The seller was kind enough to deliver the '09 KZ Sportsmen Toyhauler. He did so by using his short box pickup with a slider hitch that was set-up for the trailer in question. After backing my '09 F350 with a long box under the camper and stopping when the king pin was just ahead of the axle, there is only around 7" of clearance between the truck and camper. Because the truck is yet to be equipped with a hitch, it can't hooked-up to see how the clearance would actually work. But by appearances alone, the distance looks to be inadequate.Arrangements have been made to have a standard Pullrite fifth wheel hitch installed, and a used Dexter/Leland 7920 pin box has been acquired. I'm told that the this pin box is 8" longer that the one on the camper right now. That is a Leland AF7910, which is approximately 16" from the camper end of the box to the center of the pin.Am hoping that the additional 8" of clearance will be enough, but an somewhat worried that the longer pin box may strike the top of the bedrail, which is at stock height. My truck is equipped with a truck camper suspension and Firestone Air Bags, and it sits up a bit in the rear. Has anyone experienced a similar issue, or can anyone shed some advise?Thanks in advance, John

Is the 7" of clearance you speak of between the truck bumper and fifth wheel or the top of the box and fifth wheel?Can you post a picture to show your concerns?

The distance is between the truck's rear bumper and the front of the camper.Will try to post.

Personally your wasting money on a longer pin box.A level trailer is a level trailer it just means you will lower the hitch or pull unlevel.All longer will do is put the trailer further back.If your concern is turning clearance the look into a Reese revolution or sidewinder kingpin

fjrjohnny wrote:The seller was kind enough to deliver the '09 KZ Sportsmen Toyhauler. He did so by using his short box pickup with a slider hitch that was set-up for the trailer in question. After backing my '09 F350 with a long box under the camper and stopping when the king pin was just ahead of the axle, there is only around 7" of clearance between the truck and camper. Because the truck is yet to be equipped with a hitch, it can't hooked-up to see how the clearance would actually work. But by appearances alone, the distance looks to be inadequate.Arrangements have been made to have a standard Pullrite fifth wheel hitch installed, and a used Dexter/Leland 7920 pin box has been acquired. I'm told that the this pin box is 8" longer that the one on the camper right now. That is a Leland AF7910, which is approximately 16" from the camper end of the box to the center of the pin.Am hoping that the additional 8" of clearance will be enough, but an somewhat worried that the longer pin box may strike the top of the bedrail, which is at stock height. My truck is equipped with a truck camper suspension and Firestone Air Bags, and it sits up a bit in the rear. Has anyone experienced a similar issue, or can anyone shed some advise?Thanks in advance, John7" is, for most purposes, adequate clearance. The only time you might need/want more is if you boondock a lot and get into rougher country. Personally, I don't think you need a longer pin box whatsoever. With air bags, you can control the level of the truck, but it's not real likely to make much difference in the bed clearance. IF you decide you need more clearance, you may be able to adjust the suspension height by moving the spring shackles to a lower hole (if available) or (again, if available) put the springs on top of the axles. Beyond that, you'd need to go to more extreme measures, the most common being to add a sub-frame between the frame and the spring hangars to raise the entire FW.LyleLater: OK, 7" between bumper and FW is =not= enough, so the longer pin box is likely necessary. A hitch, like the B&W Companion, allows you to move the hitch point fore and aft; others may have the same option.

laknox wrote:fjrjohnny wrote:The seller was kind enough to deliver the '09 KZ Sportsmen Toyhauler. He did so by using his short box pickup with a slider hitch that was set-up for the trailer in question. After backing my '09 F350 with a long box under the camper and stopping when the king pin was just ahead of the axle, there is only around 7" of clearance between the truck and camper. Because the truck is yet to be equipped with a hitch, it can't hooked-up to see how the clearance would actually work. But by appearances alone, the distance looks to be inadequate.Arrangements have been made to have a standard Pullrite fifth wheel hitch installed, and a used Dexter/Leland 7920 pin box has been acquired. I'm told that the this pin box is 8" longer that the one on the camper right now. That is a Leland AF7910, which is approximately 16" from the camper end of the box to the center of the pin.Am hoping that the additional 8" of clearance will be enough, but an somewhat worried that the longer pin box may strike the top of the bedrail, which is at stock height. My truck is equipped with a truck camper suspension and Firestone Air Bags, and it sits up a bit in the rear. Has anyone experienced a similar issue, or can anyone shed some advise?Thanks in advance, John7" is, for most purposes, adequate clearance. The only time you might need/want more is if you boondock a lot and get into rougher country. Personally, I don't think you need a longer pin box whatsoever. With air bags, you can control the level of the truck, but it's not real likely to make much difference in the bed clearance. IF you decide you need more clearance, you may be able to adjust the suspension height by moving the spring shackles to a lower hole (if available) or (again, if available) put the springs on top of the axles. Beyond that, you'd need to go to more extreme measures, the most common being to add a sub-frame between the frame and the spring hangars to raise the entire FW.LyleHis concern is back of truck to front of fifth wheel clearance not clearance to the top of the bed

New camper home, pin box concerns, | Good Sam Community

rhagfo
Explorer III
Oct 24, 2015
fjrjohnny wrote:

Hoping that the two images are visible. They were taken while the king pin was an inch ahead of the rear axle. Looks tight to me. What do you think?

