Towing a 5th wheel camper with a 9' flatbed?

[GLyford]

Or just take a tape measure and measure the diagonal on your truck from the ball to the back corners, without having to back it under there...?

 

[gsganzer]

How recessed is the hitch? Here's the extender I used B&W Extend-a-goose. Thereres some other brands with square tubes and other sizes.

 

[jenkinsph]

When I built this flatbed I clipped the corners to allow more clearance as it is a full 8' wide. You mentioned tool boxes on your bed, make sure everything works before buying the camper. This bed is 11' long and tight turns I still have to watch out for the center jo box. Most of the CC beds are built with a 48" overhang rear of the axle but a measuring tape will help you more than any of us can. How far forward of the axle the coupler is positioned is a big factor too.

 

[msb1766]

Take a look at Anderson Hitches:
Ultimate 5th Wheel Connection

Scroll down and watch the videos.

 

[jenkinsph]

How recessed is the hitch? Here's the extender I used B&W Extend-a-goose. Thereres some other brands with square tubes and other sizes.

That is fine while towing straight but does not help with tight turns where you need the clearance from the cab.

 

[1stDeuce]

I've towed my 5th wheel with the 8.5' flatbed I built. I put the ball 4" in front of the axle, and I didn't clip the corners. It clears fine. Most 5-ers are built to be towed by a long box truck, which means clearance for at least 8'6" (tailgate and bumper stick out past the 8' box length) You should have clearance, but as GLyford suggests, it's REALLY easy to take a tape and get the farthest measurement from the ball, which is always the corner of the bed. Then go to the 5-er and measure from the center of the kingpin back to the camper. If the distance is greater by a couple of inches, you're in the clear. Hmm... If your bed is wider than ~7', it may get tight...

Also, if you decide to go through with the purchase, there are several 5th wheel adapters out there. I did a bunch of looking, and ended up with a Camco Ez-Lift unit. It is perhaps the best of the bunch, IMO. I particularly like that it has a little cable that you attach under the 5-er, and just pull to release it. The release lever goes over center, so you don't have to hold the cable while jacking up the camper. It usually resets as it comes off the ball, and then auto-latches when you drop it back onto the ball. Nice for moving the camper around quickly. (Safety chains recommended for road travel...) You are encouraged to drill four holes in the pin box for a semi-permanent install, but you can go pick up your 5-er using the set bolts. (I did, and it was fine towing my 14,200lb unit...)

Aside from the Andersen hitch, all GN adapters put more stress into the pin box when towing. No way around that. If you tow a lot, and your truck has very stiff suspension, you may eventually do some damage to the structure. It's shameful how little overbuild is in the frame of most 5-ers. (Most use Lippert frames) I lucked out and my 5-er is a King of the Road. They made their own frames, which were supposedly OK'd by their engineering for use with gooseneck adapters. Plus, we live in it, so we don't tow it much at all, we just move it around the property from time to time.

 

[jbadkins7o]

I worked for an RV dealer and we did a lot of the slider hitches, even did some of the swing away ones. I think everyone has one now Reese,B&W etc. But if you're going to convert it to a gooseneck album look into changing the hitch box on the front of the trailer and get an extended one. You'll have to contact the manufacturer the RV if it's not available just have a local fab shop make one for you that's the easy solution. We did those alot but by the looks of things as long as it's not a small 5th wheel you should be fine.

 

[Supraman0614]

I second the extended pin box. I have towed 5th wheels for many years with a factory 8' bed. Sliding hitches are generally used for shortbed trucks to move the front corners of the camper away from the back of your cab when you are pulling or backing into a campsite at low speeds (jackknifing on purpose). It is not recommended to tow in the extended position as it moves the load on the pin behind your axle and can make it dangerous to tow down the road. An extended pinbox, however, will allow you to keep the correct hitch position over your axle and still keep the weight of the camper pin in the right spot, but move the camper frame back so it clears your bed. There is usually only 1500-2000 lbs of pin weight on most average 5th wheel pins, so it doesn't require 1/2" plate, but there will be a little more torque on it due to the extended length, so you must keep that in mind. Taking a measurement from your gooseneck ball to the corner of your bed and comparing that to a factory setup is the only way you can know for sure.

 

[truckdiagnostics]

If the camper isn't to heavy you could put the ball a foot or so in back of the rear axle. Ideally they should be placed just a tad in front of the rear axle for stability purposes which won't work for you in this case.

Having the hitch located a foot rearward and with a heavy trailer could cause steering concerns from a light front end in emergency maneuvers. Your truck may be heavy duty enough for it to not matter though, but that is a guess.

i like this solution if you put an offset on your moving the load point rearwards anyway. I would look into adding 1/2 plate under current bed then bolt through current bed to 1/2 plate. If you tack weld nuts to 1/2 inch plate should be easy to take on and off.

 

[jbadkins7o]

i like this solution if you put an offset on your moving the load point rearwards anyway. I would look into adding 1/2 plate under current bed then bolt through current bed to 1/2 plate. If you tack weld nuts to 1/2 inch plate should be easy to take on and off.

You're not changing where it contacts the truck, which is very important to how it handles with the trailer.