Newbie question

[vanxr]

I'm sure it's been discussed a million times here but....
I'm buying a Weekend Warrior 11.8lbs dry. I have an 03 short bed f350 with the 6.0 with banks power.
My question? I believe I'll be overloaded by about 3000lbs???? What is the best sliding hitch that I can take out to still have use of my Lance (slide-in) Camper? I can't bring myself to sell my Lance.

[vanxr]

I'm sure it's been discussed a million times here but....
I'm buying a Weekend Warrior 11.8lbs dry. I have an 03 short bed f350 with the 6.0 with banks power.
My question? I believe I'll be overloaded by about 3000lbs???? What is the best sliding hitch that I can take out to still have use of my Lance (slide-in) Camper? I can't bring myself to sell my Lance.

[allendp]

I have the B&W turnover ball with the companion 5th wheel hitch. It leaves a clean bed and takes less than 15 minutes to uninstall/install. I also have a shortbed truck truck.

[vanxr]

I'm new to the whole 5th wheel thing. Can you give me a website to check out what you mentioned. I have a Lance so this is a whole new scary endevour.

[450Donn]

Wait just a minute! You are going to over load your truck by 3000 pounds and you are concerned about a hitch? I think you might be putting the cart before the horse. A fiver with 11,800 dry will weigh close to 16000 pounds GVWR? That means that the pin weight will be around 3200 pounds? Might want to recheck your numbers before you jump into this!

[allendp]

vanxr - My Everest was listed at 10.8 K dry from the factory with a dry pin weight of 1890 lbs. I have a Dodge 3500 and after loading up my trailer with all the junk we carry around I am still not exceeding any weight limits.

One source of ifo on the B&W can be found here

[RustyJC]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by allendp:
I have the B&W turnover ball with the companion 5th wheel hitch. It leaves a clean bed and takes less than 15 minutes to uninstall/install. I also have a shortbed truck truck. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Don,

Haven't you had interference problems between the front of your 5th wheel and the rear cab pillars of your truck? The B&W is a nice hitch - it works fine in my long bed truck - but it doesn't take the place of a sliding hitch for a shortbed.

Rusty

[allendp]

That is true Rusty I do have a couple of dings on my cab trying to make a 90 degree turn. The B&W does not have any slide capability like some of the other hitches but I opted to give that up for not having rails in the truck bed, having a gooseneck capability if needed, and the smooth towing capability of the B&W Companion.

If one installs it in a shortbed you just have to remember it will only turn about 85 degrees. After dinging my cab on both sides I learned that lesson.

One other comment I do have an extended pin box on the 5ver which allows me to use a shortbed. If you have a trailer with a straight pin box you would most likely need a slider hitch with a shortbed.

[RustyJC]

iRV2.com member Ken Lenger put together a good graphic illustration of the challenges experienced towing a 5th wheel with a short bed truck HERE.

Rusty

[vanxr]

4500don,
I'm not sure I completly understand the whole weight issue.
The hitch weight according to their brochure and website is 1775lbs. I have airbags on my F350 which I forgot to mention. I know the new Fords can tow more weight but the brakes and transmission have not changed since my '03. What am I missing.
Be nice...

[RustyJC]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by vanxr:
4500don,
I'm not sure I completly understand the whole weight issue.
The hitch weight according to their brochure and website is 1775lbs. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>I suspect that's dry hitch weight - before you've loaded anything into the 5th wheel, and before many of the options, etc. are included. A pretty meaningless number, frankly....

A more real world approximation of what you'll experience when the trailer is loaded is to take 20% of the 5th wheel's GVWR as a laden pin weight. A 16,000 GVWR 5th wheel would carry approximately 3,200 lbs on the pin (i.e., carried by the truck) when fully loaded. Now, if that exceeds your truck's GVWR minus its laden curb weight (LCW - that is, its weight with driver, passengers, cargo, 5th wheel hitch, accessories, full fuel tanks, etc.), then the difference between the numbers is how much your truck is exceeding its GVWR.

Truck GVWR - Truck LCW = maximum allowable loaded pin weight of RV

Truck GCWR - Truck LCW = maximum allowable loaded total weight of RV

Rusty

[vanxr]

Ok... Here's where I'm at. I really think it's time to get a new truck. My question is if I go with another Short bed (so I can keep my Lance) and use a pullrite slider hitch will I have the same clearance as a Long Bed? I really appreciate everyones help.

[RustyJC]

Cab clearance shouldn't be a problem with the pullrite slider hitch.

Rusty

[superduty]

I just saw this post and looked it over. As far as the pin weight is concerned, yes from a legal stance it is overloaded, but I'll bet if you weigh the Lance you'll find it is more than 3000#, unless it is a small camper.

I had a Lance 1030 that weighed in at 3800-4000# depending on how I loaded it(I used to scale 10800 on my 9900 GVWR with just the truck and camper). My 99 7.3L SRW F-350 handled it just fine, with airbags, of course for 7 years until I moved up to a TT. I even towed a large boat with a lot of tounge weight behind it.

I wouldn't even think twice of a pin weight of around 3000#. You bought a one ton for a reason.

Of course if a new truck is in the budget, go for it they are quite nice!

Just my $0.02 worth