Let's please talk 5th wheel hitches

[driverno8]

I finally puckered up and bought a 40' 5th wheel toy hauler yesterday. Should be in in a few months so I have time to do some hitch research/shopping. They wanted $1795 for a hitch and installation, plus another $200 to run the electical. I thought this was way over priced and opted to do everything my self. First, she'll be weighing in loaded at over 18,000lbs. Empty is around 14,000. So here's some questions.



What's a good hitch?

Where to start shopping?

Are the hitches with bags on them worth it?

How hard is installation?

Anything I should know or ask for when shopping?



Thanks in advance.

-Matt

 

[george]

Hitch shopping? At 18k sounds like you should be medium duty truck shopping

 

[Okie-Go]

I like my air ride hitch from easy rider. They are a little pricey but think of it as another toy and they will protect you toys you already have.

 

[LEPage]

2 gotta haves on a big fiver... TrailerSaver TS3 air ride hitch, & electric over hydraulic disc brakes. Best money you can spend on options, bar none.

 

[CTD 600]

Ur truck will handle it fine especially with those upgrades. Dual tires would be nice though.



1. I personally like the B&W turnover setup.

2. Shop locally. Online deals aren't a deal after shipping.

3. Unless you get airbags for your truck, the airbag hitches wouldn't matter much.

4. Installation involves some regular tools. A trip to a hardware store to buy a couple tools might be needed. Electrical?? Depends on expierence with that. For me it would take a day in itself.

5. Go big or go home regarding the size of the hitch. If you are going to be towing alot of weight... you want a monster hitch. B&W 5er hitch is 18k rated. BUT... why not get the 30k by Reese? BTW Reese isn't that bad... they make a 20k and 22k also.

 

[Bertram65]

Check out the Reese signature series 24k hitch.

 

[PatrickCampbell]

18k gvwr. Sounds like a Pullrite candidate... http://www.pullrite.com/super5_20.htm

 

[klaybus]

I've got a HiJacker 16k that I've had for the past 6 years that has been great! They may a 21k double pivot too...



http://www.hijacker.com/



Clay

 

[MPerez]

I like my air ride hitch from easy rider. They are a little pricey but think of it as another toy and they will protect you toys you already have.

Air ride hitch, the best way to go. There are several air-ride type hitches, and I think just about any of them beat any fixed mount hitch for comfort any day.

 

[LEPage]

3. Unless you get airbags for your truck, the airbag hitches wouldn't matter much.

???????

Don't quite know what this is to mean, but it is not at all true. I pull my 22K fiver with nearly 5K hitch weight with an air ride hitch and no bags with very good results. If I wanted to use air bags, I'd have bought a Ford or Chevy!

 

[KSears]

none of my business but if the truck your wanting to put it in is one of your signature trucks,(srw) , looks like you are seriously maxing out your weight limits, might want to consider a dually with that kind of weight,,,I have a large toyhauler and the pin weight on mine is not fat from being within limits,,,,, as for the hitch,, Pullrite for that kind of weight would be what I would go with, I have a B&W setup, but is only rated to 18k

 

[driverno8]

Thanks everyone for the links. Been checking all of them out. I do have bags on my truck. Yes, I'm towing it with my SRW 3500. Loaded I'll be over a few hundered, but empty I'm way under. I'll never be loaded to the max so I'm think I'll be fine. Can't wait to put it on the scales to find out for sure. I don't take delivery of it for a few more months. Unfortunatly not going to go to a dually. Sometimes wish I would have bought a dually. But I'm to far in to my truck now to go back. I am how every changing my tires over to the 35" Toyos M/T because of the E rating. I have 35" BFG M/T now rated at D. We'll see as money permits if I can swing an air ride type receiver. I like the idea, just money.

http://www.warriormfg.com/ftl-frame.htm

 

[staarma]

Not too sure about the hitches. B&W is all we use but at 18k they are at their limit. For the wiring though we just did one of these on dad's 06. Worked awesome and it was done in about 40 minutes.

http://www.hitchcorner.com/5th_wheel_wiring.htm

 

[CTD 600]

The E rated tires is a GREAT idea. I think that's a must have for 35's.

 

[driverno8]

Not too sure about the hitches. B&W is all we use but at 18k they are at their limit. For the wiring though we just did one of these on dad's 06. Worked awesome and it was done in about 40 minutes.

http://www.hitchcorner.com/5th_wheel_wiring.htm

Nice! Exactly what I want. Thanks.

 

[HBellmyer]

pops

I went to the Pull Rite Super Glide so I would not have to get out of the truck each time to slide the hitch. (Short Bed) It works real well. Had a Reese before and was real happy with it also. As far as wiring you should already have a 7 pin connector on your truck. With a 5th wheel it would be nice to have the connector up in the bed so you do not have to hang the trailer connector over your tailgate. If you go to www.klenger.net they have all the PN's from Reese to make a plug in extension to put an additional 7 pin connector up in the bed without splicing into your factory harness. It simply plugs into your existing harness. I fabricated one and it worked out great. As for brake controllers I went with the Prodigy. It works well. Just set and forget. I also installed a set or Air Ride bags. They work real nice for leveling out your rig when hooked up. One last thing I want to do and you might want to consider it also is to install an exhaust brake. It will help out the brakes alot.

Be safe

 

[PAllyn]

http://www.colibert.com/index. asp



I easily installed my Colibert Enterprises Free Ride Fifth Wheel hitch today. It only took about 1. 5 hours to install and looks great. Best of all when I am not towing I will have my bed free from bed rails or other obstructions. Two nylon threaded plug screw into the mount hole to keep the threads clean and mounts flush with the bed floor.

I am going to get the gooseneck attachment next which fits right in the same mounting holes.