13" High 5th Wheel Slider Hitch??

[otrfun]

Just purchased our first 5th wheel. TV is a '16 Ram 3500 SRW short bed (completely stock). Pin weight is approx. 2500 lbs. Temporarily using a non-slider 5th wheel hitch that's adjusted to its lowest position (13"). The 5th wheel is slightly nose-high with about 6" clearance above the truck's bedrails. The pin box is in its lowest position.

I've looked everywhere online and called etrailer, but it appears no one makes a 5th wheel slider hitch lower than 14 1/2". Some of the head units are advertised as 13", but when used with a slider they cannot be adjusted to their lowest position. In any case, I'd prefer not bring up the nose of the 5th any higher, but it looks like I may be forced to. Are there any other options (or 13" high 5th wheel slider hitches) I may have overlooked?

Was lucky enough to find a large empty parking lot to practice turning and backing up on our way home from the dealer. This unit has very scalloped corners. Was very surprised how far I could turn before getting close to the cab. Curious how many folks with short bed trucks pull a 5th without a slider?

Thanks!

[csamayfield55x]

The beauty of the Anderson is you don't need a slider because it moves the trailer back while keeping the weight foreword. It has some very nice adjustments to fine tune the ride. We put one on my fil's 12 ram and it turns to about 88degrees easy.

Chris

[cummins2014]

otrfun wrote:

hbillsmith wrote:
Check out the Andersen Ultimate.

If I went with a non-slider hitch this could be a possibility. The Andersen Ultimate Connection 2 (#3221) adjusts down to 12 3/8" (measured from the bed of the truck), and as high as 14 5/8". My current hitch is adjusted to its lowest 13" position. However, it's mounted to an OEM Ram picture frame adapter which is 2" above the bed of the truck (vs. ~1 1/8" for a universal rail). Gonna have to measure the overall height from the bed to the top of the hitch to see if the Andersen might work.

I am concerned about some reports of the Andersen Ultimate bending the bed of the truck. Not sure if these are isolated incidents or what.

A little confused about the 13". I have the same truck as yours. I'm 59*1/2" to the top of my bed in the rear . My fifth wheel hitch is 16" to the top of the hitch from the reese picture frame or 18" to the top of hitch from the bed. I have a reese slider hitch lowered to the lowest point, I modified it to actually go another inch if needed, but then I am getting a little too close to the bed rails . It doesn't seem possible you would need 13" , that would put me nearly on my bed rails . I have my pin box in the highest position , any lower ,and I would just get more nose high. Its livable now. Only other thing I can do to get more level is to raise my fifth wheel.


Andersen does make the ultimate that will hook to your picture frame, no need to get the turnover ball style.

[hbillsmith]

Call Andersen. They can be very helpful. Great customer service. They also offer a short model.

[otrfun]

hbillsmith wrote:
Check out the Andersen Ultimate.

If I went with a non-slider hitch this could be a possibility. The Andersen Ultimate Connection 2 (#3221) adjusts down to 12 3/8" (measured from the bed of the truck), and as high as 14 5/8". My current hitch is adjusted to its lowest 13" position. However, it's mounted to an OEM Ram picture frame adapter which is 2" above the bed of the truck (vs. ~1 1/8" for a universal rail). Gonna have to measure the overall height from the bed to the top of the hitch to see if the Andersen might work.

I am concerned about some reports of the Andersen Ultimate bending the bed of the truck. Not sure if these are isolated incidents or what.

[otrfun]

laknox wrote:

otrfun wrote:
Just purchased our first 5th wheel. TV is a '16 Ram 3500 SRW short bed (completely stock). Pin weight is approx. 2500 lbs. Temporarily using a non-slider 5th wheel hitch that's adjusted to its lowest position (13"). The 5th wheel is slightly nose-high with about 6" clearance above the truck's bedrails. The pin box is in its lowest position.

I've looked everywhere online and called etrailer, but it appears no one makes a 5th wheel slider hitch lower than 14 1/2". Some of the head units are advertised as 13", but when used with a slider they cannot be adjusted to their lowest position. In any case, I'd prefer not bring up the nose of the 5th any higher, but it looks like I may be forced to. Are there any other options (or 13" high 5th wheel slider hitches) I may have overlooked?

Was lucky enough to find a large empty parking lot to practice turning and backing up on our way home from the dealer. This unit has very scalloped corners. Was very surprised how far I could turn before getting close to the cab. Curious how many folks with short bed trucks pull a 5th without a slider?

Thanks!

How much is "slightly nose high"? IMO, up to about 3" is not a problem; 5-6" and you could have issues with axles/tires as well as the fridge. You really don't want any less than 6" bed clearance, so you have only 1 option, and that's to raise your FW. Post a couple pics of your FW's suspension and you'll get lots of opinions on how to do so.

Lyle

It's about 2" nose high.

