Turning Point difficult to hitch?

[Wileykid]

All of us are guilty of staring, judgemental and willing to give others the shirt off our back should they need anything at all!

Having just picked up our 5er this week I only have 2 hitching and unhitching events to base my opinion from. Ram 2500 with B&W Companion stationary hitch in the puck system. Turning point on the Reflection. I asked the dealer to lock out the Turning Point. I don’t want to deal with what you guys describe with the wedge (bought and will keep the correct wedge for my B&W) or the maintenance involved. The coach was level at the dealer. Backed right in with the handle open and it clicked right in with handle swinging closed as the jaws wrapped around the pin. 2nd time was in a random parking lot. Likely level as well for the most part. Backed right in and same thing. Handle swung back as the jaws closed. Easy peasy. I do have to get hitch level set up on the jacks. Dealer was useless there.

Lock that thing out and run it. My $.02

It really isn’t that difficult, you can tilt the fifth wheel plate to match the pin. Or when you disconnect, leave the plate, and it is set up for reconnecting. Backing into the pin takes some practice, easier if you have a camera. In two years of running the sidewinder (turning point), I have only had two times that it took a little more to reconnect. Not difficult, just can be frustrating to do it twice.

As far as locking it, with my driveway, I would hit my cab, or come uncomfortably close.

[Whitexc]

Is it a grade thing with the driveway or tight turn?

[trailrydr]

We have a turning point on our '19 295RL with a Reese 16k in our TV. The following has worked well for us for the last 4+ years:

- Applied Slip Plate Dry Graphite on our hitch plate and turning point king pin plate surface to ensure less friction when hitching up.

- Ensure the turning point pin box is square to the turret box thats mounted to the 5er frame prior to attempting to connect.

- Set the pinbox height so that the angled front lip has to ride up our tilted TV Reese hitch head when hooking up. This allows the hitch head to level itself (if needed) to the turning point plate surface.

- Use TV outside mirrors to ensure we can see equal amount of the trailer side for proper alignment between TV and 5er.

We also mounted a camera in our old F150 bed that allowed us to view and align the king pin to the hitch when backing/hooking up. BTW, our new F250 has a great above bed camera (in the high mount stop light) that has a grid line to show an even better alignment angle too.

Would say that 90% of the time using the above, we can hookup on the first time on. But have ran into the occasional retry as stated from others. IMO, just the nature of turning point hitch usage.

Our new F250 with the high mount bed camera and grid line makes it alot easier to view the exact alignment providing better hitching success. Was able to hookup first time using same Reese hitch installed in our new F250 puck mount rail system.

Oh, and yes, the F250 6.9' short bed is closer to the 5er when connected. So much that I cant fully open or close the front storage compartment. Want to ensure that any needed "large" items from that area are in hand or secured before hitching with Super Duties SB and other short bed trucks.

[sande005]

As a side note:
From the above, it appears that the Turning Point can be locked out, just like my old Sidewinder could be. In the Sidewinder it was a simple pin (bolt) that changed it to be a normal hitch. BUT - if using that feature, make SURE to loosen/remove the wedge.

My dealer always pinned it to make it easier to move around their lot with their tractor. After a repair, I picked it up and didn't notice the pin. Towed it home 20 miles, and when backing into the driveway it was a lot noisier than normal - lots of creaks and groans.
Went to unhitch....and found the pin box and hitch had been transformed into twisted masses of metal. With both the bolt and the wedge there was no pivot point at all. Dealer did admit fault, and sent someone out - no way could I separate the truck from the 5th. And no way was I going to get it back to them. But they got it out of the driveway, paid for new pin box, sidewinder, fifth hitch, and detailed truck inspection (to make sure I hadn't tweaked the frame). From then on, when pinning, they had huge red flags on the pin to make it obvious that there was one last thing to do before a customer picked up their RV.

[Wileykid]

Is it a grade thing with the driveway or tight turn?

