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View Poll Results: Shortbed owners only please. I really want to see how many members actually use a sliding hitch wi
Yes, I have a slider. 12 75.00%
No, and I've never had a problem. 4 25.00%
No, and I have had a problem with trailer cab clearance. 0 0%
Voters: 16. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 04-28-2005, 11:33 AM   #1
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Old 04-28-2005, 11:33 AM   #2
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Shortbed owners only please. I really want to see how many members actually use a sliding hitch with their fifth wheel trailers and shortbed trucks.

I know a sliding hitch is the recommended setup, but it's really starting to look like a deal breaker in our case. I'm ready to sign the papers on a new Fiver, but I can't get the hitch setup squared away. Your input would really help me and the DW finish this deal.
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Old 04-28-2005, 12:04 PM   #3
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short-bed owner here

used it for years,
and what everyone says about sliders is correct:
You do not need one, and you just can't do without it.

You sure can carefully manuever around town (well a lot of it) without a slider, and sure you can probably back it into your storage area without a slider (depends), but if you have a slider you will end up using it several times a trip. I find it very useful.

I'm not sure I would let it be a deal breaker though. if you have a dealer you are potentially going to buy a 5er from and he is going to toss a standard hitch in with the deal, give him a hundred bucks and have him upgrade to a slider instead.
I have found that the ease in driving around town and in small County Parks that the slider hitch gives you, makes it money well spent. You WILL find yourself snagging those choice little, tight RV sites overlooking the beach once you have that slider.

Mike (Husky 16K full articulating slider)
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Old 04-28-2005, 12:39 PM   #4
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$100 won't get me anywhere near a sliding hitch that I can use.

Here's the problem. I have a locking fiberglass tonneau cover that's tied into my alarm system. I also have a BedRug custom carpet kit. This turns my truck bed into a giant, secure car style cargo trunk. I am a network administrator, and I frequently (like weekly) haul expensive computer equipment around in my truck bed. This is a critical feature of my truck and I spent a lot of money to set it up this way. I cannot have any rails of any kind in my bed after installing the hitch. That is the deal breaker.

The preferred sliding hitch I have found so far that does not have fixed rails in the bed is the Pullrite SuperGlide. Because I already have the B&W turnoverball gooseneck mounted under the bed, I am pretty sure that will need to be removed before the new hitch rails can go in. It looks to me like they won't both fit under the bed together. As far as cost, the rails alone cost over $600 - as much as a typical fiver hitch. Then another $1500 for the hitch itself, and another couple hundred for install and all of a sudden the sliding hitch is almost $2K more than the deal we have now.

Even if I go with a DrawTite - which is a manual slider and looks like it would leave the bed clean - I am looking at a $1200 hitch setup before tax and install.

If I have to go with a slider, I am probably back to square one. But at least I've been there before.
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Old 04-28-2005, 08:02 PM   #5
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OK, you are correct about the SuperGlide costing about $2K. However, the dealer should be able to cut you a deal on one and get it for about $1800-1900 installed. you should also be able to get some money back for your Turnover ball from the dealer (trade in price).
As far as your Tonneau cover there are other options such as the Fold-A-Cover. The advantage is you don't have to remove it to tow your 5VR and it still locks to protech your cargo when not towing.
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Old 04-29-2005, 05:20 AM   #6
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I'm not too worried about my tonneau cover. It takes less then 3 minutes to remove, and maybe 5 to reinstall. I don't mind doing that. I was just trying to describe why I am very particular about the need for the bed to be left clean when the hitch is not installed.

I could easily install a Pace Edwards roll n lock tonneau which would work well with the fiver, but I like my tonneau. It's custom painted and looks really sharp.

I can't imagine the dealer is going to give me much for my B&W. They only retail for about $350, and this one has been underneath a bed for over three years. It's in good condition, but far from new. What's that worth to a dealer? $50 at best, I would guess. And if the dealer removes it, he is going to want at least that much for the labor to uninstall it. So at best, I can hope that he won't charge me for taking it from me.
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Old 04-29-2005, 08:10 PM   #7
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Good luck and Happy hunting
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Old 05-01-2005, 10:33 AM   #8
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thecatsfan,
I to have been looking at slider hitches for my Dodge.

