Short Box Slider

luckyl · Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 10:56 am Post subject: Short Box Slider

Is it legal to drive with the slider in the back position so I don't crunch the truck cab with the 5er in sharp turns Question

I backed up the 5er the very first time after coming home from the dealer and dented the corner on the quadcab. Embarassed

I did not even jack-knife them and was really surprised, so now I am wondering if I should keep the slider in the far back position. It will not be dead center rear axle then and how much of a tongue difference would it make? How will it be in handling while driving in that position? I am new to pulling a 5er, but have pulled trailers up to 31 feet. Advice to the person who wants to buy the biggest 5er: it is not if you can handle driving it and have no trouble backing into tight campsites. But the campsites are not all made to accomodate 50+ foot RVs. I made that mistake when I bought a 31' trailer and trading it in a few weeks later for a new 5th wheel. It has cost me dearly and the dealer is still smiling, I bet.
I drive a 2004 Dodge Ram 3500 diesel with a 5.9L inline Cummins engine.
Pulling a 2007 Keystone Cougar 291RLS.
Any advice is appreciated.

mhbell · Joined: 27 Dec 2005 Posts: 33

I guess that you have a short bed on your truck. If so, you may have a couple of options. You could get an extended tongue (hitch) on the fifth wheel which would move the front of the fifth wheel back a foot, giving you the clearance that you need--that is if there is one available for your fifth wheel. My Prowler Lynx 27.5 ft came equipped with one so I can hook it up to a short or long bed truck without a slider. I would only put the slider in the rear most position when maneuvering into a campsite or making a real sharp turn. The rest of the time, I would keep the slider in the position that puts the weight over the center of the rear axle on the truck. When you have the slider in the rearmost position with the weight behind the axle, you could lose directional steering if it causes the front of the truck to become lighter. I am sure that there are others in the forum who can explain it better than me.
MH
Wink

Dustytuu · Joined: 07 Nov 2005 Posts: 145 Location: Colorado

Gary Scott · Joined: 03 Jun 2006 Posts: 21

In your present trailer, the extension box seems the best solution to sharp turns. However, I would suggest that if you buy another trailer in the future and plan to use the same short bed truck, you consider buying a Titanium fifth wheel trailer. There are many good floor plans and they are designed with fifth wheels in mind for short bed trucks. We had a short bed and Titanium combination which worked extremely well with never a problem. And the aerodymanics of Titanium trailers are almost space age. They are built by Glendale RV in Canada, but are available throughout the US.

QDR · Joined: 06 Nov 2005 Posts: 1

The people who travel in the 2nd or 3rd lanes on freeways: one thing to keep in mind is that is the passing lane for semi trucks in a lot of areas. More and more areas are restricting trucks to the right two lanes on freeways with more that two lanes. This means that the trucks have to use the 2nd lane for passing. So if you are able, move over to the right lane and let the trucks by, or if you are legal to do so, move to the 3rd lane.
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29' Coachman Class C

airmec · Joined: 20 Nov 2006 Posts: 1 Location: Davis, Ill, USA

If you're worried about your truck hitting the front of your trailer with a short bed truck, you should look into getting a PULLRITE hitch. The hitch slides back automatically as you make your turns. I had one and it really works great.

Gary Scott · Joined: 03 Jun 2006 Posts: 21

Greetings again! As you can see, there are many good options. I notice that in suggesting a Titanium trailer working with my short bed that I forget to mention that Titaniums work with a regular hitch in the short bed which is a much cheaper hitch; and when you switch to a long bed truck as I did, it is simply a matter of changing the hitch from the short bed over to the long bed with no need of buying a different type of hitch.

Bob Taylor · Joined: 23 Nov 2005 Posts: 3

Safety. You should never drive with the hitch in the rear most position. The short bed truck is the most popular now with the extended cab and quad cab models, so as not to have such a long vehicle. I have a Pull-Rite slider and it will be the last hitch I will ever buy. Safety, construction and engineering were the selling points. It does have a higher price, but I can't put a price on safety. Maybe you can. I have had my hitch 5 years and there are some other models out there now. Do some research and do not go on price only. There are a lot of trailer brands out there that make good quality units but Heartland makes their units with about 88-degree turns without a slider hitch. The Big Horn and the Landmark are a couple of their brand names. As a former RV salesman, I cannot rank the Titanium above any other units in its price point. I am sorry this is long but I hope it helps.
_________________
Bob Taylor
2002 HR fifth wheel, 2001 Silverado 2500.
one of my favorite quotes. "Life is a Journey, not a Guided Tour" which I add, travel with the One you Love and the One who Loves you.

kenmolloy · Joined: 04 Nov 2006 Posts: 8 Location: Hayward, California

If you drive with the 5th wheel slider all the way back, the hitch weight of your trailer will be well behind the truck's rear axle. This will cause the trailer to take weight off the truck's front tires. That will definitely affect the ride of the truck, because there will be times that the back of your truck will be going down while the front is coming up. It will feel a lot like a "rocking horse."
Also, the farther the 5th wheel hitch is behind the truck's rear axle, the more the tendency for the rig to "jackknife" during hard braking or in heavy gusts of wind.
Look at the big rigs. Many 18-wheelers have the 5th wheel on the tractor located 12-18" forward of the axle (or the center point of the two axles, in the case of a truck with tandem rear axles). I've pulled a 5th wheel with two long-bed pickup trucks, and I simply measured from the king pin to the corner of the trailer and added about 4" for safety, then bolted down the 5th wheel hitch that distance from the back of the cab. With both trucks, that placed the hitch about 6" forward of the truck's rear axle.
_________________
Ken Molloy, MSgt, USAF (retired)
37-foot 1994 Allegro Bay diesel pusher
230hp Cummins 5.9l
6-speed Allison transmission
Hayward, CA

mlmorelock · Joined: 28 Apr 2006 Posts: 3

I have the same truck except it's a 2005 with a slider hitch. With an extended tongue on our 5th wheel, the truck can't turn sharp enough so the trailer will hit the cab when going forward (wife and I tested this in a large empty lot). In backing up, I've only used the slider in the empty lot to test how far we could go. It's never been needed in the real world yet. Good luck and have fun!
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MM & MM and the dogs

luckyl · Posted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 8:01 pm Post subject: Thanks

Thank you all for replying to my questions. I forgot to mention the hitch is a Hijacker super slide, so it is one of the better ones. I definitely place safety on top of my list on the road or off.
(I am a 1st aid attendant, retiring at the end of January 2007).
I will travel with the slide in the forward position (above the axle) and only move it back when backing into a sharp turn to get into the campsite. Not all campsites can accommodate 50' units.
Your advice and help is greatly appreciated.

2004 Dodge Ram 3500 Diesel,(short box king cab)
2007 Keystone Cougar 5th Wheel 291 RLS,
Christa, my wife of 40 years and gunner our dog.
and myself, never too old to learn or listen to good advice.
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Leo/Christa, BC Canada,2004 Dodge Ram 3500, 5.9L inline 6 diesel engine, 2007 Cougar 291RLS 5th wheel, Gunner, our "Fox" lookalike.