silverfox

Update! talk to the head service department mgr. he quote: in his 25yrs of experience a short bed is a a truck bed that is under 8ft and short bed need a slider unless the fiver was design for short bed trucks. the gm don't even know these rules about trucks . if they not going to install a slider we taking our truck somewhere else. Thank you everybody, each and every one of you, for your well informed excellent answers to my question.

Measure the width of your fiver, divide it in half.

 

Mark the center of your bed (side to side) directly over the rear axle. If your truck towing guide has a different hitch mount location required use that instead.

 

Take your 1/2 trailer width measure and hold one end over the mark and swing it in a arc up by the cab.

 

If you don't have four or inches of clearance you need a slider, 6 inches would be safer if you get on off-level ground.

This was great infor for us. we follow these direction and the fiver we have is not enough play between the cab + fiver .thanks am requesting a slider

You state that your truck is not a short bed but then go on to describe it as 6' 7" long which most consider a short bed. Any pickup bed that does not allow a full sheet of plywood to be slid in and the tailgate closed is a short bed. I have used both long and short bed pickups with fixed hitches to haul 5th wheels. When I had the short bed I installed a fixed hitch because it was cheap (came with the 5er) and lived with it (even drove it down from Alaska). Anyway long story short I banged the cab on more than one occasion but got fair at making short turns for many normal driving maneuvers (especially in reverse). My advise get a sliding hitch.

Later,

J

thanks for the reply. sorry for the misunderstanding ( THE DEALER SAYS WE DONT NEED A SLIDER HITCH FOR OUR TRUCK. OUR TRUCK IS NOT A SHORTBED. TURNING RADIUS WILL BE FINE.) thats what the dealer told us!

HI ALL, WE JUST BOUGHT A NEW TO US 2004 DUTCHMEN SPORT 24L AT GENERAL RV. INCLUDE IN OUR DEAL WAS THE HITCH AND INSTALL PLUS THE HITCH HAVE TO BE EASY TO OPERATE FOR ME, MATCH THE TRUCK AND FIVER. I HAVE DISGUISE MY CONCERNS TO THEM. FIRST TIME 5TH WHEEL OWNER. I HAVE READ MANY OF YOU POST ON HITCHES. SHORTBED TRUCKS. NOW MORE CONFUSE THEN EVER. THE DEALER SAYS WE DONT NEED A SLIDER HITCH FOR OUR TRUCK. OUR TRUCK IS NOT A SHORTBED. TURNING RADIUS WILL BE FINE.THE HITCH IS A REESE 16K MODEL #330047.COST + INSTALL 1399 NOT INSTALL YET! BUT SOON. I AM WORRIED ABOUT THE FIV'ER HITTING THE CAB WHEN TIGHT TURNS,BACKING UP R MADE IN CAMPGROUND,BOONE DOCK,STATE PARK,ETC. TRUCK IS A 99 F250 SUPERDUTY CC DIESEL 4X4 BED LENGTH 6.7FT. PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME WHICH HITCH IS NEEDED AND WHY? TRUCK SHORTBED OR WHAT? THANKS FOR THE HELP!!