Adjusting Pivot Arms on B&W Companion 5th Wheel Hitch

[La_Gasser]

I have a 2013 F350 Dually 2WD with a B&W Turnover Ball hitch which I was using to pull a 34' horse trailer with living quarters with a gooseneck hitch. Horse trailer weighed approx. 14k, which is just slightly less that the toy hauler. Jayco dealer installed a B&W Companion hitch when we purchased the Toy Hauler. They positioned the pivot arms in the rear most position and in the highest position. No problem with the height as the toy hauler & truck are level when hooked up and 9" of bed rail clearance. I believe the pivot arms are too far back and need to be moved to the furthest forward position which would add some weight to the front axle. When I weighed this truck/toy hauler combo, the front axle weight only increased by 50lbs vs unloaded. My front tires have started to scallop on the center tread since we got this trailer & hitch. Had the alignment checked and all was ok. Truck is a long bed so cab clearance is not an issue if the pivot arms are moved forward. Has anyone else experienced any tire wear issues from having the pivot arms set too far back? Current position puts the kingpin behind the truck axle.

[Cummins12V98]

When rotating my front tires on my dually I leave the rotation the same. That way the inner is on the outer on each side. I never rotate my rears.

Your pin is now 2-4" ahead of your rear axle centerline being full forward.

[MFL]

Coming from 4"s behind the axle, should make for a better towing experience! I would expect that you would add a little more wt to front axle, but not a lot.

Your theory could be right, that being that far back with pin, causing some bouncing/chucking, maybe having some effect on tires. It does seem like once cupping of tires start, it seems to continue.

Thanks for the update, and good luck with the arms forward experience!

Jerry

[La_Gasser]

Update - yesterday I moved the pivot arms to the furthest forward position which puts the trailer kingpin over the rear axle, where before it was 4" behind the axle. Don't know what difference that will make if any on adding weight to the front axle, other than maybe improving the ride somewhat. The tires are factory originals General Grabber HTS with 38k miles, probably about 65% of which was pulling the 34' horse trailer. The horse trailer was a gooseneck so the ball was 3" ahead of the axle. The cupping/scalloping of the center tread on the front tires showed up after I got the toy hauler - maybe just a coincidence. Due to the high cost to perform a correct tire rotation (front to back; back to front, dismount/remount& balance 6 tires, etc) on a dually, the only rotation that has been done is swapping of the front tires from left to right every 12k miles. I'm thinking that since the kingpin was 4" behind the axle, it may have been causing a rocking motion that is loading then unloading the front tires which may cause this wear issue, especially with the Ford Twin I-Beam front end. Just a shot in the dark though. Maybe just time to start tire shopping, but would like to resolve this issue before putting new tires on.

[Cummins12V98]

This is where and how the head supports "SHOULD" be mounted unless you are dealing with a clearance issue. You should be adding some weight to the front axle. In the "OLD" days when a person had to physically lay out the hitch location it was "industry standard" to set 2" in front of center of rear axle.

The head supports each have a straight side and an angled side, keep the straight side towards the cab.

[tinner12002]

Mine are centered...seems to work good in that position. As for changing the location on my B&W its just a matter of unbolting side plates and swapping them from one side to the other. I'm guessing they would all be setup the same way. It's about a 30min fix.

[Cummins12V98]

Full forward with nearly 6k pin I only add around 150# to front axle.

[stickdog]

When mine was set up by the installer, they had the arms in the middle position. When weighing the truck and then the truck trailer combo I had no difference on the front axle. When I moved then all the way forward it only added 25# to the front axle. Close to 50,000 miles towing no problems. From what I've read as long as you don't unload the front axle your good.

[Cummins12V98]

LongBed FULL FORWARD!!! That means the side head supports have their "straight" side closest to the cab.

Signed

President of the "HeavyWeight B&W FanBoy Club"

[fj12ryder]

I have ours in the most forward position, so it's not an issue with a long bed. But I don't think you'll see much change in weight on the front axle, maybe 100 lbs. or less. I think you need to look elsewhere for your tire problem.

[MFL]

Pin behind axle is not the best option. Normally pin center should be 2"s in front of axle center. It is not unusual to see very little weight added to front axle, even with pin slightly ahead of axle center. I would move the arms forward to get to 2"s ahead as a minimum.

Jerry