Is this picture with the hitch installed?? If not not valid, install your hitch, the hook up. Then measure, I think you will be surprised how close the 5er can be to the bumper

up2nogood wrote:
laknox wrote:
ford truck guy wrote:
Looking at those pictures , I it will not work.. I would want more clearance myself ,
It looks like the first turn you make , your rear bumper will take out your front compartment door.. Something is not right.

x2!

Lyle

Not a requirement for towing a 5er, get a 5er tail gate.
Our 1st 5th wheel came with a real short pin box and was just about that close to the bumper, I had no options as we were 150 miles from home. We hooked up and went to a cul de sac to turn around needed to make a three point turn, had DW watch close, but no issues.

The critical distance is from the front of the 5er to the pin. That needs to exceed the distance from the pin location in the bed to the corner of the bumper.

This is a SHORT Pin Box!

He can't even put his tailgate down to hitch up
fjrjohnny
Explorer
Oct 23, 2015
Had a Pullrite 16k Super 5th hitch installed yesterday, and brought home the used Dexter 7926 pinbox. With the use of two hydraulic jacks, various pieces of lumber, and a lot of muscle power, was able to get the pin box mounted on my own.

Hooked the camper up this afternoon for the first time, and found that the combination allows for a full 90 degree turn without the camper striking the truck's cab, or the pin box hitting the bedrail. So, that was promising. There is also about 5 1/2" of bedrail to camper clearance with the hitch in it's lowest position. The storage compartment door on the camper easily clears the truck, but the tailgate (which is not mounted at this time) may not open fully. Will have to try it out tomorrow.

During my very limited test drive, it was noted that the fuel economy seems decreased from the mileage that was obtained while hauling our truck camper. The camper may also be an inch or so high at the front nose, but will have to find a level area to know for sure.
justafordguy
Explorer
Oct 23, 2015
Looks like the overhang of that 5th wheel is just really short. I have basically the same truck and mine has enough room to leave the tailgate down and still be able to walk between the gate and camper.
laknox
Nomad
Oct 20, 2015
up2nogood wrote:
laknox wrote:
ford truck guy wrote:
Looking at those pictures , I it will not work.. I would want more clearance myself ,
It looks like the first turn you make , your rear bumper will take out your front compartment door.. Something is not right.

x2!

Lyle

He can't even put his tailgate down to hitch up

That's not as rare as you might think, from what I've read here.

Lyle
fjrjohnny
Explorer
Oct 20, 2015
That is 17" from the bolts and to the center of the king pin.
fjrjohnny
Explorer
Oct 20, 2015
Have located a used pin box that is 17" from the outer row of attachment bolts on the kingpin. This will add about 8" and make the distance from the bumper to the camper about 16". If that is the case, it should do the trick. Will know this Thursday and advise.

The next issue of course, will be the distance from the top of the bed rail to the camper. As was said earlier, will have to wait until the camper is actually hooked-up, and then go from there. Am hoping that the camper is not in a "missile launching" position.

As to the tire/axle looking off-center. Because this truck has such a heavy duty suspension, there is an illusion that the axle is not centered in the wheel well. When the weight of the truck camper is on the truck, the axle settles-in where it should. Great observation though!

Thanks to everyone, and will advise on Thursday.
cummins2014
Explorer
Oct 19, 2015
laknox wrote:
ford truck guy wrote:
Looking at those pictures , I it will not work.. I would want more clearance myself ,
It looks like the first turn you make , your rear bumper will take out your front compartment door.. Something is not right.

x2!

Lyle

He can't even put his tailgate down to hitch up
cummins2014
Explorer
Oct 19, 2015
fjrjohnny wrote:

Hoping that the two images are visible. They were taken while the king pin was an inch ahead of the rear axle. Looks tight to me. What do you think?

Its too tight, I have more clearance then that with the tailgate down when hitching up. My tailgate its 17" from the front of the bumper to the far edge of the tailgate when its down. With what you have in the picture you can't put your tailgate down to hook up . Something is certainly not right. Can't imagine the pin box sitting back that far ,its hard to tell in the pictures, but if you indeed have that pin lined up just in front of the axle center its a problem.

IMO you need to get the hitch installed in the correct position , and then go from there, no sense guessing where everything should be until then.
laknox
Nomad
Oct 19, 2015
ford truck guy wrote:
Looking at those pictures , I it will not work.. I would want more clearance myself ,
It looks like the first turn you make , your rear bumper will take out your front compartment door.. Something is not right.

x2!

Lyle
ford_truck_guy
Nomad
Oct 19, 2015
Looking at those pictures , I it will not work.. I would want more clearance myself ,
It looks like the first turn you make , your rear bumper will take out your front compartment door.. Something is not right.