Lessons learned the hard way are lessons learned well. It happened during my first year with the 5th wheel. And it could have been worse, could have bent the metal on the truck cab.

 

You know without evening thinking about I did just that with my new 5th wheel.

Took that thing to a wide open parking lot and did some u-turns without sliding the hitch and then with it.

Now I know why

 

before you buy a new 5th wheel hitch, check out the 'automatic' sliding hitches. what has been described above is the manual sliders. have to stop, slide the 5th wheel, stop and relock it. the auto sliders automatically slide when you are turning. i dont pull a 5th wheel but i turned my brother in law onto them before he bought one and he praises it.

 

Yes, they are nice but very pricey. I forget what the price was but I'm thinking around $1200 or so. Plus there is a hook up problem with them, can't back into them from more than 15 degrees or so. I forget exactly but there are some tight situations where I figured it would be a real hassel to get hooked up. Anyone considering one should look into that before buying.