short bed - sliding hitch vs sidewinder?
Newbie to 5th wheel arena. I'm in the throes of figuring out my next rig. I'm planning to go with a short bed "half-ton" (nay-sayers, please hold your tongue this time...already hashed that out ...
Forum Discussion
I've had both manual slider and sidewinder, sidewinder still on.
Trouble with a manual slider is you will not use when you need to.
Seems to me if you back it in there, you should be able to get the truck back again. There is a wedge near the sidewinder pin that has to be close to in line with the hitch.
If I got into a situation that you describe, I would loosen the 4 bolts on the turret and turn it so that the sidewinder is lined up.
Another solution would be to take off the wedge, hook up as a normal hitch, and when straighten out, put the wedge back on.
There is also the option of leaving the wedge out and putting couple of bolts back near turret which turns the sidewinder close to a conventional hitch.
And no, it does not feel like a bumper pull and also is easier backing up.
Trouble with a manual slider is you will not use when you need to.
I saw somewhere that the sidewinder can have an issue with trying to dock when you need to angle the truck up to the camper? (like a tight spot where you can't straighten out the truck in front of camper).
Any of you run into this?
Seems to me if you back it in there, you should be able to get the truck back again. There is a wedge near the sidewinder pin that has to be close to in line with the hitch.
If I got into a situation that you describe, I would loosen the 4 bolts on the turret and turn it so that the sidewinder is lined up.
Another solution would be to take off the wedge, hook up as a normal hitch, and when straighten out, put the wedge back on.
There is also the option of leaving the wedge out and putting couple of bolts back near turret which turns the sidewinder close to a conventional hitch.
And no, it does not feel like a bumper pull and also is easier backing up.
