I pick up our new 2014 F350 dually tomorrow.

Looked at it today for the first time. They we're installing the Reese 25k fifth wheel hitch.

I pick up our toyhauler saturday. First fifth wheel for us. My worry is the guys drive way drops down from the asphalt road. I know the guy that brought it to the guys house had no issues as his truck would have been lower than the fifth wheel bringing it in. I'm worried that taking it out it could get close to the truck.

I don't have the manual or any paperwork for the Reese hitch. I'm curious how hard it is to raise the hitch up to it's highest setting?

Not sure if that's an option when I get there and hook up to it. I believe it comes installed in the middle of it's height adjustment. Anybody that has it have any experience in raising this hitch?


Any help is appreciated.

 

I have the 18K one. And yes there are three head adjustment settings. Measure the 5er height with it level.

Measure the height of the bed rails for the truck before hookup.

That would be a good starting point to make sure you will clear the bed rails.

As long as the hitch is pretty well up to the bed rails you should be fine. It will be.

 

Well the one issue is it's in a field. They guy had it delivered and planned on buying a truck that would pull it. He never did. That was 16 months ago.

He stills owes a chunk on it so he wants to get out from under it.
So him and his son camp in it, 200ft. from their house. It's been impeccably taken care of. The wheels have been on pads.

It's pretty level ground but I have to pull it up his field which is probably a 9-10% grade. Then once on his driveway which is just two dirt tracks in the grass His drive way sits about 20" or so down from the main road that goes by. I was thinking I could raise the hitch up all the way and at least it would give me some margin of error. I'm only towing it approx. 90 miles home.

My travel trailer barely scraped going out of his driveway but I think the fifth wheel is a whole different beast. Plus it's almost 7 ft. longer.

 

Length of the 5er will be a challenge to not drag it. That is the primary concern here.

Check to see if the spare tire is under the trailer. If so take it off. That should help a bit.

If you have 6-8" of clearance once hooked up between the bed rails and the bottom of the 5er then that part should be ok.

Use a ground guide to walk beside you and stop if it is gonna drag the rear.

Air them tires to max psi on the trailer too.

 

I was thinking of bringing a couple 10 ft. 2X6 to help once the truck starts going up on the road we could put them in front of the trailer tires and bring the trailer up some and bridge the little dip he has in the driveway.

Getting out of the field shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks for you help guys. I appreciate it.

 

You have the right ideas...build up the dips should help. Just take your time.

 

I have that hitch on my 350, when the 5er is hooked up there's about 5 in of clearance.
checkout the url for a copy of the setup document. Trailer Hitches - Reese
Chuck

 

If you decide to move it, adjustment is easy. Remove the hitch head by reaching underneath and pulling two cotter pins. Then slide out the larger L shaped pins and lift the head off. That will give you access to the bolts holding the center cradle to the two legs.

You should also investigate to see if the pinbox on the fiver can be adjusted.

I just moved my pinbox UP to level the fifth wheel while towing by dropping the front end DOWN. I started with 8.5 inches of clearance at the tailgate, 9.5 inches at the nose of the trailer. I am now level with 7 inches clearance at both tailgate and front of fiver.

 

I'd suggest you take the tailgate off before you go get the trailer..

 

Adjusting the hitch up and down is pretty easy, as noted above. Bring a long handled breaker bar because those adjustment bolts are put on really tight at the factory. I had to lower my 18K hitch to the lowest setting to level my toyhauler when towing. I still have 6" between the RV and the bed rails. My truck has the upgraded springs for plowing and it is level and tall without the RV hooked up and only drops about an inch with the RV hooked up. My concern with your description of the situation would be dragging the back end of the RV on the way out. My toyhauler has little road clearance and drags the rear if you aren't careful.

Lots of good advice here and sounds like you are thinking it through carefully so I suspect you'll be fine.

 

From my own experience, I am amazed anyone would need to lower the pin box or lower the hitch on these trucks. My truck has the 18k hitch, and I have mine at max extension, and my pin box as tall as possible. I have barely 4" of clearance between the bedrails and the bottom of the trailer.
Just a note, I have touched my bedrails several times when approaching an elevated road from a steep uphill approach. My solution was to pull onto the road at more of an angle. Then you need to be careful you don't crush the lower bed rail. All this was done with a spotter, my wife. Make sure you have a good spotter, and if contact is immenent, stop, back up , and get another plan.

Good luck!

 

If I had less than 5" and have no further adjustment on the hitch or the pin box, I'd be researching new pin boxes or hitches. That is my personal minimum.

 

Or flippin' the trailer axles or removing the lift kit on the truck...

 

Yeah that rule is exactly why I don't have a Carli Pin-top on my truck. I can't go any taller.

 

My truck is STOCK!!!


My first trailer the dealer flipped the axles. Very top heavy trailer difficult to access, and tall, so very tall.

The second trailer the dealer said be careful. I have been, and I notice I can go more places than a shorter bumper pull can go without concern. My truck is a short bed with a slider hitch, so that helps the approach and departure angles.