Slider hitch or regular

[teschman]

Just bought a Silverado 3500HD crew cab 6.6 foot bed. We are also buying a Keystone Laredo 329RE that claims to have Max Turn Technology. The salesman says we don't need a slider a waste of money. But from everything I've read you should always use a slider on a short bed. We were trailer pullers before and this was never an issue. Advice would be appreciated as sales guys are interested in one thing "making the sale"

[Beaker]

Agree with Vulcaneer. Everyone may have clearance when the truck and trailer are level. That 3" clearance between the front of the trailer and back window will soon disappear if you are backing into a site that is slightly up hill. If those trailer tires are 3" above the truck tires then the 3" clearance is gone.

For the little extra money for a manual slider, it's good insurance.

Definitely true.....except for the manual slider. The slider would not be used in this case which is why I went with the 5th Airborne Sidewinder.

[drfife]

N-Trouble wrote:
Not one person here running without a slider has posted the width of their trailer...

Watcha guys running, standard 96" or 102" wide body??? This will have the biggest affect on clearance and need to run a slider.

96" Excel Winslow 5th wheel
GMC Standard 6 1/2" bed
B&W non-sliding hitch

21 months
20K+ miles
126 uncouplings
ZERO trailer contact to truck cab.

[N-Trouble]

Not one person here running without a slider has posted the width of their trailer...

Watcha guys running, standard 96" or 102" wide body??? This will have the biggest affect on clearance and need to run a slider.

[Timay]

I bought a Demco Superglide. The guy I bought the trailer from had a manual slider and dents in both sides of the cab...didn't want that!

It works a wonder and makes backing out of my back yard a one shot affair, rather than a 2 or 3 back and forth.

Tim

[jevanb]

as you can see my superglide is all the way back, it travels back around 15 inches. I think if I had a regular hitch (non slider) mounted in the same position it would for sure hit my cab. My pin is about 2 inches fdw of the axle centerline (per superglide spec`s)

[klogan001]

I just bought the 329re and have a 07 gmc duramax with 6.5 bed. I did not go with the slider hitch at salesman recommendation. sure glad i listen to him, after hooking up, there is plenty of clearance. have backed in many tight campsites with no problem.

[billkaufmann]

Okie in Wyoming wrote:
We got a Sidewinder hitch installed when we got our 5er. We really like it, it adds about 14 inches to the hitch and we have never worried about tight corners.

X2

[billkaufmann]

I have the Reese Sidewinder and think it's great. Truck at 90 degrees from 5ver I have 8" to cab.

[caberto]

I have a 6.6 box as well, and a Keystone with a similar nose. I opted for the manual slider. Normally I don't need the slider and haven't had an issue backing into anywhere even when very tight and without using the slider.

Having said that, I've used it a couple of times as insurance when we used to keep the fiver in a lot where the ground was very uneven. Now that it's home with us, that's not so much an issue anymore. I would say get the manual slider, you probably won't need it 98% of the time, but if you're on uneven ground while backing up, that corner may come very close to your cab and using the slider in those situations will let you back up with more focus on the "backing up" part, rather than worrying about the trailer/cab distance because of the uneven terrain.

On mine, with the slider activated, the pin does not hit the tailgate, I think my fiver is high enough over the bed to avoid that... I think it's probably 8-10" above the bed rails.

[stro1965]

Racine96 wrote:
One more thing to keep in mind, the kingpin mount is one thing to keep in mind. My 2014 Silverado 6.6' bed, the slider would not work unless the tailgate is removed. Otherwise, the kingpin mount will hit the tailgate if I use the manual slider. My 2 cents.

Mine in my Ram comes very close, maybe an inch away. Makes me nervous.

[Racine96]

One more thing to keep in mind, the kingpin mount is one thing to keep in mind. My 2014 Silverado 6.6' bed, the slider would not work unless the tailgate is removed. Otherwise, the kingpin mount will hit the tailgate if I use the manual slider. My 2 cents.

[PhoneDude_8289]

Our new 5r came with the Reese Revolution pin box very much like the sidewinder. It places the pivot point 22" behind the kingpin. There is a wedge that locks the kingpin to the hitch so there is no movement at the hitch. Works great and the 5r seems to respond a bit quicker to maneuvers when backing.

[Scott_85]

I had a slider and with the extended pin box my camper has, I couldn't use the slider. If the slider was in the rear position the pin box would hit the tailgate.

[Okie_in_Wyoming]

We got a Sidewinder hitch installed when we got our 5er. We really like it, it adds about 14 inches to the hitch and we have never worried about tight corners.