Hooking & Unhooking at angles

[Campin'nut]

My wife and I are purchasing our 1st 5th wheel. Due to size of our backyard parking, we will be backing at an angle and am concerned about having to hook and unhook at an angle. We are having the Pullrite Superglide hitch installed in our F250 shortbox. Can one hook/unhook at an angle and if so, at approx max angles?? Thanks in advance for any input. RD

[Campin'nut]

My wife and I are purchasing our 1st 5th wheel. Due to size of our backyard parking, we will be backing at an angle and am concerned about having to hook and unhook at an angle. We are having the Pullrite Superglide hitch installed in our F250 shortbox. Can one hook/unhook at an angle and if so, at approx max angles?? Thanks in advance for any input. RD

[Hitchhiker]

You should be able to hook up at any angle, just beware of the corner of the tailgate. If there's not enough clearance, back up until the pin is above the truck's bed and then close the tailgate.

Be careful and don't pull forward after it's closed.

[Campin'nut]

Hitchhiker,....this is the DW here
Thank you for your quick response. As you can tell, we are new at this. Your suggetion in regards to the tailgate we assume would mean if one doesn't have the 'cut-out' 5th wheel tailgate....is that correct?
Appreciate your help. JW

[Hitchhiker]

Correct, if you have a 'cut out' tailgate you're good to go. I was speaking about a regular tailgate that has to be opened and closed during the hitching process.

[Campin'nut]

Again, thank you!

We don't and probably can't leave the new 5th wheel parked in the street and definately don't want to park it off-site. We will have to pull down our alley and then back into the yard at an angle. In order to be able to shut the gates (new fence is going up and gates are being re-situated), we will need to 'push' the front end of the trailer further over(if that's possible); which we figured will have us sitting at an angle to unhook.

We just wasn't sure how much of an angle one could come in when hooking/unhooking. Sure hope our plan works. Have a wonderful day...JW By the way, probably can't make your rally this year, but will keep tabs for the next one.

[K-Star]

As Hitchhiker stated, if you have the cutout tailgate, you can hook and unhook at any angle. I really don't think you are going to able "push" the front end over after you unhook unless you have a manual lift system to get the 5er off its' front jacks. These things [5ers] don't have wheels on the front jacks.

[Campin'nut]

K-star....thanks for responding
I suppose it did sound as if we planned to literally pushthe trailer into place. I was actually meaning as we back in, hopefully we are able to maneuver the front end of the trailer a bit further towards the house. I'm sure it will take some practicing and we plan to go to a good size parking lot.

Although we haven't dealt with 5th wheel hitches, they seem to allow hooking and unhooking at angles. We just didn't want to assume and knew all the experience here would confirm. Appreciate your comments. JW

[sjseng]

Welcome to the 5er! I just bought my first 5er last year and Hitchhiker is right. We also have to back up my front yard and then it turns around the house, just like you are talking about. The angle of backing in is no problem what-so-ever. I have the OEM tailgate and I drop it untill I get past, then lift it up. But if my hitch in my short bed is all the way back, I don't need to lift the gate at all. There is a couple of inches of clearance (Okay, maybe 1). I thought about getting a cut out gate, but that is for more of a straight back job. If you are at an angle, as you should see, you are coming in from the side of the tailgate to the center of the bed. Hope that makes since.

One more thing to watch out for. I poured a new concrete pad/driveway for the trailer before we bought it. It is 6 - 8 inches wider than the trailer on each side and curves as the trailer would turn. However, I WAY underestimated the turning capability of the trailer. I had to drive off of the pad into the dirt to set myself up right to end up back on the pad. Now I am finding myself to widen the driveway by 2 feet on each side!!! One side for the trailer to line up right and the other side for my trucks front axle to turn onto, as they were dropping off the edge. Now I am paying alot more dough than I could have the first time. (It was colored and stamped!) Hope this helps.

Tyler

[Rick A]

Beacause of where we park our 5er, we have to parralel park a 33' fifth wheel. By time the trailer is in its place and straight with the drive, the truck is at a 90 degree andgle to the trailer. The driveway is also sloped, so there are all kinds of funky angles between truck and trailer going on. The only problem I have encountered was the corner of the plate on the king pin digging into the hitch instead of sliding up onto it. This only happens if the king pin is to low, I just raise it enough to clear the hitch by a fraction of an inch, at it engages the hitch perfectly. I would say I am probably in an extreme sitution and can do it with litlle problem, so ou should be just fine.

[Ray,IN]

I too must hitch at an angle. The thing to remember is the 5er front jacks are not nearly as sturdy sideways as they are front to back. Aligning the king pin with the hitch is paramount to keep from pushing the 5er sideways. If you can't see the hitching occur clearly, try mounting a mirror to the 5er hitch plate; similar to the mirror sold for hitching travel trailer ball hitches.

[cwsoules]

I have been forced a few times to hook and unhook at extreme angles. My tail gate is the standard gate, but it just barely clears the front of the rig even when we are not at an angle. My wife was frightened by having to manually move it out of the way, so now I remove the tail gate and set aside when hooking or unhooking.