also a coworker came to me today and told me about a horror story that happened to him last weekend before going camping. he was all loaded up pulling fifth and small trailer behind fifth. his REESE 15k hitch let go and slammed his fifth onto the bed. he hooked it back up to put it away and it happened again. those of you with REESE hitches make sure both sides of the locking mechanism lock into place...that goes for me as well... those of you looking for a hitch take advice... so far i haven't had a problem. hopefully it stays that way. knock on wood!!!!!!!!!!!

 

OK,OK. Ya'll talked me into a slider but the Reeses are out of the question. So, best bang for the buck on the sliders? I don't need the Rolls Royce version, but I don't want junk, either. What do ya'll recommend in the middle of the road?

 

I will say it again Husky.

 

get a sliding hitch I have the dings in the rear of my cab to prove it OUCH!!!!!

 

What about Curt brand? ANyone have any exp. w/this brand?

 

Have not heard much good. Supposed to be real crappy w/ getting warranty work done.

 

Mine is Husky. IMO it's a good product at a fair price. The slider portion of mine is almost 9 years old but I replaced the head last fall. It has towed over 50K miles.

Dan

 

I will not have anything other than a Pull-rite installed by a qualified person. Reason is I turned over a 27ft Wildcat when a guy pulled out into me, and the hitch never let go. I had to pull the hand pins to get the thing off the truck. Very nasty experience hope you never have to experience it.

 

I Pull My 5th Wheel With A 07 Quad Cab Short Bed With A B&m Flip Over 2 5/16" Ball. I Put A Gooseneck Hitch On The Trailer And It Clears The Cab Just Fine. That Way I Don't Have To Move The Hitch In And Out Of The Truck And Find Some Place To Store It. I Also Pull A Gooseneck Flat Bed Also. This Is The Thirdtruck I Have Used This Setup And Wouldn't Have Anything Else.

 

07ram, how hard, or easy, is it to convert 5th wheel trailer to gooseneck & is it still REALLY safe?

 

why would you want to??? what advantage is there with a gooseneck over a fifth wheel hookup??

 

I pull a 36' prowler with my shorbet mega and no slider... and I have turned it all the way and it misses the cab by about 1/4" I don't turn that hard but I had a buddy there and we were seeing if it would clear if for some reason I had to... I even have my 7" stack in the bed now and it won't hit it as long as I pay attention I obviously can't crank it all the way but I haven't had to.. A slider would be nice but I picked mine up at a yard sale for $75 bucks and still in the box!!!
This pictures is me unhooking it and the truck is coming up in the terrain so it looks like the camper is really close to the rails but when it is hooked up it's not close at all...

 

Even though mine is not a slider, the way mine is mounted for my set-up has worked flawlessly going on 8 years.
<-- Click to enlarge -->
When driving forward, I can turn lock to lock and not hit. If I get the 5er and truck close enough to make contact while backing up,,,,,, I'm doing something wrong that I shouldn't be doing. In 7 years, I have not had a reason to get the truck that jack-knifed, which puts an enormous strain on the 5er suspension and hitch,,,,, and I have turned it around in some tight places!
Once again, this has worked for me due to the way I mounted the hitch and the mounting position of the pin box on my 5er.



When my Dad bought his new 2005 shortbed, I recomended he go with a slider to add to his Reese 16k since his hitch was mounted closer to the cab. So far, he has never had to use it, but it is there just in case. There are some good pictures in his gallery that we took while testing the turning radius with his.

 

hey rattlinram, just curious where is your hitch mounted in relation to the rear axle? is it directly above the centerline of the axle? 2 inches in front of or 2 inches behind the centerline???

 

I have an RBW hitch that looks like this;

I've never actually measured it,,,,, but I would say it's an inch or so,,, (two at the most),, behind the axle centerline.


This shot was taken to show the hitch relation to the axle. I had mounted the hitch frame so that the pin hole could be adjusted to ahead of the axle, centered or behind. I ended up moving the hitch to it's most rearward position for a couple of reasons.
It allowed me more room between the cab and 5er, but the biggest reason was that my pin weight is only 1130lbs. and the truck still sat high in the rear. This made the 5er nose high which threw more weight on the rear trailer axle. So by moving the hitch back in the truck, the truck now sits nice and level, tows like a dream and I still get the benefit of a little more room for maneuvering.