Slider Hitch Required?

wife talked me into slider, glad she did.(manual reese) always pulled with long bed till this truck 6.75 f250 5th has coned front luckily i saw it right before any damage was done. just a streak on cab, buffed out. turns up to 88 as they say, maybe. i'd say get it, better safe than sorry

I've had two Superglides wouldn't be without one. We have to negotiate a cul de sac to park at our house. It requires a 90 degree turn. That and the lack of manevuering room in Texas State Parks makes a slider mandatory.

I have a 6.5ft bed. I have a slider. I have NEVER had to use it as of yet. If you are careful and pay attention, it is not necessary.

You can install a new pin box the sidewinder style. I have one and it works great. It also takes the bounce out of the ride. It works better than a slider hitch.

Link to pin box
Sidewinder

It is simple math... your bed is 6' and the hitch is mounted in the middle leaving 3' from pivot to rear of cab. Your fiver is 8' wide. Meaning when you turn more than a certain angle that extra foot (4-3) will make for a bad day.

Three ways to solve the problem:
1. Slider hitch auto moves the trailer 14" back when turning
2. "Short bed safe" nose cones that are sloped and notched to create extra room
3. Extended pin box that moves the nose of the trailer far enough to allow it to hang further out over the bed rails when turning.

You can use any one or combination of them to avoid smacking the cab.

mikeh449 wrote:
slider hitch is needed for beds less than 6 ft I have a jayco 27.5 rlts with 2012 Silverado with 6.5 ' bed no slider

Obviously that would depend on the trailer being pulled. I have a 6.5‘ bed with matching dents on the cab. You only never need one till you need one, then it‘s too late.

slider hitch is needed for beds less than 6 ft I have a jayco 27.5 rlts with 2012 Silverado with 6.5 ' bed no slider

I have a 2009 d/a gmc 2500 with 6.5 bed. I pull a 34ft full profile 5th Wheel with an extended hitch box. Just completed an 8000 mi trip, never once did I feel I needed a slider for my Reese R-16 hitch. In my opinion, that is just something else you have to haul around taking up precious space in your bed. That being said, I cannot turn 90dgs, however, I never had to turn that sharp anyway. You should be OK without the slider.

Due to the nose being rounded and what looks like an extended pin box on the pictures I found, you're probably ok if your careful up to 75-80 degree turn with a standard hitch. Others with a 6.5' box can probably answer in greater detail.

I will not be much help but I will tell you what I did. I haven't towed yet and the camper, I got a Chaparral and they say it made for short beds but I went ahead and got a slider for my shortbed truck. It was a couple hundred more and I live by the say "its better to have and not need then to need and not have. Maybe having the slide will allow me to get into a tighter spot then if I didn't.