New camper home, pin box concerns,

[fjrjohnny]

The seller was kind enough to deliver the '09 KZ Sportsmen Toyhauler. He did so by using his short box pickup with a slider hitch that was set-up for the trailer in question.

After backing my '09 F350 with a long box under the camper and stopping when the king pin was just ahead of the axle, there is only around 7" of clearance between the truck and camper. Because the truck is yet to be equipped with a hitch, it can't hooked-up to see how the clearance would actually work. But by appearances alone, the distance looks to be inadequate.

Arrangements have been made to have a standard Pullrite fifth wheel hitch installed, and a used Dexter/Leland 7920 pin box has been acquired. I'm told that the this pin box is 8" longer that the one on the camper right now. That is a Leland AF7910, which is approximately 16" from the camper end of the box to the center of the pin.

Am hoping that the additional 8" of clearance will be enough, but an somewhat worried that the longer pin box may strike the top of the bedrail, which is at stock height. My truck is equipped with a truck camper suspension and Firestone Air Bags, and it sits up a bit in the rear.

Has anyone experienced a similar issue, or can anyone shed some advise?

Thanks in advance, John

[rhagfo]

fjrjohnny wrote:




Hoping that the two images are visible. They were taken while the king pin was an inch ahead of the rear axle. Looks tight to me. What do you think?

Is this picture with the hitch installed?? If not not valid, install your hitch, the hook up. Then measure, I think you will be surprised how close the 5er can be to the bumper

up2nogood wrote:

laknox wrote:

ford truck guy wrote:
Looking at those pictures , I it will not work.. I would want more clearance myself ,
It looks like the first turn you make , your rear bumper will take out your front compartment door.. Something is not right.

x2!

Lyle

Not a requirement for towing a 5er, get a 5er tail gate.
Our 1st 5th wheel came with a real short pin box and was just about that close to the bumper, I had no options as we were 150 miles from home. We hooked up and went to a cul de sac to turn around needed to make a three point turn, had DW watch close, but no issues.

The critical distance is from the front of the 5er to the pin. That needs to exceed the distance from the pin location in the bed to the corner of the bumper.

This is a SHORT Pin Box!





He can't even put his tailgate down to hitch up

[fjrjohnny]

Had a Pullrite 16k Super 5th hitch installed yesterday, and brought home the used Dexter 7926 pinbox. With the use of two hydraulic jacks, various pieces of lumber, and a lot of muscle power, was able to get the pin box mounted on my own.

Hooked the camper up this afternoon for the first time, and found that the combination allows for a full 90 degree turn without the camper striking the truck's cab, or the pin box hitting the bedrail. So, that was promising. There is also about 5 1/2" of bedrail to camper clearance with the hitch in it's lowest position. The storage compartment door on the camper easily clears the truck, but the tailgate (which is not mounted at this time) may not open fully. Will have to try it out tomorrow.

During my very limited test drive, it was noted that the fuel economy seems decreased from the mileage that was obtained while hauling our truck camper. The camper may also be an inch or so high at the front nose, but will have to find a level area to know for sure.

[justafordguy]

Looks like the overhang of that 5th wheel is just really short. I have basically the same truck and mine has enough room to leave the tailgate down and still be able to walk between the gate and camper.

[laknox]

up2nogood wrote:

laknox wrote:

ford truck guy wrote:
Looking at those pictures , I it will not work.. I would want more clearance myself ,
It looks like the first turn you make , your rear bumper will take out your front compartment door.. Something is not right.

x2!

Lyle

He can't even put his tailgate down to hitch up

That's not as rare as you might think, from what I've read here.

Lyle

[fjrjohnny]

That is 17" from the bolts and to the center of the king pin.

[fjrjohnny]

Have located a used pin box that is 17" from the outer row of attachment bolts on the kingpin. This will add about 8" and make the distance from the bumper to the camper about 16". If that is the case, it should do the trick. Will know this Thursday and advise.

The next issue of course, will be the distance from the top of the bed rail to the camper. As was said earlier, will have to wait until the camper is actually hooked-up, and then go from there. Am hoping that the camper is not in a "missile launching" position.

As to the tire/axle looking off-center. Because this truck has such a heavy duty suspension, there is an illusion that the axle is not centered in the wheel well. When the weight of the truck camper is on the truck, the axle settles-in where it should. Great observation though!

Thanks to everyone, and will advise on Thursday.

[cummins2014]

laknox wrote:

ford truck guy wrote:
Looking at those pictures , I it will not work.. I would want more clearance myself ,
It looks like the first turn you make , your rear bumper will take out your front compartment door.. Something is not right.

x2!

Lyle

He can't even put his tailgate down to hitch up

[cummins2014]

fjrjohnny wrote:




Hoping that the two images are visible. They were taken while the king pin was an inch ahead of the rear axle. Looks tight to me. What do you think?

Its too tight, I have more clearance then that with the tailgate down when hitching up. My tailgate its 17" from the front of the bumper to the far edge of the tailgate when its down. With what you have in the picture you can't put your tailgate down to hook up . Something is certainly not right. Can't imagine the pin box sitting back that far ,its hard to tell in the pictures, but if you indeed have that pin lined up just in front of the axle center its a problem.

IMO you need to get the hitch installed in the correct position , and then go from there, no sense guessing where everything should be until then.

[laknox]

ford truck guy wrote:
Looking at those pictures , I it will not work.. I would want more clearance myself ,
It looks like the first turn you make , your rear bumper will take out your front compartment door.. Something is not right.

x2!

Lyle

[ford_truck_guy]

Looking at those pictures , I it will not work.. I would want more clearance myself ,
It looks like the first turn you make , your rear bumper will take out your front compartment door.. Something is not right.

[thirtydaZe]

I'm only pointing this out, and don't have anything really constructive to say about it, but to me it sure looks as if your rear wheel is far from centered in your wheel well, like it's set back a bit.

[mountainsam]

I am wondering if your bumper is stock. Shouldn't matter between a short bed or long bed if the hitches are properly installed. The distance from axle to bumper is the same. I went from short bed to long bed with no problems at all. Some trucks that have had pickup campers have extended bumpers. Could this be your problem?

[Tiger8r]

Just read your post about trying to decide on the clearance between your truck bumper and the front of your 5 th wheel trailer. I have a 2012 F-350 LWB towing a 2012 crossroads cruiser. Not hooked up but measuring I have 7 ft center king pin to front of trailer. 57 in from center of capture plate to back of bumper. When you subtract the two it gives me 27 inches between back bumper and front of trailer. Wait until you can hook up before making any adjustments. I have about 10 inches between the tailgating and front of trailer when it is downJmho.

[fjrjohnny]

Hoping that the two images are visible. They were taken while the king pin was an inch ahead of the rear axle. Looks tight to me. What do you think?