i am in the process of purchasing a Jayco 26.5 Fifth wheel trailer. I currently own a short box 5.5 ft toyota tundra pick up. My dealer is saying all I need is the Sidewinder Pin Box for the fifth wheel and a regular hitch for the pickup bed. I am worried about 90 degree turns. Is it required to have both a sidewinder pin for the trailer and a sidewinder hitch for the truck bed? The dealer is saying no but in the same sentence he stated to be cautious making 90 degree turns. Please advise is you have any experience with this situation. We are supposed to pick up the trailer Saturday.

I don't know anything about the Sidewinder. I can tell you the Pullrite Superglide 12k auto hitch would allow you to get to a 90 degree turn.

Not to be the bearer of bad news, but you do not have a good tow vehicle to tow a FW of that size. Will it do it? Probably, but you will have payload issues, maybe over RAWR, maybe over tire rating. In addition, to answer your question 5.5' truck beds, generally are not designed for FW use. A sidewinder pin box will help. I would not use this truck, if it were me. You can decide, for yourself, but any 25 series truck, with a 6.5'/8' bed would be a much better choice.Jerry

Look at the Anderson ultimate to save some payload and a ton of money. They work great Chris

I would expect you to be at or more likely over your RAWR with just the dry trailer sitting the hitch, let alone any cargo or water in the trailer or truck (or passengers for that matter). If you're going to try doing it you should look at your tires and make sure you stay within the ratings on them - might need to upgrade. Might need to upgrade the suspension too but at some point you need to decide when it makes more sense to just upgrade to a heavy duty truck.

You need a Sidewinder or a PullRight Superglide to overcome the challenge of having a super short bed truck. Forget about the 90° thing...sure folks can get there but they are not really doing anything at 90° but twisting the trailer...no real backwards motion can be achieved if you are pushing 90° on the pin. With the CrewMax you may hit the cab at much less than 90° hence the need for a hitch that is either always sliding back when you are turning (Pullrite) or a hitch that physically moves the pivot point back (Sidewinder)...Tons of people tow a fifth wheel with a Tundra...most are overloading the truck. Many add airbags to the rear and LT tires as replacements for the factory P rated tires. These mods will help but you may be close on your axle ratings. We have a forum member who pulls a fiver with a Tundra...he may chime in with some other tips. Thanks and good luck no matter what you decide. Thanks!Jeremiah

short bed hitch and pin requirements | Good Sam Community

16 Replies

phillyg
Explorer II
Apr 15, 2016
Just for clarification (since everyone seems hung up on my 90 degree statement), my point was intended to mean that you could (not that you will) get to 90 degrees if necessary, something you cannot do without a slider.
alexleblanc
Explorer
Apr 15, 2016
if you're used to towing a travel trailer then its pretty much second nature not to approach 90 degrees anyways, plus that's fairly hard on the suspension.
xtech
Explorer
Apr 15, 2016
As a Tundra owner pulling a 30 ft Cougar 5th wheel I can tell you you will be over payload on the truck. My Tundra is a reg cab long box with a payload of 1820 lbs which I figured would be ok, but when I weighted the truck with wife and I, full fuel and 5th wheel hitch truck weighted 6000 lbs leaving us 1200 lbs payload. First 5th wheel we had had 1500 dry pin weight, traded to one with 1040 hitch weight. We are usually 2 to 400 lbs over payload. Your payload will be about 400 lbs less than mine. Only modification I did to truck was Timbrens. Truck handles it very well. Best towing experience I ever had and have been towing for 40 years. Very stable and for gas engine lots of power. Just got home from Arizona, have pulled it down there last 2 years and all over BC. Having said all that I do not like being over legal weights especially when I go to BC where they enforce rv weights so am reluctantly thinking of 3/4 ton. If you don't mind being overweight you will find it a great tow vehicle in spite of the uninformed who call it a toy truck.
Dayle1
Explorer II
Apr 15, 2016
In this case your dealer is pretty much right on the hitch. The sidewinder and standard hitch is the best option. Minimum weight and the back of the pin box can't hit the sides or back of the truck bed. That is because the pivot point is relocated 20+ inches behind the truck axle.

Everyone needs to be cautious approaching 90 degrees. As already stated, 90 degrees doesn't accomplish much, you can't move the trailer, just rotate it around the trailer axles. It also puts a lot of stress on the trailer suspension. Every setup, even long bed trucks, you get to 90 degrees, the trailer isn't really moving, so you back up a little more and BAM, the trailer will still hit the truck, just at a different point.
rhagfo
Explorer III
Apr 15, 2016
Fire Instructor wrote:
I was in a Toyota dealership last weekend looking at a new RAV4 for the wife to drive during the week. They must have had 5 or 6 signs hung bragging about the Tundra pulling the space shuttle, but when you look at the "pull", that's all it was. No pin or tongue weight, other than the tow-bar.

X2

Please post the year and weights of the Jayco, might be a decent fit.
Earl_E
Explorer
Apr 15, 2016
Can't really say about the Tundra but forget the 90 degrees. Think about it. Where can you go with 90 degrees? First thing to learn in backing up a fiver is, in tight situations, to go back and forth and work you way in. Learned that from a trucker and it changed the way I backed up my fiver.
jerem0621
Explorer II
Apr 15, 2016
cmeade wrote:
If the bed is 5'6" and the hitch is in the middle of the bed then distance from the pin latch area to cab is 2' 9" and latch area to tailgate is 2'9"??? If the 5ver is 8' wide and pin is centered on that width then it would be pin to each side is about 4'. Anybody see the math problem with a 90 degree turn???? BTW use of a slider will probably require leaving the tailgate at home??

Happens everyday. CrewMax Tundras are pulling fivers all over the country. Standard sliders will not work...needs to be an auto slider like a Pullrite or a Demco or a sidewinder will have to be used.

Thanks!

Jeremiah
cmeade
Explorer
Apr 15, 2016
If the bed is 5'6" and the hitch is in the middle of the bed then distance from the pin latch area to cab is 2' 9" and latch area to tailgate is 2'9"??? If the 5ver is 8' wide and pin is centered on that width then it would be pin to each side is about 4'. Anybody see the math problem with a 90 degree turn???? BTW use of a slider will probably require leaving the tailgate at home??
Fire_Instructor
Explorer
Apr 15, 2016
I was in a Toyota dealership last weekend looking at a new RAV4 for the wife to drive during the week. They must have had 5 or 6 signs hung bragging about the Tundra pulling the space shuttle, but when you look at the "pull", that's all it was. No pin or tongue weight, other than the tow-bar.
Dave_and_Sue
Explorer
Apr 15, 2016
Use the Sidewinder and reg pin box. Make sure you get the lock out plate that's made for your brand of hitch.They come with a"one size fits all".Just tell your dealer to order it with the correct plate. It will work fine on your 5.5 bed. I had one in a Ram 1500 and went over 10,000 miles with it.