Towing with slider in extended position?

rhagfo wrote:
Not if the 5er is squared nose, when turned the distance from the hitch to the cab remain the same! You still have 4' of 5er to deal with.

A typical slider only moves the hitch back 14 inches. Getting a 14 in pin extension will accomplish the same thing. You can get them any size you want if your pin box will take the strain.

Moving the front of the 5er back that 14 inches allows even my square nose (BTW 42 inches from pin to edge not 48 inches) 5er to get as close to 90 degrees as I will ever drive.

If you are at 90 degrees you are in a bind and are sliding the rig around not rolling it.

The farther behind the rear axle the kingpin is the more weight you are removing from the front axle and can be VERY DANGEROUS!

NMDriver wrote:
A 14 inch or so pin extension will work instead of a slider to keep the 5er away from the cab.

A hitch extension puts a higher strain on the pin box of the 5er though. You need to check with the manufacturer to see if your 5er can take a pin extension and how much of one.

Not if the 5er is squared nose, when turned the distance from the hitch to the cab remain the same! You still have 4' of 5er to deal with.

A 14 inch or so pin extension will work instead of a slider to keep the 5er away from the cab.

A hitch extension puts a higher strain on the pin box of the 5er though. You need to check with the manufacturer to see if your 5er can take a pin extension and how much of one.

I have an old school flat front that is 8' 5" wide with a short bed truck so I'm probably at the worst of conditions for hitting the cab. I took the big money hit with a Pull rite for that reason. I dont have to worry about it. If you have a rounded corner new 5er and dont pinch it hard you may never move your slider. Some people dont use one. You absolutely want to pull with the pin over the axle. To get my generator in front of my hitch with out cutting the front tabs off the hitch I run mine an inch or two behind the axle but I wouldn't go more. So people do but I wont.

I could probably get by with a non sliding hitch if I was very careful. There have been times when I got in a spot where I just wanted to hurry up and turn around. With the slide I can just wheel it back and forth and get out pretty quick. If I continued to pinch past 90 degrees I will damage the hitch and not hit the truck. The hitch will only go to 90 degrees. I have had the corner of the 5er near the corner of the truck with plenty of clearance. it gets scary but it's fine.

chevyman2 wrote:
Well we have a 16K Reese slider on our F-250 shop truck. That hitch is always in extended (manuver) position. We tow 5ers daily that way. We tow around our lot, to/from our other shop, to/from either of our storage lots, and physically deliver to the customer or take/pickup from auctions.

In short. YES you can leave it extended, however, the truck will handle terrible. It is downright dangerous. It may sound crazy, but that extra 12" or so makes a HUGE difference in how the truck handles the trailer.

PLEASE, please, take the extra few seconds (minute) and slide your hitch forward.

As I stated earlier, Reese doesn't recommend one tow with hitch in extended position for distances...as you've confirmed, it's dangerous....and will make a huge difference in how truck and 5er handle

Thank you for your help. I guess I was trying to find something a little lighter. It feels that the Pullrite might ben a bit of overkill for a 5th wheel that is 7500 lbs dry....so I imagine 8500 - 8700 loaded. Like many have said the Pullright is dang heavy at 194 lbs and I had hoped to find something not so large. The Highjacker is 295 lbs.

Have any of you used a Curt manual slider? ..... they are used quite a bit in Canada.

** With a 30.2 ft Cougar 2015, would the slider be used in normal driving while travelling, through cities etc......or only when backing up into a camp spot? ** Not having towed a 5th I am not sure how often that it actually slides.

I rechecked the box size.... inside is 6.2 ft

and I measured from what I believe to be the centre off the axle to the rear of the cab, and it appears to be 37 inches.

Well we have a 16K Reese slider on our F-250 shop truck. That hitch is always in extended (manuver) position. We tow 5ers daily that way. We tow around our lot, to/from our other shop, to/from either of our storage lots, and physically deliver to the customer or take/pickup from auctions.

In short. YES you can leave it extended, however, the truck will handle terrible. It is downright dangerous. It may sound crazy, but that extra 12" or so makes a HUGE difference in how the truck handles the trailer.

PLEASE, please, take the extra few seconds (minute) and slide your hitch forward.

Some years back, I had a 16K Reese slider hitch and it was recommended to NOT tow with hitch extended....you can extend for a sharp turn or backing up, but it wasn't recommended to tow the unit like that, stated it was unsafe...with pin weight setting that far back on the truck, would HAVE to lighten the front end to where safety would probably be a factor..

If you can purchase an auto-slider, that would probably be your best bed...if you purchase a manual slider, odds are the instructions will tell you not to tow for periods of time in extended position.

No, I have an auto slide. Then dont waste the money on a slider, just mount a regular hitch farther back. Why even have a slider? Why did he buy a slider. Your weight wont be where it is supposed to be but I guess you are not worried about that.