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Newbi here with a few questions.

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Mark Francois

RVF Regular
Joined
Aug 9, 2021
Messages
25
Hi everyone, I'm in the process of looking for my first 5th wheel and have a few questions. I have a 2015 crew cab 4x4 gas burner F250 that is completely stock. I've looked at a few bumper pull trailers but would rather stay with a 5th wheel if possible. I thinking about buying a demco hijacker since my truck is a short bed and was wondering if it was better to buy one rated much higher than my trucks tow rating since I would assume that they a built more heavyduty the higher the tow ratin? I believe max loaded trailer weight for a fifthwheel setup on my truck is 12,400 lbs and they make a 13k, 18k, and a 21k model so what would be best choice? Second question is are there any brands that sould be avoided when looking at used trailers? Thanks in advance.
 
We towed with a 15,000# Reese hitch, fifth wheel around 12,300. I would not use that hitch again, I would chose one that wraps around the king pin to eliminate as much of the clank you can. I think B&W may have one of the best hitches. The Reese had too much play, so it had to be easy on the stop and go.
 
We towed with a 15,000# Reese hitch, fifth wheel around 12,300. I would not use that hitch again, I would chose one that wraps around the king pin to eliminate as much of the clank you can. I think B&W may have one of the best hitches. The Reese had too much play, so it had to be easy on the stop and go.
The Demco wraps around kingpin I believe. I was originally going to go with the b&w gooseneck and the companion hitch but the more I read the more I think I want an automatic slider hitch but I have no experience with one and don’t know anyone personally that does.
 
My brother in law, who has many miles all across the US, had an auto slider for a while. He said he would never get another one. He went with Andersen is is happy. I also have an Andersen and like it a lot better than the Reese 16,000# that it replaced, and it is rated at 20,000#. With the Andersen there are different configurations available, so it can be used with a short bed. I currently pull a toyhauler with a 2002 Chev 2500HD short bed and can turn about 80 degrees. The Andersen only weighs about 40# compared to the 80 or 90 of most hitches, so you are saving some capacity.
 

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My brother in law, who has many miles all across the US, had an auto slider for a while. He said he would never get another one. He went with Andersen is is happy. I also have an Andersen and like it a lot better than the Reese 16,000# that it replaced, and it is rated at 20,000#. With the Andersen there are different configurations available, so it can be used with a short bed. I currently pull a toyhauler with a 2002 Chev 2500HD short bed and can turn about 80 degrees. The Andersen only weighs about 40# compared to the 80 or 90 of most hitches, so you are saving some capacity.
Did your brother in-law say why he didn’t like the auto slider?
 
B&W makes a good hitch. Several years ago we started with a Reese and I wouldn't have another one of those.

I also started with a short bed (F350) so I got a manual sliding hitch. The way my fiver back then was designed in the front I never needed to slide the hitch back in tight backing situations, well.....almost never. The last year we owned that combination I was backing into a really tight spot and a neighbor in the site next to me hollered at me to stop. I stopped and got out and sure enough my cab was within an inch of hitting the fiver. Even though I had backed in at this same extreme angle many times before this site had a big dip in it that allowed my fiver to lean over almost touching my cab. If he wouldn't have noticed that I would have trashed the back of my truck.

This time around I went with a 8' bed.
 
B&W makes a good hitch. Several years ago we started with a Reese and I wouldn't have another one of those.

I also started with a short bed (F350) so I got a manual sliding hitch. The way my fiver back then was designed in the front I never needed to slide the hitch back in tight backing situations, well.....almost never. The last year we owned that combination I was backing into a really tight spot and a neighbor in the site next to me hollered at me to stop. I stopped and got out and sure enough my cab was within an inch of hitting the fiver. Even though I had backed in at this same extreme angle many times before this site had a big dip in it that allowed my fiver to lean over almost touching my cab. If he wouldn't have noticed that I would have trashed the back of my truck.

This time around I went with a 8' bed.
I wish I had gone with a long bed on my 250 but the dealer didn’t have one and I didn’t want to wait for one to come in. Dealerships around here only seem to stock the top shelf short bed models.
 
I was lucky when I went truck shopping several months ago. The new trucks most dealers were getting were most middle of the road models, many with long beds. I think some manufacturers couldn't get enough chips and other things for big option packages so for awhile they may have been putting out more basic "work" type 1 ton trucks, which was perfect for my application.
 

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