Both, my driveway is about 7* uphill from the road, which is also not level. I get up to about 60* angle on backing in. I have stopped and looked, and without the Sidewinder, or a sliding hitch, it would most likely hit.

That was with my RAM short bed, I now have a Chevy short bed with the bigger bed, and have not towed with it yet (next week). I would love to put the Gen-Y on the trailer, and the adapter plate they have to move the ball further back, but I do not know what the implications of that would be with the Chevy ball already behind the axle on the new trucks.

[Wileykid]

As a side note:
From the above, it appears that the Turning Point can be locked out, just like my old Sidewinder could be. In the Sidewinder it was a simple pin (bolt) that changed it to be a normal hitch. BUT - if using that feature, make SURE to loosen/remove the wedge.

My dealer always pinned it to make it easier to move around their lot with their tractor. After a repair, I picked it up and didn't notice the pin. Towed it home 20 miles, and when backing into the driveway it was a lot noisier than normal - lots of creaks and groans.
Went to unhitch....and found the pin box and hitch had been transformed into twisted masses of metal. With both the bolt and the wedge there was no pivot point at all. Dealer did admit fault, and sent someone out - no way could I separate the truck from the 5th. And no way was I going to get it back to them. But they got it out of the driveway, paid for new pin box, sidewinder, fifth hitch, and detailed truck inspection (to make sure I hadn't tweaked the frame). From then on, when pinning, they had huge red flags on the pin to make it obvious that there was one last thing to do before a customer picked up their RV.

When I took my trailer in for warranty work, after I dropped the trailer, I would lock the pinbox myself, and used a long red ribbon, like the "Remove before flight" ones on airplanes, and placed it on the bolts that I put in to lock the pinbox as a reminder.

[Whitexc]

Both, my driveway is about 7* uphill from the road, which is also not level. I get up to about 60* angle on backing in. I have stopped and looked, and without the Sidewinder, or a sliding hitch, it would most likely hit.

I have a similar situation. The driveway, not sure of exact slope but I would never jack anything up unless I am in the garage or on the road. Also, living in a “neighborhood” with houses pretty close together and not the widest road makes for a fun parking situation every time we come home. My biggest hurdle is making sure no one is parked on the road across the street and then navigating some landscaping that someone placed in not the greatest spot. I end up about a foot from the gutter on the house and sometimes have half a truck tire hanging off the concrete once parked the way I like it. Fun they say!

[cwr100]

I have found the hitching to be a bit cumbersome on our 260RD. You can move the turning point to center if you add some muscle to move the kingpin to center. It is on an F-150 with a rollup cover so visibility to the hitching area is not the best, was considering to add a camera, likely a stick on magnetic one to view via iPhone to take out some of the guesswork when hitching. Anyone using a camera, some suggestions on a camera model. Most I am seeing are pinhole security or with too much else going on.

[Hoopy Frood]

This is the camera I bought for our truck:https://www.ebay.com/itm/33485739594....c101113.m2109 It was this camera, but I didn't buy here.

The truck has a toolbox and I can't see the hitch so I got this. So far I've used it a couple times and it worked well, but I've put a line of tape on the toolbox and can line up pretty good now, and don't need the camera. I still carry it just in case. It uses your phone for video so you don't need another screen, and the camera uses a rechargeable battery so no wires to mess with, and magnetic mount. Very versatile.

[Wileykid]

I have found the hitching to be a bit cumbersome on our 260RD. You can move the turning point to center if you add some muscle to move the kingpin to center. It is on an F-150 with a rollup cover so visibility to the hitching area is not the best, was considering to add a camera, likely a stick on magnetic one to view via iPhone to take out some of the guesswork when hitching. Anyone using a camera, some suggestions on a camera model. Most I am seeing are pinhole security or with too much else going on.

It shouldn’t be that difficult to move the arm around. Mine is pretty easy to push, have you lubed yours, or check the main bolt?