Blue Ox Bedsaver

Lantley wrote:

mileshuff wrote:
I've been trying to decide if a Blue Ox is something I should install. I'm new to 5th wheels. I always chock the wheels and test pull with the front landing gears up about 1" from the ground. If my 5'er does drop its only going to drop that 1". Won't this work?

In theory on one should need a bedsaver. However in reality drops occur all the time.
Someone just posted of dropping their rig last week.
If you're confident you will never get distracted,break your routine, lose focus or otherwise forget what your doing you do not need a bedsaver.
If you want insurance against a mistake, get a bedsaver.
95% of fiver owners do not have a bedsaver.
Experienced Rv'ers still drop their rigs. They make/developed Bedsavers for a reason.
Only you can decide what works for you.

I purchased this bit of insurance shortly after purchasing a new 5er. I have always felt better about the hookup since. I hope I never have to see if it works well, but it's there just in case. I recommend them. I have been distracted while connecting a utility trailer to the back of my truck and the results were less than favorable... and that was just a small Utility. I don't want to have to deal with a major happening if I get distracted during the hook up of my 33' 5er.

webslave wrote:
It is a manual setup, however, it is impossible to miss the red handle being clear over by the truck bed's rail when closing tailgate, plugging in the cable, hooking up the break away cable, etc. It is much more obvious than a failure to hitch on visual inspection. You might have a bad hitch and the handle will still lock (you do pin or lock it, right?) and when locking the handle, I push the latch kit handle over and pin it also. It also makes me take a look at the rest of the hitch, a "second go around" on inspection. A failure to hitch or a hitch failure will get caught by the kit. Is it absolutely fool proof? No, but, even the Air Force has problems with the nuclear missile silo safeguards...anything devised by man can be defeated by man, even if unintentionally. For the price, it is well worth the installation to me and maybe, just maybe, it will keep me from dropping the trailer on the bed rails through my own stupidity or a hitch failure. It is certainly better than no safeguard at all...

In general, I agree with you. And, honestly - $50 is a whole lot easier to swallow than $250 from a pocket book perspective. I'm just thinking that if I'm going to buy some level of insurance- I'd rather have fully automatic insurance.

(Note, I currently have neither.)

It is a manual setup, however, it is impossible to miss the red handle being clear over by the truck bed's rail when closing tailgate, plugging in the cable, hooking up the break away cable, etc. It is much more obvious than a failure to hitch on visual inspection. You might have a bad hitch and the handle will still lock (you do pin or lock it, right?) and when locking the handle, I push the latch kit handle over and pin it also. It also makes me take a look at the rest of the hitch, a "second go around" on inspection. A failure to hitch or a hitch failure will get caught by the kit. Is it absolutely fool proof? No, but, even the Air Force has problems with the nuclear missile silo safeguards...anything devised by man can be defeated by man, even if unintentionally. For the price, it is well worth the installation to me and maybe, just maybe, it will keep me from dropping the trailer on the bed rails through my own stupidity or a hitch failure. It is certainly better than no safeguard at all...

fj12ryder wrote:
From what I can see it looks like Butch's Service Latch Kit is a manual set up. If you forget to use it then it won't work. I would think if you were going to have a hitch catch then it should be automatic, and not one more thing to remember.

I've always felt that way, too.

Though, I did read a post on another forum where their hitch possibly malfunctioned and Butch's bar would have saved them. But, 99% of the other instances of dropped trailers- it's been operator error.

From what I can see it looks like Butch's Service Latch Kit is a manual set up. If you forget to use it then it won't work. I would think if you were going to have a hitch catch then it should be automatic, and not one more thing to remember.

If Bedsaver doesn't make one, try Butch's service:

5th Wheel Latch Kit

I was one of his early users. I've never dropped my 5er, so, I can't give you a real life instance of its success. I did do a test after I installed it to make sure that it would actually catch the pin and it does block it securely and would prevent it from falling on the bed rails. I'm also confident that it would keep the trailer under control if I had a hitch failure (not likely with the B&W) while on the road. While it has never "saved" me, I deem it worthwhile. I've never had to use the catastrophic replacement portion of my RV insurance, but, I carry it anyway. Just in case...

Blue Ox returned my call. Was told they do not have a BedSaver for a Pullrite SuperGlide 16K 4100. The model BRX4506 listed for a SuperGlide 16K is for an older model of the 16K. So no BedSaver for me, at least for now.

I have the Fifth Wheel Latch Kit installed and I am not ashamed to say that I have dropped my 5ver. The Latch Kit saved me a lot of grief. My leason learned was, do not get in a hurry. :E

Good informative info jimnlin

mileshuff wrote:
Anyone here have a bedsaver installed that did save their bed?

I did a quick search back through older threads and it appears that a handful of people have had it help them.