towing fiver with 6 1/2 foot bed

[Redwing_64]

I have a 94 26 foot carri-lite that I currently pull with a 96 F-350 diesel supercab dually with the fifth wheel mounted 2 inches ahead of the rear axle on an 8 foot flat bed. The trailer also has a pin extender that moves the pin location about a foot forward. So, the current set-up has tons of cab-to-trailer clearance in every direction.

Although the truck is in nice shape and has never let me down, I get a little nervous about getting stranded a thousand miles from home in a 20 year old truck.

I have been looking at half ton trucks with claims of trailer towing ability reaching 11,000 pounds. My trailer loaded gets close to 9,000.
It seems that all these trucks with extended cabs have 5 1/2 or 6 1/2 foot beds. Even with 6 1/2 foot beds it seems it would be difficult to get the trailer pin over, or ahead of, the truck axle, much less the problems I imagine would be encountered with cab to trailer clearance.
The fifth wheel on my flat bed is a slider that I have bolted in the forward position.
Is it common to tow fivers with 6 1/2 foot beds? How do you do it?

[jalichty]

We have towed our FWs with "short beds" since 2002 with no problems. We have a Reese manual slider and with the old FW, we used it all the time since the front of the FW was pretty straight and would have hit the back of the truck without using the slider. The new FW has the sides "carved" off and turns as far as I need without contacting the truck, but I still have the slider for when I might need it. No problems towing a FW with a "short bed" truck.

[Allworth]

I've never seen a fiver with a 6 1/2 foot bed.

OH!!!

Now I get it.

[Durhamcutter]

I ha ve a 37ft 5er and I pull it with a 2500 Dodge Cummings and it is a short bead, traveled over 10000 miles last year and had no problems, went through mountains and what ever love the trick 5er weighs 13500.

[phillyg]

I pulled an 30' FW, 8400lbs, with an '04 F150, using a PullRite 12k auto slider. In the forward or unslid (is that a word?) position, the pin was centered about 1" ahead of the axle centerline. Whatever you hitch you choose, you should mount it according to its specific instructions. Most hitches, fixed or sliding, seem to locate the pin 1" ahead of centerline.

[Happy_Prospecto]

Short bed, 1/2 ton pickup hauling a mid weight 5th wheel trailer, Go For It, what could possibly go wrong.

What will people think of next?

[Dayle1]

Redwing 64 wrote:

Is it common to tow fivers with 6 1/2 foot beds? How do you do it?

I've been doing it since 1988. That was when the only 'trick' available was the extended pin box that moved the pin to right at the front of the trailer. With that setup, max turning angle was limited to about 65 degrees, still sharper than any travel trailer can jack-knife.

Today there are so many options, manual and auto sliding hitches, Sidewinder pivoting pin box, curved front caps, so it is ez to tow with a 6-1/2 ft bed. But beds shorter than 6-1/2 ft really need an auto slider or the Sidewinder.

I still tow with a fixed position hitch, 4 different short bed trucks, 5 different fifth wheel trailers, never had a problem. Now with a curved front cap I can probably jack-knife more than 80 degrees, can't see why I would want any more than that.

[JIMNLIN]

Is it common to tow fivers with 6 1/2 foot beds? How do you do it?

RVIA made a statement some time back that 4 out of 10 LDT's pulling 5th wheel trailers were short beds (6 1/2').
I have long and short bed trucks but my favorite is the short bed Dodge/Cummins for my GN and 5th wheel trailers.
On my short bed trucks I have the pin set up zero over the trucks rear axle. That way I get my GN/5th wheel trailer the farthest from the back of the cab. And all 10" of sliding capability from my 16k Reese manual slider behind the rear axles.

I have been looking at half ton trucks with claims of trailer towing ability reaching 11,000 pounds. My trailer loaded gets close to 9,000.

You must be looking at new trucks ??
The 1/2 ton trucks your looking at may be able to pull that much weight but very few will have enough rear axle rating to carry your trailers pin weight that may be 1800-2000 lbs plus the rest of the "stuff" in your truck.

