I'm a long time trailer tower but this will be my first 5th wheel. Looking for some input.

• Is one type of hitch better than the other in a short bed?
• Do auto-sliders work as advertised?Are they necessary?
• Are the rails in the bed a pain or should I get a turn-over ball setup?

This is my best attempt at speaking the Fiver language since I'm a newbie. Help is appreciated as I would like to get the truck setup in the next few days.

Thanks,

Epic

 

I also have the short bed, and I do not use a slider hitch. Honestly, I think it's better to find a fiver that allows an 88-degree turning radius and use a stationary hitch. I've yet to run into any problems maneuvering my fiver, and I've camped in a few back-in spots. Also, I store both of my trailers in back-in spots. The auto sliders do look nice but they are hella expensive. The manual sliders seem to be more trouble than they're worth, especially since our "short" beds are almost 7 feet long. My recommendation is to get a stationary one and practice with a spotter. Whichever route you go, there will be a short period of adjustment to your new setup... might as well adjust to the cheaper one, IMO

As for the rails... I think if I was willing to spend the extra $$$, I would have avoided the above-bed rails. They're not *that* intrusive, but they do take some getting used to. The turnover ball is a gooseneck thing, not a fifth-wheel . Good luck picking your trailer and your hitch! I'm sure you will love towing the fiver.

 

Epic these are some of my questions as well..From what I understand the slider isn't necessary but you just have to be carefull how sharp you turn when backing up. I've got the prep package and nobody every answered me on what I have to have to work with the factory hitch.
I've seen the B&w turn over ball package with the companion 5th wheel hitch and thats a pretty slick setup...IMO if I didn't have the factory stuff I wouldn't look anywhere else but B&w turnover style.

BTW what new toy you gettin?

 

While it is a gooseneck thing..B&W makes a "companion" fifth wheel hitch that slides into their turnover hitch....I love the idea...when ur not using it pull the lever and pull out that huge hitch and you now have a smooth bed again.

 

Thanks, that's what I was wondering. I would have ordered the 5th wheel prep package from the factory but it wasn't available at the time. The clean bed look is really appealing to me. I wish there was a video that shows how the hitch mounts to the ball...

 

just in case anyone is not familiar with the purpose for a slider hitch, I'll clarify:

fifth-wheel trailers tend to have large "caps" on the front for aerodynamic reasons. These caps protrude from the front of the trailer, over the pinbox. This puts the cap very close to the rear glass of your truck when hitched. Because the hitch is almost directly over the rear axle, you run the risk of contact between the fiver cap and the truck cab when turning more than about 75 degrees.

A common method for avoiding this contact is to use a "slider" hitch. For towing, the pin is centered over the axle, but the hitch can be slid backwards towards the tailgate to allow more clearance when maneuvering. One should never tow the trailer more than a couple mph in this position, but it does help with the tighter turns. Some of the newer fivers are being designed to allow up to 88 degrees of turn before risking contact with the cab. extended pinboxes can also give extra clearance.

IMO, the manual slider can be a real pain because one must lock/unlock/adjust it repeatedly when maneuvering. There are also tailgate clearance issues (when in the "back position) that are even more of a PITA... auto sliders have the same problem. Unless you are willing to get a special tailgate to use when towing... I don't think an auto slider is wise. JM2c and HTH

 

you are correct, I guess I wasn't thinking in those terms

BTW, does B&W offer a slider version of that companion hitch?

 

Thanks dj. In principle, the auto-slider seems like a great idea. Are you saying that they can actually come in contact with the tailgate when fully extended? I've seen the custom tailgates and don't like the looks of them. Without one though, does someone have to be back there lifting the tailgate as the kingpin passes into the bed? Is there not enough clearance to lock the pin with the tailgate down?

 

Its been a while since I was searching them so I can't be 100% sure right now but as of 2 years ago they did not.

 

with my fiver, I have to put my wife on "tailgate duty" when hitching up. I have to back in with the tailgate down and position the truck such that the pinbox is clear of the tailgate's "up" position, but not far back enough to hitch up. Then she puts up the tailgate and I proceed back to make the pin connection. If she did not raise the tailgate, it could contact the fiver before the hitch did.

