Fifthwheel hitch do I need to replace or remove my talegate????

[Matt400]

Everyone who pulls a fifth wheel with a pickup long enough will be removing his tailgate.



The choice owners make is whether it will be before or after it was modifed by the trailer kingpin.

Everyone. . ? I guess I just don't see the trouble. When I am backing to the RV I have my head turned and am looking at the pin & hitch alignment, with the gate up its blocked so kinda hard to just jam the gate into the pin intensionally. It would be like backing into a parked car while looking at it.



When I unhook I have to lower the gate to not only unhook the power but also see that the pin has lifted off the hitch while I am jacking the RV and can't do that with the gate blocking my view or access to the power plug.



Lowering the gate is the first thing I do to hook or unhook and if I didn't my vision to what I am doing is blocked by it. . how are all these RV'ers wipping out their tailgates?

 

[HBarlow]

Matt,

Yes, the steps to lower and raise the tailgate are pretty simple and logical. If the owner is always methodical and careful when towing it is hard to understand why anyone would ever damage a tailgate.

It is also very simple to latch and unlatch a fifth wheel kingpin in the fifth wheel hitch. Hard to figure why trailers would fall off the hitch and crush the bed rails.

But both happen very frequently to people who frequently tow fifth wheels.

All it takes is a tired or distracted driver, hooking or unhooking after dark or before sunrise, an unexpected change in the driver's normal routine, someone talking to teh driver while he's hooking or unhooking, his wife calling out to him to question something in the trailer while he's doing his routine, many minor distractions can cause a moment's inattention and the driver forgets and damage occurs.

RV transport companies won't allow a driver to keep his tailgate on for the reasons I stated. When they hire a driver they tell him, "leave your tailgate at home. " The companies know from experience what will happen.

I've seen lots of smashed tailgates and also a few smashed bed rails from bad hooks. I knew a fellow driver at a transport company in CA I pulled for several years ago. He had been a big truck driver for years. He owned a nice looking new Sick. Ohh Furd dually with smashed bed rails. I asked him what happened. He was embarrassed to tell me the story about a "high-hook and watching helplessly as the trailer he was hauling slowly slid off the top of his fifth wheel and droppoed on the bed. It happens, even to experienced drivers.

 

[Matt400]

Matt,



Yes, the steps to lower and raise the tailgate are pretty simple and logical.

Just one step for me or I can't see what I am doing. Guess I will own up here if I ever smash mine.

 

[surfbeetle]

I have the stock tailgate. The first fifth wheel that I had only had about 4 inches of clearance above the bed rail and when I went over the crest of a driveway, the trailer came down on the bed corner and the tailgate. It would not have mattered what tailgate I was using, v or stock, damage was eminent. I since have a lot more space above the bed rail and still run the oem tailgate.