2010 tundra cmax short box-HELP-Trailer arm damaged tailgate

[Fstar]

Please help me. Just bought a 24 foot 5th wheel and hitch installed by the RV dealer. My first RV. Backing it up in a incline campsite in " tow manuvering " Trailer arm came down slightly and damaged my tailgate. They installed a Reese 15K. with slider tubes.

What should i do ?

[Ron3rd]

According to the manual, Toyota does not recommend a 5er on a Crew Max due to the 5.5 bed, though I HAVE seen it done. A fellow on tundrasolutions.com did it a few years back and located a special hitch for the 5er to work with the Crew Max. He claimed it worked great. I have no idea what the cause of your problem was as I don't have a 5er but as noted, photos would help. You'll need a free hosting service like photobucket, etc.

[BarneyS]

Fstar wrote:
Yes i do have pics . how do i attach a file,.

Take a look here.
Barney

[bgum]

Get a V tail gate with the louvers.

[Fstar]

Yes i do have pics . how do i attach a file,.

[ependydad]

Generally speaking, you want 5"-6" minimum between the top of the bed rails and the bottom of the fifth wheel.

Do you have pictures of what damaged your truck (the trailer arm - I assume you mean the pin box)? Do you have pics of the damage?

[Fstar]

having the trailer in "tow manuvering" ( the furthest the trailer can go back ) actually NARROWS the gap between arm and tailgate.) but in tight spaces i needed to do that.

[Fstar]

Thanks so much for your post.

I had the truck in tow manuvering and backing up. i was in a tight space so i couldnt use the regular tow hauling cause i needed the extra room.

Something doesn't seem right as even on a level space i thought to myself ( in tow manuvering ) the arm is only 1 -2 inches from the top of the tailgate and i thought to myself " wow if i go over a speed bump backing up this thing is gonna damage my tailgate".

Because i bought both the RV and hitch at the same dealer , shouldn't they have known ??

thanks

[BarneyS]

Sorry to hear that you had the damage! Did you have the hitch slid back as far as it will go before you started backing up the incline? I would think that would give you more clearance over the tailgate.

Do you have the necessary clearance over the bed rails when sitting on a level surface? If not, then you should probably raise the hitch or lower the pin if possible.

I do not have a 5th wheel trailer but have towed several in the past so my knowledge is limited.
Other than that, I can think nothing else to do except repair the tailgate or get a new one. Sorry!
Barney