert.

The only thing it will affect is the height...absolutely no affect on how it all handles. Raising the pin and then raising your hitch sounds like a good way to give you more clearance.

In your original post you stated that the pin box is too close to the bed rails in tight turns. Flipping the adapter will solve the issue. You have a new 5th wheel so I doubt that making this change will cause issues with the front cap making contact with the cab of the truck.
I have a short box Ram 2500 and also use the Anderson hitch. I flipped the adapter, moving the ball behind the pin which solved the issue of getting too close to the sides and tailgate. I also raised the pin box one notch to level the trailer and I still have 6" of clearance between the bed rails and the trailer.

IBcarguy wrote:
Jerry, it's a little hard to explain what I'm asking but I think you got it. If I raise the ball, then lower the trailer by dropping the bracket down over the pinbox, I'm creating more clearance from the pinbox to the bed rail. I just didn't know if I was changing any of the dynamics of the hitch/pinbox by doing this.

Yes, I understand what you are trying to do, and it may work, if it is close to clearing, and just needs a little more. It should not change the towing dynamics, as most hitches/pin boxes are designed to be raised/lowered.

Sometimes a single pic, explains more, than many words! :B

Jerry

Remember I am using a Andersen hitch and I'm going to raise the upper ball, which raises the pinbox. By adjusting the pinbox in the bracket, it will drop the whole trailer box lower over the pinbox, which lowers the trailer but not the pinbox. The key here is raising the upper ball to create more clearance to the bed rail.

The adapter has the ball forward of the pin by 4". Switching it around will move it a total of 8" which would be too close to the cab on tight turns. Also, it wouldn't change the distance from the pinbox to the bed rails, it would just move everything forward.