2003 sb concerns

[Paul Somers]

According to acticle in Trailer Life magazine, quad cab has been increased in length by 3" but bed has been decreased by 3" from 6' 6" to 6' 3". Ram short bed was already about 1" shorter than my previous chevrolet. Why I mention this is for the people that pull 5th wheels. The short bed was already marginal at 5th wheel pulling. I know; get a slider hitch; but that is only to be used in camp grounds not while making tight turns going through towns. I would have to get LB if I were to get a 2003.

 

[TerryG]

Short bed length

I have an 01 Dodge3/4 ton short bed and I pull a 31 ft. fifth wheel with just a standard Reese hitch that is mounted directly over the axle,I put close to 4000 towing miles on each year and have never had a problem. I cant jackknife it 90 degrees,but I never had to. I have compared my shortbed with the 03s and the distance from the axle to the cab appears the same,but the distance from axle to bumper is where they shaved off 3 inchs which shouldnt make any difference as far as pulling a fifth wheel.

 

[CROW]

This has come up several times recently here and in the towing forum. Many tow 5th wheels successfully with a SB and an extended pin box and /or a manual slider and I am certainly not discounting what they say. An alternative (that I will probably opt for) is the automatic slider from PullRite (800-443-2307). Spoke to them this week and they expect to have a version to accomodate the new Dodge SB soon. They recognize there will be a lot of SB Dodge owners wanting to pull a fifth wheel. The automatic slider is expensive though in camparison to regular or manual slider 5th wheel hitches. Not associated with Pullrite in any way.

 

[Fireman]

I use the Pull Rite Superglide and it is the way to go with a short box, they work great. The biggest drawback maybe that they are larger than a conventional hitch so they use up alot of space in that small bed. If you MUST have the short bed this is the way to go, but life would be easier (and cheaper) with a long bed.



MHO Fireman