The only 1/2 ton truck I see that may have enough rear axle capacity is the F150HD 7850 GVWR and a 4800 RAWR. These truck rear axle may weigh in the 2400-2500 lb range with the hitch installed which leaves approx 2300 lbs before going over wheels and rear suspension ratings.

Other 1/2 ton trucks rear axle generally run in the 3800-4200 lb range and simply aren't up to carrying your trailers pin weight.

For your size 5th wheel trailer I would suggest a 3/4 ton gazzer or the diesel if you want one. 250/2500 trucks have 6000-6500 RAWR which gives you 3000 + lbs of load carrying capacity.

[shadows4]

rcjunkie wrote:
Don't be fooled into thinking you can pull a heavy 5th wheel with an F150 ecoboost with max tow package of 11,300 lbs.

A moderately equipped F150 will not have sufficient payload and axle capacity to carry it, additional passengers in the truck, and normal cargo such as batteries, propane, and camping stuff stored up front of the 5th wheel.

I just traded in my ecoboost F150 Platinum longbed with 11,300lb tow rating. It exceeded my payload capacity with my 7300 lb 5th wheel even though my camper's dry pin weight was 950 lbs. This was with my wife on board.

Here is what killed my payload:

My hitch weighs 175 lbs (hitch, rails, and side rails). Most folks don't subtract the weight of the hitch assembly from their payload rating.

I weight 45 lbs more than 150 lbs value Ford uses for a driver in payload rating.

Weight of sprayed on bedliner reduced payload by about 45 lbs.

Road Master Active Suspension took off another 50 lbs of payload capacity.

My camper has 2 batteries in front which weigh 75 lbs each.

My two propane tanks weight 67 lbs each full.

I have about 100 lbs of **** in the front storage compartment and another 75-100 lbs stored under the bed.

I considered an F250 but a Platinum F250 had only 500 lbs of extra payload.

I now own a longbed (8ft) loaded Platinum F350 which has just above 3,000 lbs of payload which gives me a decent reserve safety on payload capacity.

All you need is a nice Reese sliding 16k hitch. I have one that looks like new you can buy if you are interested. My F350 has a puck system installed at factory for 5th wheel and I can't use my hitch anymore.

That Platinum option is what really killed your payload.
But I agree with most on here, an F250 would be the better choice.

[korbe]

Allworth wrote:
When I had a short bed I used a Reese 16K slider. Didn't have to slide it back very often, but when I needed it, it was there.

Same here.

[Tin_Pusher]

Redwing 64, towing a 27' FW w/ a 6 1/2 ft box, see my sig. No slider hitch, just a Reese 16K (I think), but do have an extended pin box. This FW has a squared-off nose.

When on level ground I can go almost 90 deg. between truck / trailer. If out-of-level, I have to be more careful, but have had no problems so far, knocking on wood 🙂

I think you'd be fine w/ 6 1/2 ft box and extended pin.

[newman_fulltime]

get the shortbed and a reese sidewinder pinbox before you get ca heavy bilky slider hitch

[MinnCamper]

I tow with a GMC 2500 short box and a 16k Husky slider. Not once have I used the slider. Just good insurance. Good luck.

[2112]

Go to the scales with what you have to determine real pin weight. Only then will you know what you're working with. It's not easy to find a F150 with 2000+ lbs of payload but they are out there.

Depending on waste tank locations the pin weight can increase drastically when the tanks are full. My waste tanks are forward just behind the basement. Full tanks will kick me way over my payload limit.

I had a PullRite SuperGlide and it's a heavy beast. I realized with the curved cap corners on the FW I didn't need the auto feature so now I'm happy with a Reese slider.

[12thgenusa]

Nothing to it. Just hitch up and go. No slider needed. Sixteen trouble free years of towing with 6 1/2 ft. bed. However, don't leave your head in the up-and-locked position.