Husky makes an underbed mount system for their slider. My dealer quoted me $900 for the manual slide installed for that as opposed to the $2000 for the Pullrite. They have an electric slide available which is interesting to me, but I can't find much info or reviews on it. My dealer said he didn't like them, but I'm thinking it's just because they require a little more installation for the switch in the cab.

The Reese Signature Series also has underbed mounting, but have to go to 18K hitch to get 4-way head. And their underbed requires drilling of the truck frame which I would rather not do.
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Old 05-02-2005, 10:57 AM   #9
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So we went to the dealer this weekend with the truck bed empty and the tonneau off and spent a couple hours actually lining things up and measuring. Very interesting to see how little the dealers (sales and parts guys at lest) actually know about the hitches and products they sell.

The agreed price we had with the dealer included the B&W Companion hitch. Supposedly, at dealer cost, this hitch is $500. The sales manager says he'll upgrade me to a Husky Slider for an additional $250 plus some install labor. Well, the top tech on the lot spent almost tow hours with me lining things up and looking at options, and we determined that the Husky is a really bad idea. Primarily, it is not a good fit for my truck and trailer. They would have to mount it a pretty close to the cab to keep the back of the king pin box from hitting my tailgate when they slide it back. I would have less clearance than a fixed hitch under normal loads (only about 39"), and I would have between 48" and 49" with the slide back - maybe less. Still might not be able to do a 90 degree turn.

We determined the right slider for my application is definitely the pullrite. The full 14" of slide (as opposed to 9" with the Husky) plus the automatic action which means the slide never comes straight back, makes it the superior fit of all sliders. Okay, no surprise there. Here's the kicker. The dealer wants $2300 installed for the Pullrite. Claims this is his "zero-profit" bottom dollar. Yeah, right!? So we have to cough up an extra $1800 to upgrade from the B&W to the Pullrite. OUCH!

So the tech and I really looked at fit and position and he even went and got a gooseneck adapter with a 7 1/2" offest and hooked it up. This put the king pin within 1/2" of the location where it would be on the B&W companion. We pulled the trailer out into the lot and made some turns, and both of us agreed this was a good fit. No king pin to bed clearance issues, and lots of room to turn. Yes, I will hit the cab before I can turn 90 degrees, but I don't have a problem with that. I can't turn my travel trailer anywhere near 90 degrees and that's never been an issue.

If I change my mind later, I can buy a Superglide myself for less than the $1800 and I'll have both hithces. Then I am free to remove the B&W myself and sell it. Since we may upgrade the truck to a dually within the next couple years, we may never need to worry about it. And that's almost $2K extra I can put down on the trailer.

So we are going with the B&W. Thanks for all the input.
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Old 05-03-2005, 10:21 AM   #10
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So are you going with the companion? Or a gooseneck adapter? I would highly recommend that a gooseneck adapter NOT be used, it puts severe stress on the frame of the 5ver. JMHO John
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Old 05-03-2005, 10:32 AM   #11
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My read is that they used the gooseneck adapter temporarily to check clearance. I'm making that assumption from the following:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">So the tech and I really looked at fit and position and he even went and got a gooseneck adapter with a 7 1/2" offest and hooked it up. This put the king pin within 1/2" of the location where it would be on the B&W companion. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I'm with you - definitely go with the B&W Companion 5th wheel hitch and avoid the gooseneck adapters like the plague!!

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Old 05-03-2005, 05:06 PM   #12
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I have the B&W hitch in my shortbed - been using it for a year and a half with no problems encountered. I highly reccommend it. My 5ver has an extended pin box by the way which is becoming pretty much normal on new rigs. With some of the older models with a straight pin box, I think a slider hitch would difinitely be required.
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Old 05-03-2005, 05:53 PM   #13
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Rusty is correct. We only hooked up the gooseneck adapter temporarily because it was almost exactly the same clearance as the B&W Companion. The dealer didn't want to order the Companion hitch if it wasn't going to work. After seeing where the fiver sat with the gooseneck adapter, the tech and I felt like the Companion would be a good fit and we told the sales manager to order one.

The gooseneck adapter also helped us figure out whether we had a height issue. My rear suspension is stock, but I have oversized tires so we wanted to see how tall the bed would be with the weight of the fiver on it.
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