I think the tailgate clearance issue is rig-specific. I'm not *positive*, but eyeballing it, it looks like I wouldn't necessarily destroy the tailgate with a slider, but I'd definitely risk contact between the top of the tailgate and the rear of the pinbox. A different pinbox would clear things differently, so your experience will probably differ from mine. I never thought to check this until the guy at the hitch install place told me it was a risk with the autosliders.

 

The B&W Companion is not available as a slider. I originally went with the B&W setup in 2006 as I intended to do more gooseneck towing than fifth wheel at the time. When I bought the 2011, it was a no brainer since I already had the Companion hitch and the factory setup was pretty expensive in my opinon.

It all boils down to what you want to do with the truck. I like the clean installation of the B&W setup, but if my only use for a hitch was fifth wheel towing, there are better (much more expensive) setups out there. You also have the option of just installing a gooseneck hitch and using an adapter on the 5er pin box. Depending on the pin box design and the weight of the trailer, this may or may not be an option for you.

 

I have seen that adapter a few times. I think one of them was a bigger trailer than mine, so probably pushing 15k... any idea what the weight limit for said adapter would be?

 

Epic, my answer is "it depends". If you are looking at a 5th wheel like Rickatic's Bighorn that has the best cab clearance in the industry, you might be able to get by without a slider.

I didn't think I could do that with my setup although I wanted a B&W with 5th wheel companion. The companion hitch is 2" behind the axle and the companion can be adjusted 4" back from that for a total of 6" behind the axle. My fifth wheel front cap does not have the scallops on the cap sides as newer models so I went with the Reese OEM under bed rails and the Reese 18k signature slider hitch. I wanted to have zero doubts that I could clear the cab in a super tight turn.

The Reese slider hitch is heavy as heck but it works fine. The only issue with sliding hitches is that you have to keep them out of bind in order for them to slide as they should. I had a husky slider hitch on the 2008 F250 but it had the above bed rails.

 

Epic..

I have the B&W turnover ball with Companion fifth wheel hitch. I would not consider anything else. My 2004 had the turnover ball in it when I bought it. I added the Companion because it was the simplest and least expensive route to go. Little did know that I was making the best decision I had made in a long time. I did have to buy a new turnover base for the new truck.The B&W setup costs about $1300 for both setups, installed. That price puts it in the premium hitch category. IMO, it's worth every penny. The base turnover unit is rated at 28000 pounds,IIRC. When installed, there is nothing in the truck box except the removable ball and the flush mount safety chain hooks. Pull the under fender pin and remove the ball. You now have a clean box floor. Drop the assembled Companion hitch, rated for 18000 pounds, in the mounting socket, release the under fender locking pin, tighten 5 bolts and you are now ready to pull your fiver. It took me longer to type this than it takes to remove or install the hitch. I pull my 13000 pound Big Horn with this setup. The trailer has the 88 degree clipped front corners for clearance on the short boxes. I have had my trailer eyeball close to 90 degrees on wet grass to test this out. I can not see how you can hit the cab with my setup unless you went comatose while nearing that tight of a turn. I see no need for a sliding hitch with a clipped front trailer. The Companion hitch is very high quality with solid engineering. It has a damped pivot for the tow head which really smooths out the ride. The full circle heavy duty locking jaws are strong and hitch tightly. This hitch is as close to impossible to mis-hitch as can be. When the locking lever closes into position and you put the locking pin in place, you can not drop the trailer. The huge center pivot cam closes the jaws completely. If you can put the pin in the locking hole, it is closed tight. I have a Bed Saver for mine but would not buy it again after understanding how the hitch works. Here is the closer. In all the many B&W hitch threads on any and all the forums I visit, I have yet to see one single B&W Combo owner who was not 100% satisfied. Many post there happiness though. It is a great product built in the MidWest of this great country by a company that cares about it's customers and it's employees. Here is a link to a very recent thread about them from RVnet. It says a lot.

Trailer Life Magazine Open Roads Forum: B&W Another Reason I'm Glad I Own One

Sorry for the long post...not really

I did not know Champ was posting. We had a long conversation about his situation.

Regards

 

My Automatic Slide Pullrite SuperGlide hitch will not slide unless I am making a turn, so it never hits the tailgate and I can hitch up my fiver with the tailgate down.