5th Wheel Safety?

[Berrigan]

Can any one explain to me why the design of the fifth wheel hitch is safe enough to not need safety chains. I had a shop tell me that the design of it wont allow the trailer to become disconnected unless the handle is pulled. Do you all really think its that safe??? Thanks Bill

 

[Eric_77]

Having had our fifth wheel work trailer dropped on ground at least a dozen times, ah no it is not any safer. The jaws once locked have never come unlocked but if height is off by more than 3/4 inch (the three trucks vary in bed height almost 2 1/2 inches) then the jaws don't lock and trailer is sitting in middle of road out side office one guy had it come loose and slide into ditch about a mile from office; another made it about 3 miles and dropped it on interstate. :--) Should we have chains? most likely, is there a way to attach them? no

 

[Berrigan]

Eric



Why didnt the jaws lock? Was it because the different truck heights and the driver didnt adjust the fifth height before hooking up ( In other words the hitch was not propperly connected) Thanks for your experiences. Bill

 

[wsurf]

Eric 77, please help me understand why the hitch didn't lock or hold the king pin. The new 3rd gen. duallys have an very high bed level and most have to adjust truck or trailer height to have a level rig. Don't most hitches rotate for differences in level, like going thru a ditch or over a tall bump?

 

[Dean Upson]

I don't see how a fifth wheel hitch can come unclamped if it has been properly hooked up and secured. The connection should always be visably checked and I always give the trailer a slight tug with the landing gear down to assure a good connection. On my old truck I had a Reese hitch and I painted the jaws white so I could see in there a little better.

I like the gear driven clamping mechanism on the PullRite much better and also the fact that the handle comes down and locks up positively when you are hooked up. I also use a caribiner or a padlock just to make sure the handle or the safety lock stay in place (especially in rest areas).



Dean

 

[OTRPU]

Hi all, all the haulers I know and myself usually paddalock the release lever once the 5er is hooked. Have never heard of one coming out if hooked correctly. However, have heard of trailer turning over and taking 5th wheel plate with it, and this was on a Medium Duty Truck. Part of my PTI, take a flashlight and check that the jaws are closed around the kingpin, then pull the breakaway pin and test that: 1) the trailer brakes are holding, 2) that the kingpin stays in the coupler. I do it bout everyday, just that much more opportunity for something to go wrong if I don't check it all. I see safety chains on some gooseneck horse trailers now, maybe 5er are next. Seems the breakaway should be safety enough.



Cheers,

Steve J.

 

[DLBurns]

Locking handle?

On my Pullrite Super 15K hitch I just remove the handle completely after it's hitched up! Store the handle in the cab until I'm ready to un-hitch.

I guess someone could open the jaws of the hitch without using the handle, but it would take some efort on their part.

 

[OTRPU]

My luck I'd loose the dam thing and not be able to drop the trailer. Last two weeks: lost 1 set of keys, 1 scientific calculator, and my Annual DOT Medical Exam form.



Cheers,

Steve J.

 

[cwsoules]

Get an RBW there is a solid bar which prevents dropping the rig onto the truck. The only way it could happen if some one opened the hitch while you are parked.

 

[surfbeetle]

I have a Reese 15k 5er hitch that is about 7 years old. I have always greased it and tried to maintain it. For the past 6 years, we towed a small 3000 pound fifth wheel. Now we have a 5,000 lb. Fifth wheel. On a recent trip, about 5 miles from returning home, I felt the trailer acting different when we going down the highway. It was windy out, so I ignored it and attributed the change in towing behavior to this. After getting home and parking the trailer, I was not able to unhitch the trailer from the truck. Upon pulling the release lever, the lever came completely out and off of the hitch. I had to wedge some pieces of wood up in the jaws to get the trailer unhitched.



As it turns out, the C-clip that holds the release lever to the internal mechanism had popped off due to wear in the internal lever allowing the release lever to rotate enough to push the clip off. I took the hitch into the local rv repair shop to replace the clip. They turned the internal bar over and reattached the release lever and clip. By turning the bar over, it was not worn on the other side and prevented the release lever from moving and popping the clip off. I assume its only a matter of time before it wears again. Is a 5er safe, I guess it really depends on the type of hitch. I probably won't buy that type of hitch again. As I mentioned, it has never been anywhere near its 15k pound capacity.

