5th Wheel Hitch Recommendations

[AV8R]

Hey Folks

I'm upgrading to a 2011 Keystone Alpine 3500RE from a Keystone Ultralite 292BH.


I've never towed a fifth wheel and could use some guidance on hitch hardware and accessories - both for the hitch that goes in the bed of the truck and the hitch attached to the trailer. I'm looking to maximize safety, ride quality and damaging jarring to the equipment.


Keystone offers an optional Trail Air Pin Box. I have also read about air bag accessories on the hitch hardware.


I'm towing with a 2010 Ford F-350 DWR 4x4 6.4L turbo diesel, crew cab, 8' bed.


Any advice on the fifth wheel hitch options would be really appreciated.


Thanks


Dave

[Festus2]

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your new acquisition! I believe there are a couple of members who have the Trail Air Pin Box option and hopefully they will chime in and give you their opinions about that.
Other members have installed a sliding hitch - some who have a short box and are very pleased with that feature. Your long box may not make this feature quite so necessary but it would be something to consider for the peace of mind it gives you when turning in a small and tight radius.
Others have installed air bags on their tow vehicle after they found that the ride wasn't what they expected or desired. Another option to consider is installing something like EZ Flex suspension on the 5th wheel if it doesnt already have something similar to that.
If you haven't done so, you might try using the Search feature on the forum for those "accessories" you mentioned in your post.

[Jim W]

Hi,
I have towed two different 5er's both about 11K total GVW on the trailer with a SRW 2500HD truck. I used the same 15K Reese slider hitch in both trucks, just transferred the hitch to my new 08 truck. Both are short bed trucks.

On my first truck I installed air bags to level out the truck and help improve the ride quality. My DW and myself felt this did not improve the ride of the 2001 Chevy at all with the 5er attached.

On our first 5er, we had the standard pin box and the Mor/Ryde suspension. This has rubber Equalizer and bushings, the trailer still rode will but the truck still experience chucking from the 5er when attached.

On our second truck I have not installed any suspension improvements. Truck will sit level with the 5er attached have measured and place a level in the bed to see if it is truly level.

I just recently install a Trail-air pin box on our 5er. This has helped tremendously with the ride quality when the 5er is attached. I feel that this has made a 80% improvement in the over all ride quality between the truck and 5er. You will still get some chucking but not as much as before. As will as less stress on the driver and passanger when towing the 5er long distance.

My opinion is you will not need a slider hitch with a long bed truck. With the newer 5er's they have redesigned the nose cap to provide more room when turning between the truck and 5er.

As far as an air suspension hitch I have no opinion on them since I have not used one.

To really improved the total ride of the camper I would use the following components. Either a Trail-air pin box or a Demco Glide Pin box along with the Mor/Ryde Full indepenndent suspension along with disc brakes. This upgrade might cost as much as $6k to be done to a new or existing 5er.

Sorry for the long reply.
Jim

[geo]

Dave -

I ordered the Trail-Air Pin Box on the Alpine 3640RL we purchased early summer. It definitely gives a cushion and smooths the ride for those in the TV. My DW and I consider it well worth the price.

Ron

[AV8R]

I ordered the Aline 3500RE with the Trail Air Pin Box. The ride is very smooth. I had ordered the 20K Husky hitch, but the dealer was not able to get it. They upgraded me to the Husky 26K hitch at the same price. It's a beefy hitch. Thanks for everyone's suggestions. Here's a picture of the hitch installed in my truck.

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[jje1960]

AV8R.... I have about the same truck, 2011 model 6.7. Is your truck prep'd for a hitch? Reason for asking is that we ordered ours 5th wheel prep'd, all they had to do was remove the plugs and install the hitch. Note that Ford used the 18K Reese for their prep model. We paid almost double for the 18K vs the inexpensive hitches that the dealer usually sells. I didn't want them to be drilling extra holes and installing rails with the truck already prep'd for the Reese. As I understand it (as one of the previous posters pointed out) with the long bed truck, the expensive sliders are not required. When we picked up our 325SRX, the ride home was pretty nice, the F350 is well qualified for 36'+ unit, so you should not have any worries with extra gear. All this from a newbee 5th wheel owner though! Have had TT's for years, but this 5th wheel gig is awesome, no more carrying hitch, struts and greasy mess! Enjoy your new unit and Merry Christmas!

[AV8R]

Thanks for everyone's input. I ordered the Alpine 3500RE with the Trail Air Pin Box. I had ordered the Husky 20K 5th Wheel Hitch, but evidently Husky quit making that model. The dealer (Holman Motors) upgraded me to a Husky 26K Hitch at the same price. It's definitely a beefy hitch. And yes, the whole 5th wheel experience sure beats messing with all of the greasy travel trailer hitch hardware.