Puck system hitches?

[Grumpy]

I just bought a new F-350 diesel that did not come the factory with the fifth wheel/gooseneck prep package, so I had my Ford dealer order and install the prep package. It included a 7 pin trailer connector mounted on the rear driver side inside the bed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

thank you. What are the advantages of including a 7 pin connector inside the bed, verses the one that already comes on the back of the trucks. Would you highly recommend this?

[teamroper]

thank you. What are the advantages of including a 7 pin connector inside the bed, verses the one that already comes on the back of the trucks. Would you highly recommend this?

The advantage of the 7 pin connector in the truck bed over the one on the bumper is that you do not have to drape the cord over your tailgate and possibly have it end up dragging on the ground or catch while making a tight turn.

[Bill & Jeri RV Travels]

thank you. What are the advantages of including a 7 pin connector inside the bed, verses the one that already comes on the back of the trucks. Would you highly recommend this?

Yep, what he just said—a cleaner, safer hookup.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TucsonJim]

thank you. What are the advantages of including a 7 pin connector inside the bed, verses the one that already comes on the back of the trucks. Would you highly recommend this?

When we were towing our fifth wheel, I'd just run the cable over the tailgate and into the connector near the bumper. But If I made a sharp turn, it would pull out the connection. I wound up having to get an extension cord to prevent that from happening. I'd much rather have the connection in the bed of the truck.

Jim

[Grumpy]

Yep, what he just said—a cleaner, safer hookup.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you, i would assume that could be done anywhere that does hitches and perhaps they just tie end to the existing one.

[klenger]

On the subject of short bed trucks and slider vs non-slider hitches:

Can a typical short bed truck with a non-slider hitch towing a typical 5th wheel with an aerodynamic front end turn (backing up) as sharp as the same truck with a bumper pull travel trailer? Obviously the travel trailer has turn limits and cannot be jack-knifed to 90° either. I'm wondering if the need for a sliding hitch with the aerodynamic 5th wheels is over thinking the issue to some degree.

[boyscout]

On the subject of short bed trucks and slider vs non-slider hitches:

Can a typical short bed truck with a non-slider hitch towing a typical 5th wheel with an aerodynamic front end turn (backing up) as sharp as the same truck with a bumper pull travel trailer? Obviously the travel trailer has turn limits and cannot be jack-knifed to 90° either. I'm wondering if the need for a sliding hitch with the aerodynamic 5th wheels is over thinking the issue to some degree.

A travel trailer will swing/turn more abruptly than will a fifth wheel due to the hitch point's position relative to the axle, and that extra control can likely reduce the need for very tight turning in many situations.

We have a SB Ford with an automatic slider that's supposed to push the pin back up to 14" on turns. The truck used to have a BackRack on it, and our Reflection would take some very sharp turns with that setup.

Found out the hard way that our 5"-wider Solitude would not, and we've had to remove the BackRack to regain those several inches behind the cab. It's pretty tight, even with the slider hitch.

I considered for a while replacing the Pullrite slider with an AUH or other fixed hitch - there are things about it I really dislike - but with the wider Solitude I don't think I can get away with a non-sliding hitch. Our own driveway, as well as a few of the sites we've visited, have required us to test the limits of these things.

If I was starting over I might consider a non-automatic slider as recommended by @Cate&Rob and others. Unfortunately the driver of our truck is not very bright and he worries that he'll forget when steering into a tight fuel station or other situation and put the nose of the trailer into the back seat.

[TucsonJim]

There was a side conversation on this thread regarding safety chain requirements. In order to keep this thread focused on the puck system the OP was discussing, I moved the safety chain conversation to a new thread and deleted the posts from this thread. If you have further comments on the safety chains, please use this thread:

https://www.mygrandrv.com/fo...r-Andersen-AUH

Jim - Moderator

[Grumpy]

There was a side conversation on this thread regarding safety chain requirements. In order to keep this thread focused on the puck system the OP was discussing, I moved the safety chain conversation to a new thread and deleted the posts from this thread. If you have further comments on the safety chains, please use this thread:

https://www.mygrandrv.com/fo...r-Andersen-AUH

Jim - Moderator

Thank you Jim!
From the OP!

[klenger]

A travel trailer will swing/turn more abruptly than will a fifth wheel due to the hitch point's position relative to the axle, and that extra control can likely reduce the need for very tight turning in many situations.

We have a SB Ford with an automatic slider that's supposed to push the pin back up to 14" on turns. The truck used to have a BackRack on it, and our Reflection would take some very sharp turns with that setup.

Found out the hard way that our 5"-wider Solitude would not, and we've had to remove the BackRack to regain those several inches behind the cab. It's pretty tight, even with the slider hitch.

I considered for a while replacing the Pullrite slider with an AUH or other fixed hitch - there are things about it I really dislike - but with the wider Solitude I don't think I can get away with a non-sliding hitch. Our own driveway, as well as a few of the sites we've visited, have required us to test the limits of these things.

If I was starting over I might consider a non-automatic slider as recommended by @Cate&Rob and others. Unfortunately the driver of our truck is not very bright and he worries that he'll forget when steering into a tight fuel station or other situation and put the nose of the trailer into the back seat.

Thank you for the feedback. If I ever do make the jump to a 5th wheel, I'll probably need a new truck anyway to carry the pin weight. It looks like a long box may be the way to go. The slider hitches (even the manual ones) are really heavy and I don't know how I would get it out of the bed alone.