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!

[Dayle1]

otrfun wrote:
Here's our Ram 3500 (short bed) with 6-8 in. still remaining between the truck cab and the 5th wheel's front cowling using a standard, no slider hitch. The rear of the kin pin assembly was about 2" away from the right side bed rail.

This appears to us like more than enough turning angle for the vast majority of situations. Thoughts? Opinions?

Thanks!

Should be plenty, just take your time and take another cut with the steering wheel when needed. I don't use a slider and have not had a situation that needed one in 26+ yrs

[otrfun]

Here's our Ram 3500 (short bed) with 6-8 in. still remaining between the truck cab and the 5th wheel's front cowling using a standard, no slider hitch. The rear of the kin pin assembly was about 2" away from the right side bed rail.

This appears to us like more than enough turning angle for the vast majority of situations. Thoughts? Opinions?

Thanks!

[laknox]

otrfun wrote:

mountainsam wrote:

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?

Thanks!

Sidewinder or Revolution pin box. No sliding ever.

Interesting you bring up the Sidewinder/Revolution pin boxes. It may be my only option.

First off, here I am looking for 13" high, 5th wheel **slider** hitch. Apparently, they don't exist. Strike one.

Most sliders slide back 12". Just checked the clearance between the back of the king pin assembly and the tailgate on my Ram 3500 . . . I've only got 11"! Strike two.

Anyone know if the stock OEM height (distance between the body of the 5th wheel and actual king pin itself) remains the same with the Sidewinder/Revolution?

FWIW, a fair number of people report pinbox/bed impingement issues. Normal solution is to simply clip the back corners of the pin box off for more clearance.

Lyle

[otrfun]

mountainsam wrote:

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?

Thanks!

Sidewinder or Revolution pin box. No sliding ever.

Interesting you bring up the Sidewinder/Revolution pin boxes. It may be my only option.

First off, here I am looking for 13" high, 5th wheel **slider** hitch. Apparently, they don't exist. Strike one.

Most sliders slide back 12". Just checked the clearance between the back of the king pin assembly and the tailgate on my Ram 3500 . . . I've only got 11"! Strike two.

Anyone know if the stock OEM height (distance between the body of the 5th wheel and actual king pin itself) remains the same with the Sidewinder/Revolution?

[mountainsam]

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?

Thanks!

Sidewinder or Revolution pin box. No sliding ever.

[Charlie_D_]

Learjet wrote:

IND_navyvet wrote:
Curt Q16 13" to 17".
Q16

I had that hitch..do not buy...lots of slop

I have just installed the Q16 using the existing bed rails I had. Only have a few trips but no slop in mine.

[Learjet]

IND_navyvet wrote:
Curt Q16 13" to 17".
Q16

I had that hitch..do not buy...lots of slop

[hbillsmith]

"most will not require a slider"...True. I'd like to add a couple of comments from me here.

There is confusion about what constitutes a "Short" bed. I've noted that some trucks with a Crew Cab and short bed will have either 5'4" or 5'5". If its a so-called "Double" cab, the back seat is 1 foot shorter and that foot goes to the bed, so like my double cab GMC, it's a 6ft. 6" bed and that makes a difference. The second confusion is around the 5er nose design. Some have a sculpted nose that gives a little more clearance on the turns, some do not. Lastly, the Andersen has multiple ways to install. If you're tight at cab clearance you can use a Curt 4" ball extender to move the trailer 4" closer to the tailgate. Lastly, Andersen is now shipping the second generation of the Ultimate and as far as I can tell it moved the ball back an inch or two.

All that said, slider yes or slider no, know your measurements and pay attention to the adjustments available. Just my two cents.

[Me_Again]

csamayfield55 wrote:
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

Maybe your should have said "most will not require a slider"!

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/28691048/srt/pa/pging/1/page/1.cfm

[IND_navyvet]

Curt Q16 13" to 17".
Q16

[hbillsmith]

There are multiple fore and aft adjustments that can be accomplished with the Andersen. This enables adaptation to various combinations of rear axle placement and pinbox design. This is the list I can think of:

1 - You can flip the king pin adapter block so the ball is closer to the trailer, this moves the trailer 8" closer to the cab than if it's installed with the ball in front of the king pin. The advantage for this is that it changes the pivot point of the pinbox and places more of it inside the truck bed rails.

2 - You can use the Curt 4" Ball Extender to move the in-bed ball 4" closer to the tailgate. In combination with 1. above, this makes the trailer only 4" closer instead of 8".

3 - In some scenarios where the truck is a long bed, Andersen approves installing the pyramid frame backwards. This moves the pivot point closer to the tailgate.

And all of these three can be combined with various pin box scenarios, i.e. Extended Style Pin Box etc.

Of note is that for most Andersen users, none of these are required. Usually, the standard installation provides enough clearance to avoid the need for a slider but it's nice to know that when you get around to installing, if something isn't the way you expected, you can adjust.

[otrfun]

csamayfield55 wrote:
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

I believe the king pin is centered a couple of inches in front of the rear axle with a standard 5th wheel hitch. Are you saying the Andersen moves the center of the king pin more towards the rear of the truck (i.e., above or behind the rear axle)?

[thomas201]

You are fine. Don't worry, hit the road. Just watch the corners as you back up. Sometimes, you might need to back up twice, instead of once with a slider.

[tinner12002]

If its only 2" high then I wouldn't worry about it. I actually have 2" spacers on both my toy haulers to get them raised up at the springs. Been that way for 2 years with no issues, just used beefier parts, u-bolts when I put it back together...No different than putting a lift kit in a 4X4.