I spent 4 hours yesterday installing Curt hitch, Timbrens and 7 way in the bed.

She is ready for the new 5th wheel and I am sore

 

Good job!

Steve

 

Congratz on the install! So was putting the hitch in or the wiring the worse part of the job?

 

Hopkins 7 way connector, easy...

Curt rail kit....lots of big bolts to torque in awkward locations...takes a while...

Timbrens, easy....esp with power tools

great videos of how to do this on youtube.

 

Nice and clean install.

 

Yeah, I figured the rail kit was one of those deals where you need a five-foot long arm with three elbows and two wrists to get around the rear end, spare tire and exhaust....

 

Nearly the same set up that I've got. Looks good.

 

Nice looking! Bed liner looks pretty fresh as well.
What will you be towing?

 

In process of buying a Wildcat 317RL 5'er

 

Nice. Is that a long bed? Reason for asking is we pull a '13 Jayco Eagle 351 RLTS with our 350 CC SB 2WD and my insurance co. spent $500 for me to learn I shoulda gotten a slider.
I can't make a full-lock U-turn without the front cap touching the rear of the cab.
So if it's a shorty use caution!

 

One of the things I noticed at the shows recently is with the popularity of short beds for fivers the manufacturers are starting to go to Freedom hitches on the fivers that work with shorter beds. We have an 8-footer, but would welcome a shorter turning radius.

 

I was wondering when someone would notice the lack of slider

My RV dealer tells me that I don't need a slider with the trailer I'm getting and my Ford (6.75 foot bed). Also other folks with the same setup (truck and trailer combo) said they haven't needed to use the slider.

That being said...I can add the slider to my current set up, the price of buying the slider unit after and adding just the slider was only $80 more then buying the hitch with the slider on it. Worth a try first.

So I will carefully test it out next week...just made the deal today...and see whats going on.

In the end, I may just end up getting a super glide or something automatic at a later point....need to recover from buying a new 5'er.

 

I found that 90% of the time I didn't need the slider with my previous short bed...but some campgrounds you do.

 

Yeah, some of the newer 5th have front caps that have the corners "sculpted" to give more clearance. Unless you are married to the dealer's daughter/sister I'd take everything he/she says with a grain of salt. Check it out when you can. Now that I know my limitations (cheezy movie reference) I get the bride out to watch the clearance when I have to make a tight turn. No problems turning left/right, only when making a U or backing into a tight spot.
Since my "incident" I've raised the hitch to its highest setting and am considering dropping the pin-box to the next hole. The 5th sits slightly nose-down so I could afford the adjustment.

 

funny... and good stuff thanks