Truck clearance for 90 degree turns

[Jerryr]

Rob,

Actually the Andersen bed mounted hitch places the Andersen ball hitch ball about 5” behind the truck’s goose ball to start with. That’s the pivot point.

Then if you install the coupler in the “standard” position that places the trailer pin another 4” further back but doesn’t change the pivot point. But the spacing of the truck to Front trailer cap is 9” further back than the gooseball in the bed.

If you flip the coupler to the “alternate” position that moves the trailer pin 8” (not 2”) closer to the truck cab when truck and trailer are going down the road straight.

Neither coupler position would change spacing between the truck rear window and pivot point.

To prevent contact in a 90 degree turn the pivot point would need further back from the truck cab by at least 1/2 the width of the trailer. That’s what a slider does. It moved the pivot point back.

If you move the pivot point back then the coupler position would not make any difference in a turn.

Hopefully I explained this correctly the way I understand it.

[backtrack2015]

Rob,

Actually the Andersen bed mounted hitch places the Andersen ball hitch ball about 5” behind the truck’s goose ball to start with. That’s the pivot point.

Then if you install the coupler in the “standard” position that places the trailer pin another 4” further back but doesn’t change the pivot point. But the spacing of the truck to Front trailer cap is 9” further back than the gooseball in the bed.

If you flip the coupler to the “alternate” position that moves the trailer pin 8” (not 2”) closer to the truck cab when truck and trailer are going down the road straight.

Neither coupler position would change spacing between the truck rear window and pivot point.

To prevent contact in a 90 degree turn the pivot point would need further back from the truck cab by at least 1/2 the width of the trailer. That’s what a slider does. It moved the pivot point back.

If you move the pivot point back then the coupler position would not make any difference in a turn.

Hopefully I explained this correctly the way I understand it.

That made sense to me. So where is the pivot point relative to the centerline of the rear axle? 1” behind the axle? It's interesting that you start out closer to the cab (at 0-degrees of turn) but end up farther away (at 90-degrees) because of the offset pivot. My pivot is fixed about 1" ahead of the axle (in towing position).

[Cate&Rob]

Hi Jerry,

Obviously you know the Andersen hitch much better than I do. I did not understand that there is 8” difference between adapter rearward and adapter forward. I defer to your better understanding. Thanks for the clarification.

I do agree that any fixed position hitch is going to have some version of this problem in a 6 1/2 ft box and the only way to avoid this is with a slider hitch.

Rob

[Jerryr]

Rob,

The coupler that mounts on the trailer pin box has 4" of space between the pin and the coupler ball socket. In standard position it puts the trailer pin 4" behind the Andersen coupler socket and puts the trailer nose 4" further back from the truck rear window. When the couple is flipped is in the "alternate position", it puts the pin 4" in front of the socket. So 4" behind vs 4" in front is a total nose of the trailer movement 8" closer to the truck rear window.

I just looked at my Ford OEM gooseball position the the bed of my truck. Its about 4" in forward of the rear axle. The Andersen hitch Ball is about 5" behind the gooseball so therefore the pivot point is about 1" behind the rear axle (4" forward - 5" behind)

Here is some reading about the Andersen that may be of interest. https://andersenhitches.com/uploads/...d%20trucks.pdf


This video at 18:20 shows why and how the coupler being flipped works. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4xBBCFdj5w&t=14s

[SouthTX]

Rob,

The coupler that mounts on the trailer pin box has 4" of space between the pin and the coupler ball socket. In standard position it puts the trailer pin 4" behind the Andersen coupler socket and puts the trailer nose 4" further back from the truck rear window. When the couple is flipped is in the "alternate position", it puts the pin 4" in front of the socket. So 4" behind vs 4" in front is a total nose of the trailer movement 8" closer to the truck rear window.

I just looked at my Ford OEM gooseball position the the bed of my truck. Its about 4" in forward of the rear axle. The Andersen hitch Ball is about 5" behind the gooseball so therefore the pivot point is about 1" behind the rear axle (4" forward - 5" behind)

Here is some reading about the Andersen that may be of interest. https://andersenhitches.com/uploads/...d%20trucks.pdf


This video at 18:20 shows why and how the coupler being flipped works. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4xBBCFdj5w&t=14s

Jerry - That's interesting that your ball is 4" forward of the axle. I asked my installer to put mine as far forward as possible - told him I didn't care about the round spot on the bed - and it ended up directly over the axle where the spot is. I was concerned that I would unload the front axle as on my F250, but it didn't.

How much cab clearance do you have? I haven't had the need to bend it around very far, but on my F250 there was at least 12 inches - the side of the fiver way back from the corner would have hit if I went far enough past 90 degrees.

[Brother_Bluto]

Sounds like a good excuse for a new long bed truck!

[WhittleBurner]

we love our long bed. Never have to worry about hitting anything and we have all that room to store stuff in the bed. Parking isn't a problem either. You should see Marcy park. She whips that truck backwards into a parking spot like someone driving a car forward.

[SouthTX]

Sounds like a good excuse for a new long bed truck!

I hope you were not responding to me. The hitch on my F350 SB is set up just like it was on the F250 SB and it had more than a foot of cab clearance. I'm very happy with my setup. However, after seeing the trailer tires about to roll off the rims in those tight turns, I now make a practice of not getting in that position so I've never been able to check what my exact cab clearance is with this truck.

I can see, though, how the OP could have a problem with the shorter Chevy bed plus the wider Solitude.

[tortise]

Very true. As someone who never towed a fifth-wheel before, it has taken a while to get comfortable with all these clearance issues (trailer-to-cab, trailer-to-bed-rails, pin-box-to-bed-rails, tailgate-to-trailer). This is one area where the travel trailers are luxuriously easy. Luckily the stability while towing compensates.

Also from the perspective of a first with wheel owner. I can turn much tighter in the horizontal plane than with the travel trailers, albeit with some attention to the limits of vertical twist. This with a fixed hitch in a 61/2 foot bed. I do have to pay attention to the trailer corners but can certainly maneuver in less space than I was accustomed to.

[Jerryr]

Jerry - That's interesting that your ball is 4" forward of the axle. I asked my installer to put mine as far forward as possible - told him I didn't care about the round spot on the bed - and it ended up directly over the axle where the spot is. I was concerned that I would unload the front axle as on my F250, but it didn't.

How much cab clearance do you have? I haven't had the need to bend it around very far, but on my F250 there was at least 12 inches - the side of the fiver way back from the corner would have hit if I went far enough past 90 degrees.

John,

Here’s a picture I just took where my OEM 5th wheel ball is. Front of truck is to my left. You can clearly see that it’s several inches in front of the wheel wells.