2oldman wrote:
T-10 Parabolic wrote:
how do you align the king pin with the hitch???? T-10
I have an MDT, a Freightliner M2 Business Class hauler. I use the rear camera, as there's really no other way. I cannot see the hitch from either the 4 seater cab or using mirrors.
I put a length of white tape on the kingpin box to know where the kp was in relation to the hitch. Then I had to get used to which way to turn the wheel when looking at a reverse camera image. Then I had to learn to deal with the seemingly random up and down movement of the air hitch and truck air when both hitching up and unhitching. Coming from a simple, solid, visible hitch of my old F450, that was a lot to learn. And, if I happen to back up a little too much when hitching, the truck will push the 5er back, even with the rotochoks on. So I have to be really careful.
I tried an HDT with a similar transmission to the OP's, and the clutch was extremely hard to push. Knowing that I would have to be doing that a lot when backing, I passed on any clutched vehicle. My truck cost considerably more than the OP's, but only slightly more than a new Ram 3500 with the works.
2oldman, I have a suggestion for you. Here is what i figured out on hooking up these trucks with air ride suspensions and hitches. What i do is dump all the air out of both the suspension and the hitch before dropping my jack legs down to unhook. That way, when i pull forward, the kingpin doesn't scrape the plate that the hitch head rides on. When you hook back up, dump all air from both again, and then raise or lower your trailer to get it aligned height wise. By doing that, you don't have to worry about your 5th wheel hitch moving up and down. It just stays the same.