 

[Fireman]

Never had a problem with my Pull Rite. As long as you ramp up on the hitch plate properly and check the jaw to be sure it has captured the kingpin.



Gotta Lovit,

Fireman

 

[Dean Upson]

Originally posted by Fireman

Never had a problem with my Pull Rite. As long as you ramp up on the hitch plate properly and check the jaw to be sure it has captured the kingpin.



Gotta Lovit,

Fireman

If you check out the clamping mechanisms on the various hitches made for fifth wheels, you will see why some are cheaper to buy than others. There is no way that PullRite is going to "come un-glued", if one follows proper hitching proceedures.

I have seen some pretty sloppy habits in hitching and setting up, these practices usually result in immediate damage to the truck bed rails and nose of the fiver. Never be in a hurry.

Buy a quality hitch and have it installed professionally if you are in doubt (or tend to over-estimate) your own skills. The hitch is no place to start to economize, it is your foundation.



Dean

 

[y-knot]

I don't believe the fifth wheel hitches are any safer then any other type of hitch. They all should require the use of safety chains. Fifth wheels and goosenecks have certain advantages over tag models, and each has there own advantage over each other. But a failure can accrue at any time and on any type of hitch. It seems that some want to believe that they are somehow exempt from failure because they have a certain name brand hitch. But regardless of how much money you spent, or how careful you were, things can and will happen by accident. Yes, and good maintenance program is important. And following set procedures for hitching and un-hitching are also very important. And by doing this, it will lower your odds of having a problem, but it will not make you exempt. This issue of safety chains doesn't make sense, and must have been some sort of "political favor" to the trailer industry. They require tag mounted trailers to be chained, the smallest in both size and weight in this industry. But the fifth wheel and gooseneck trailers, which represents the heaviest and longest trailers, need not be chained. It does not make sense, these trailers would seem to offer a much larger danger to the public, yet they need not be restrained. Something stinks here

 

[Eric_77]

Originally posted by Berrigan

Eric



Why didnt the jaws lock? Was it because the different truck heights and the driver didnt adjust the fifth height before hooking up ( In other words the hitch was not propperly connected) Thanks for your experiences. Bill

Yep basically driver locked on to "top" of hitch is all I can figure as when I have had to go "rescue" these trucks/trailers/drivers the latch has been firmly latched on the ones further from office. The ones right by office it generally was that the jaws "click" twice one when they engage/close and a second time when the jaws lock. If you bump the trailer it is all one swift motion but if you slowly back in there doesn't appear to be the inertia (basically there is no more movement after jaws close to trip the handle all the way to lock position. Or when trailer is too high the jaws hit funny and indentations don't match up and jaw closes about half way only.



Basically close inspection reveals all these possible errors.

 

[KBalzuweit]

The dot sure think they are safe. The law even says a person can be in a trailer if it is a fifth wheel. Not saying I would, that would be a rough ride. But I do have a buddy the races and and has a nice semi type set-up and his trailer has air ride and a lounge in it and he has people back there all the time. I have been towing for 17 years and have never seen one come loose. I have seen a couple guys put the legs up and forget to lock the lever. It really does some damage when the pull forward.



Karl

 

[Murietaman]

Loosing It

Oh oh, Over 50

 

[tae73]

5er's

Well my . 02 cents are 5th wheels have to be safe. Look at every semi that passes us on the road. Its the same set up and no saftey chains. The only safty item is for the air brakes locking up if it would come unhook. And that is why there needs to be a electric break away for the electric brakes so it would do the same... I have pulled mine for 5 years now and never had a problem.

 

[wbrown02]

Fifth wheel use came to the rv world through the heavy duty trucking industry. Almost all of the big rigs use either Holland or Fontain fifth wheels. Granted these units ar much more heave duty than the rv type... . still the rv units are designed after the big rig units. I don't know of any rv units that are unsafe. Some are just better than others. My choice is made by Holland and has a 32000 lbs. capacity which is at least 10,000 more than I will ever use and latches just like it's bigger brothers. Is it safer? I think so