[otrfun]

valhalla360 wrote:
Can you flip the axles? You are nose high at the lower limit of the space you should have between the bed rails. Pick up 4-5inches with an axle flip and you can get the trailer level and get up to a more generous bedrail clearance.

Good idea. However, the axles are already bolted to the bottom of the leaf springs (i.e., flipped) from the factory.

[otrfun]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
You said "The pin box is in its lowest position" Did you mean highest???

If it's in the lowest that means it can be raised to accommodate a higher hitch.

MeAgain uses a Demco picture frame adapter and B&W slider that works well with his SRW RAM.

To do the above you need the pucks. They are easy to install if you don't have them.

Sorry, I didn't word that very well.

The king pin assembly is currently mounted in its upper/highest most position, bringing the king pin closer to the body of the 5th wheel. If I adjusted the king pin assembly to its "lowest" position it would increase the king pin's distance from the body of the 5th wheel and raise the front of the 5th wheel higher in relation to the truck's bed rails.

I would buy a Demco or B&W slider in a heartbeat if they would adjust down to 13". I believe the Demco goes down to ~15" and the B&W ~17"

[valhalla360]

Can you flip the axles? You are nose high at the lower limit of the space you should have between the bed rails. Pick up 4-5inches with an axle flip and you can get the trailer level and get up to a more generous bedrail clearance.

[blofgren]

The 2500/3500 Megacab has the same 6'4" bed as the crew cab shortbox; they are NOT shorter. The only Ram truck that has a shorter bed is the 1500 with the 5' something bed.

[hbillsmith]

Check out the Andersen Ultimate.

[Nicholsfamily05]

Hello,

We used to tow our 40' fifth wheel with our 2012 Mega cab which had the very short bed of 5'7".
We installed a slider because we were new to the fifth wheel world and told you won't be able to back up without it.
Two years with it and in and out of tight spaces and never used it.
Our grandfather on his short bed truck bolted his so it won't move because it made a clunking noise and he never used it either.

We recently upgrade to the 2016 Crew Cab Cummins short bed with 6'5" bed but haven't had a chance to tow with it yet. But if we could do it with the Mega Cab should be a charm with the shorter truck now.

[boshog]

otrfun wrote:
This unit has very scalloped corners. Was very surprised how far I could turn before getting close to the cab. Curious how many folks with short bed trucks pull a 5th without a slider?

I do, RAM 3500 SRW, standard bed (6'4") with a Montana 3590RD. I have the hitch set so the pin is directly over the rear axle, no slider needed.

[laknox]

otrfun wrote:
Just purchased our first 5th wheel. TV is a '16 Ram 3500 SRW short bed (completely stock). Pin weight is approx. 2500 lbs. Temporarily using a non-slider 5th wheel hitch that's adjusted to its lowest position (13"). The 5th wheel is slightly nose-high with about 6" clearance above the truck's bedrails. The pin box is in its lowest position.

I've looked everywhere online and called etrailer, but it appears no one makes a 5th wheel slider hitch lower than 14 1/2". Some of the head units are advertised as 13", but when used with a slider they cannot be adjusted to their lowest position. In any case, I'd prefer not bring up the nose of the 5th any higher, but it looks like I may be forced to. Are there any other options (or 13" high 5th wheel slider hitches) I may have overlooked?

Was lucky enough to find a large empty parking lot to practice turning and backing up on our way home from the dealer. This unit has very scalloped corners. Was very surprised how far I could turn before getting close to the cab. Curious how many folks with short bed trucks pull a 5th without a slider?

Thanks!

How much is "slightly nose high"? IMO, up to about 3" is not a problem; 5-6" and you could have issues with axles/tires as well as the fridge. You really don't want any less than 6" bed clearance, so you have only 1 option, and that's to raise your FW. Post a couple pics of your FW's suspension and you'll get lots of opinions on how to do so.

Lyle

[Dayle1]

otrfun wrote:

Was lucky enough to find a large empty parking lot to practice turning and backing up on our way home from the dealer. This unit has very scalloped corners. Was very surprised how far I could turn before getting close to the cab. Curious how many folks with short bed trucks pull a 5th without a slider?

I got a sliding hitch in case I ever wanted to switch to a non extended pin box. It was a Reese square tube unit. I was able to cut off the bottom of the crossmember in order to use the highest set of holes (lowest position). This might help.

I never really used the slider and now with a notched front cap fiver, it certainly isn't necessary. So, I've ditched the slider and gone back to a fixed position hitch. Pull two pins and the head comes off, pull 4 more pins and the hitch assembly comes off. Back to a simpler setup.

[Cummins12V98]

You said "The pin box is in its lowest position" Did you mean highest???

If it's in the lowest that means it can be raised to accommodate a higher hitch.

MeAgain uses a Demco picture frame adapter and B&W slider that works well with his SRW RAM.

To do the above you need the pucks. They are easy to install if you don't have them.