Short bed or long bed?

poncho62 wrote:
There are the 6 1/2 ft beds and then there are the 5ft beds that many of the crew cab trucks have.......With the 5ft bed, a slider would be a good idea

Are we interjecting 1/2 ton truck options just to totally confuse the guy? :h

I believe he said he was looking at a Dodge 3500

Going forward, you are limited by the steering wheel cut, not the bed length. Almost all cars and light trucks have a steering wheel cut of about 35-37 degrees. With a 90 degree turn, the maximum angle between the truck and fiver will be in the range of 45 degrees.

I've used short beds for 25 years and never had contact. Started before sliding hitches existed and did fine for 14 years. Then 11 years with a manual slider that I never used. Recently switched back to the fixed legs. With the notched front caps on today's fivers, there is almost no need for a slider. What I learned long ago is that most tight maneuvers can be solved with a little more jockeying back and forth. I did have one of those situations, tried several times w/o using the slider, then nothing better with the slider, finally went back to the towing position and completed the maneuver.

Or you can get an 8ft bed or an auto slider or the Sidewinder and have no worries, but you still have to pay attention while backing, jack-knife past 90 degrees and there will still be truck to fiver contact. Finally, sharper angles result in more stress on the fiver suspension and tires. I wonder how many blow-outs are related to earlier stress on the tires. BTW, that short bed with a flat front fiver will still jack-knife sharper than is possible with any TT setup.

Trackrig wrote:
How many long bed trucks have you seen w/dinged cabs hauling a 5ver?
How many short bed trucks have you seen w/dinged cabs hauling a 5ver?

After seeing several at Quartzsite this year I started taking pictures of them for my brother who keeps thinking about a short bed when he buys a new truck.

Bill

Now that's funny!..:B

Do you take pictures of short bed p/ups with *NO* dinged cabs?.:R.:S

Manual or Automatic slider = *NO* problem with a short bed.

Short bed or long bed?..:?

Whatever rings *YOUR* chimes!.;)

Had both - didn't need or use the long bed, so it's been short bed SRW (non-dually) for a lot of years.

Be glad to pose for a *NO* dings, *NO* broken windows (EVER) photo..:C

BTW - been to Q lots of times (and other campgrounds free or fee), and never seen those dinged short-bed pickups.

Must be folks that just *KNOW* they don't need a slider (don't know "Murphy" either) - and/or too cheap to buy one, ROTFL.

But good luck with your photo essay anyway..:W


~

Get the whole truck, a long bed. Anything less is....... less.

Check out the Reese Sidewinder http://www.reeseprod.com/content/products.aspx?lvl=2&parentid=7300&catid=7380∂=0 for short bed trucks.
The Sidewinder eliminates the need for a sliding hitch.

rjxj wrote:
I didnt want that long of a truck so I bought a short bed Ram 3500 crew. The trailer is 101 inch wide flat front. Hitch is a Pull rite 18,000 auto slider. It has about 8 inches of clearance at 90 degrees. It slides back 14 inches. I'm about 2 inches behind axle center and I have room for a Honda 3000 with a box built over it and will probably get a cross bed rear opening storage box.
More room would be nice but I dont like that long of a truck and I just like the look of a shorter bed truck. If you want more storage room and not concerned with the length while parking the truck when not towing get the long bed.
If you get a long bed, in theory you could probably buy a used hitch on Craigslist for a couple hundred bucks. My auto slider was $1,300 plus the picture frame, low profile feet, Capture plate and Dodge through bed puck kit. Everything was almost $2,700.
Then you get into the height of the trailer vs the truck. The pull Rite auto slider is just below the top of my bed. So an 8 ft with a regular hitch would drop your hitch height 2 or 3 inches, maybe 4 but I'm not sure but it may also drop your clearance from bed rails to 5er. I raised my trailer 7 inches with an axle flip and 16 inch tire upgrade but I'm sure I also have at least 8 inch of bed rail to 5er clearance.
I was concerned with the height but it doesn't matter if its 12 ft 3 in or 12 ft 10 in. What it did do is get me a lot of clearance for not dragging tail or hitting stuff when offroad.
They dont make it easy on us, always having to decide on how to blow money.

If you didnt buy the truck yet, get it with the puck kit.

I didnt want that long of a truck so I bought a short bed Ram 3500 crew. The trailer is 101 inch wide flat front. Hitch is a Pull rite 18,000 auto slider. It has about 8 inches of clearance at 90 degrees. It slides back 14 inches. I'm about 2 inches behind axle center and I have room for a Honda 3000 with a box built over it and will probably get a cross bed rear opening storage box.
More room would be nice but I dont like that long of a truck and I just like the look of a shorter bed truck. If you want more storage room and not concerned with the length while parking the truck when not towing get the long bed.
If you get a long bed, in theory you could probably buy a used hitch on Craigslist for a couple hundred bucks. My auto slider was $1,300 plus the picture frame, low profile feet, Capture plate and Dodge through bed puck kit. Everything was almost $2,700.
Then you get into the height of the trailer vs the truck. The pull Rite auto slider is just below the top of my bed. So an 8 ft with a regular hitch would drop your hitch height 2 or 3 inches, maybe 4 but I'm not sure but it may also drop your clearance from bed rails to 5er. I raised my trailer 7 inches with an axle flip and 16 inch tire upgrade but I'm sure I also have at least 8 inch of bed rail to 5er clearance.
I was concerned with the height but it doesn't matter if its 12 ft 3 in or 12 ft 10 in. What it did do is get me a lot of clearance for not dragging tail or hitting stuff when offroad.
They dont make it easy on us, always having to decide on how to blow money.

Hiking Hunter wrote:
I've had both. My last truck was an F250 SB with a slider. Before I got my current truck, a RAM 3500 LB, I did extensive modeling with a CAD program to determine how tight I could turn with a short bed without pulling the slide. It was approximately 12 degrees less than what I could get with a long bed. Of course, with a short bed slid back it would do a full 90. Do you need that extra 12 degrees? Maybe not normally, but it's nice not to have to worry about a tight turn in a gas station, or in a tight campground spot without having to get out and slide the hitch. I opted for the long bed.

Now that I've had a long bed, I'm glad I went that direction. I don't have to worry about sliding the hitch back at all, and since I've had the long bed Ive loaded it up with lots of stuff.

The only downside of a long bed is having to park when you are not towing. A small price to pay.

To the OP It seems everyone has forgotten they sell automatic sliding hitches, and the prices are not that much more then a manual slider. With that being said, I have towed fifth wheels with a manual slider for the past 9 years with two different short bed trucks a 99 ford superduty ,and a 2014 Ram, the Ram having a shorter bed then the ford, and have had no problems with either truck . Automatic sliding hitches take all the worry out if one is concerned. If one is starting from scratch get the automatic slider, and be done with it.


Also great choice on getting the new Ram they are an awesome truck. Very happy with my choice, drove all three , and the other two had nothing over on the Ram.

Get what you want and outfit it appropriately.

I always want an 8ft because I never know what I might be hauling in the bed. For awhile it was a generator and 6ft ramps. Needed an 8ft for that.

We have a 2006 Sierra with a 6.5 FT box. I have the slider for piece of mind. Never had to use it BUT you never know.