I will be buying a fifth wheel camper in the near future. I have a long bed now and i want to get my truck set-up before i shop for a fiver. Is this a bad move? I have no experience with fifth wheel hitches. What I do know is I want to pull about a 24-28 foot camper and a 16 foot aluminium boat at the same time. Any pointers on what hitch to shop for would be great.

 

I see you are in AZ...Metro Phoenix, perhaps?

I don't have any experience with trailer shops around here. Do most of my own work. I'll ask my neighbor next week...he's out of town this week.

Tony

 

I'm in Mesa. I'll probably be going to Cliff's welding on Main St. They're pricey but well experienced and I know them. My big question is though; do i buy the hitch first or do I get a hitch to match the trailer I buy?

 

It's a pretty safe bet that the RV is going to be 5th wheel so I look at them. I'd get a double axis or double tilt to make life easier. I'd also look at a rail system so you can remove it easily. The B&W turnover ball and 5th wheel adaptor is cool...a little more $$$ but very flexible. Be sure to take into account the extra trailer weight if you plan on towing double.

 

Yes, B&W all the way, if I owned a 5th wheel camper trailer I would buy one of the B&W's so I could use with my B&W turnoverball gooseneck.

 

I definately don't need a gooseneck ball at all. Knowing about the two axis thing is good though. I'll keep reading around for now.

 

Wait tell you get the trailer or get it down to a few types/brands. There are so many different pin box types out there now. You mite be able to get away with a cheaper type 5er hitch if you wait, and you mite need a fully adjustable one for the heigth of the trailer vs the top of the bed rails. Some 5er hitchs don't give a lot of adjustment and some do. I was able to buy my hitch, install it and install a 7pin plug in my bed in 1.5 days. And thats running all around town to pickup the stuff and do the install in front of my house.
I'm glad I waited tell I decided on the trailer...... i almost got the wrong type hitch.

 

Sounds like some good advice there. Is there any way to tell what the previouse owner had on the truck by the holes in the bed?

 

Start looking at non-slider 4way pivot head hitchs for your year truck. You mite narrow the search down. B&W are nice hitchs...top of the line for sure. Huskys are nice and at the lower end but a good hitch too. I had to be one of the dummys that got a short bed so I needed the most expensive hitch on the planet

 

I've got a Husky. Its a slider, but not once have I had to use it. If I had to do it again I'd get the automatic type. Pretty slick.

 

You've got a LB truck, no need at all for a slider IMHO. If you check the RV forums, I think you'll find that Reese is one of the most popular brands out there. 16K or 18K Professional or Signature series you do you well with a 28'
5er and a small boat.

A note on that; alot of 5ers out there are NOT set up to add a hitch of any kind to be able to pull anything. Some units, you will actually void your frame warranty by doing this. So in your shopping, this probably should be a major item that you point out to, not only your salesperson, but the Service Manager of the dealership. Good luck.
Lynn

 

I noticed that with a few campers I looked at. I am a certified welder so getting one on would not be a problem. Thanx for the info...

 

I'm not gonna build a dam or a bridge here chief. I've stitched a few hitches to a few trucks in my blah blah time. I don't think I need a blah blah pocket protector or an engineering degree to put on a hitch to pull an aluminum boat.

Noah, a common man, built an ark. Engineers built the Titanic.

 

I'm guessing the point here is if you buy a trailer that wasn't intended to have a hitch on the back, and you shade-tree engineer one onto it, then the trailer frame breaks in half, you'll be doing more welding under there because there won't be a warranty honored on that TT.
Sure, if you can fix anything that goes wrong, fine, you don't care about the warranty, but some dealers look for any reason to void a warranty, and the receiver on the back of that TT could be just what they are looking for, even though it's the water pump or stove that's busted. I have seen this with trucks that have gauges on them. For some dealers, this voids the warranty even though it has nothing to do with the actual problem.

Oh yeah, whats "Agridiesel". that the same as Biodiesel?

Chris

 

Yeah, AgriDiesel is just a brand i believe. I'm gonna buy a used trailer from a private party anyhow. I can repair just about anything so I'm not concerned with warranties. Besides, as soon as you pull a new trailer off the lot, it becomes used. There's a ton of trailers out here that are purchased and never used.