Towing with Dodge short bed

[dieseldan723]

Good evening,

I have had two GMC short box trucks and used a Pull-Rite sliding hitch with ZERO problems. I am now looking at a new Dodge with a short box. The Dodge is two inches shorter than the GMC's I have previously owned.

I am open to another sliding hitch. Is there any issue with this setup that I should be concerned about?

Thank you all for your great advice!

[cummins2014]

dieseldan723 wrote:
Cummins2014, thank you for the information. According to the Dodge website, when I enter the VIN of the truck I am considering, it says the Max Payload is 3954 lbs and the Max Towing is 24,734. I thought I would be fine with that trailer?

Thoughts?

Here is the website https://www.ramtrucks.com/towing/towing-guide.html

Click on the "Look Up My Vehicle" and enter a VIN.

When you start adding up those numbers ,you will find most likely a SRW is going to be overloaded, as said in previous post ,you are most likely in dually territory . Roughly the truck is 8K ,the fifth wheel is 18K ,thats 26K . I think thats how it works .

[philh]

Once you look at loaded pin wt, you're probably in dually territory
SPECIFICATIONS
Hitch Weight:2220 lb.
GVWR:18000 lb.
UVW 13064 lb.
CCC 4936 lb.

[dieseldan723]

Cummins2014, thank you for the information. According to the Dodge website, when I enter the VIN of the truck I am considering, it says the Max Payload is 3954 lbs and the Max Towing is 24,734. I thought I would be fine with that trailer?

Thoughts?

Here is the website https://www.ramtrucks.com/towing/towing-guide.html

Click on the "Look Up My Vehicle" and enter a VIN.

[cummins2014]

dieseldan723 wrote:

cummins2014 wrote:

dieseldan723 wrote:
Good evening,

I have had two GMC short box trucks and used a Pull-Rite sliding hitch with ZERO problems. I am now looking at a new Dodge with a short box. The Dodge is two inches shorter than the GMC's I have previously owned.

I am open to another sliding hitch. Is there any issue with this setup that I should be concerned about?

Thank you all for your great advice!

Yes ,its a 6'-4" bed , and I have no problems towing my fifth wheel without a slider . My truck is the 2014 Ram Megacab ,same bed length as the Ram crew cab short bed. I have two hitches , my older Reese 18K slider ,that I have pretty much quit using, and the Andersen hitch, which is a fixed hitch, although it does have four different tow positions.

Having said this ,it will depend a lot on the type of fifth wheel, and the pin box position. My present fifth wheel has some very rounded front corners ,and the pin box extends out a little further then my previous fifth wheel. Although both fifth wheels did not require a slider. Both were towed with the Andersen without issue . Good luck with your choice .

Good information. We haven't actually purchased our 5th wheel yet, however we have our heart/mind set on the Cedar Creek 388DB.

I see that fifth wheel has a 18,000 GVWR ,thats pushing a SRW 3500 Ram truck as far as weight, considering you are going with a short bed ,unless are you looking at the Megacab 3500 dually , only short bed dually I am aware of ??

As far as hitches , I see you are going with the fifth prep , my Ram 3500 has the fifth prep, but in 2014 the choices were limited on hitches, so I went with the adapter frame that goes attaches to the puck system. ,to attach a standard rail hitch . I have since went with the standard rail steel Andersen that also attaches to the adapter. knowing what I know about some of the single point hitches now, I would still go, although some will disagree ,with the adapter ,and a four point steel Andersen hitch. It works well for me with a short bed .

You will get some good advice from others ,that also work well, I have been a few different ways with hitches ,and prefer what I have done. The next best thing would be, "IF" Andersen would come out with a four point hitch that goes to the puck system on these trucks .

[cummins2014]

JIMNLIN wrote:

LadyRVer wrote:
I used a slider in a short box and when I slid the hitch back and started to manuver, the pin box caught the tail gate... did a number on it. First time I ever used the slider... before that was super careful in backing/turning.

What year model was your Dodge/Ram truck and was the pin located over the rear axle or behind the rear axle.

It also depends a lot on the pin box. I have towed two different fifth wheels with my Andersen hitch , same truck . My previous fifth wheel I towed with the adapter putting the fifth wheel further from the cab ,closer to the tailgate without a problem. The length of the pin box on my present fifth wheel, I reversed the adapter putting the fifth wheel closer to the cab , further from the tailgate, pin box when hooked up with the previous position of the adapter ,it appeared too close to the tailgate. I didn't even attempt to tow with it ,I just reversed the adapter. I have no problem with cab clearance in that position .

[dieseldan723]

cummins2014 wrote:

dieseldan723 wrote:
Good evening,

I have had two GMC short box trucks and used a Pull-Rite sliding hitch with ZERO problems. I am now looking at a new Dodge with a short box. The Dodge is two inches shorter than the GMC's I have previously owned.

I am open to another sliding hitch. Is there any issue with this setup that I should be concerned about?

Thank you all for your great advice!

Yes ,its a 6'-4" bed , and I have no problems towing my fifth wheel without a slider . My truck is the 2014 Ram Megacab ,same bed length as the Ram crew cab short bed. I have two hitches , my older Reese 18K slider ,that I have pretty much quit using, and the Andersen hitch, which is a fixed hitch, although it does have four different tow positions.

Having said this ,it will depend a lot on the type of fifth wheel, and the pin box position. My present fifth wheel has some very rounded front corners ,and the pin box extends out a little further then my previous fifth wheel. Although both fifth wheels did not require a slider. Both were towed with the Andersen without issue . Good luck with your choice .

Good information. We haven't actually purchased our 5th wheel yet, however we have our heart/mind set on the Cedar Creek 388DB.

[dieseldan723]

The Dodge 3500 I am looking at does not come with the 5th wheel prep package. I assume this will give me a bit more flexibility on what hitch I can use. In two previous trucks I installed the Pull-Rite myself. I won't be doing that on the new truck.

Please give me any opinions on which hitches I should be considering. I haven't been in the 5th wheel world for over 10 years! (It's good to finally be empty nesters!)

[cummins2014]

dieseldan723 wrote:
Good evening,

I have had two GMC short box trucks and used a Pull-Rite sliding hitch with ZERO problems. I am now looking at a new Dodge with a short box. The Dodge is two inches shorter than the GMC's I have previously owned.

I am open to another sliding hitch. Is there any issue with this setup that I should be concerned about?

Thank you all for your great advice!

Yes ,its a 6'-4" bed , and I have no problems towing my fifth wheel without a slider . My truck is the 2014 Ram Megacab ,same bed length as the Ram crew cab short bed. I have two hitches , my older Reese 18K slider ,that I have pretty much quit using, and the Andersen hitch, which is a fixed hitch, although it does have four different tow positions.

Having said this ,it will depend a lot on the type of fifth wheel, and the pin box position. My present fifth wheel has some very rounded front corners ,and the pin box extends out a little further then my previous fifth wheel. Although both fifth wheels did not require a slider. Both were towed with the Andersen without issue . Good luck with your choice .

[JIMNLIN]

LadyRVer wrote:
I used a slider in a short box and when I slid the hitch back and started to manuver, the pin box caught the tail gate... did a number on it. First time I ever used the slider... before that was super careful in backing/turning.

What year model was your Dodge/Ram truck and was the pin located over the rear axle or behind the rear axle.

[Ed9824v]

I use a pullrite slider in my 98 Dodge Ram shortbed 2500 always clears

[LadyRVer]

I used a slider in a short box and when I slid the hitch back and started to manuver, the pin box caught the tail gate... did a number on it. First time I ever used the slider... before that was super careful in backing/turning.