Fifth wheel & tool box.

[CJMW]

Hello, we are new to fifth wheels and I am going to pick up our new Cougar 282RESWE here in the next week or two.

I have an '01 Ford F350 7.3L TD crew cab with a long bed. I have no doubts the truck can safely handle the trailer.

I have always had an above the rail tool box mounted in the bed that sticks up 4" or 5". So, with a long bed, and the "Max Turn" front cap will it be safe to leave the tool box in, or do I need to pull it out?

I searched the forum and didn't see any threads dedicated to this. If I missed something, which is entirely possible, please point me in the right direction.

Thanks for the help.

[Festus2]

You should have at least 6" clearance between the truck bed rails and the 5th wheel overhang. That would leave you 1"- 2" clearance between your tool box and the 5th. If you just have 6", that doesn't leave much wiggle room between the box and the 5th.
Can you leave the box in, see how much clearance you have when hooked up and make your decision at that time?

[CJMW]

Festus2, it turns out my powers of guesstimation are not as good as I thought they were. I got up and actually measured it and it sits 6.25" to 6.5" above the rails, so sounds like the trailer will not swing over.

I will pull it out and try tossing it back in when we get back from the dealer and see how things look. Who knows, maybe with the long bed the trailer cap wont reach the box sitting far enough back it wont be an issue.

I just didn't know if anyone had any experience with tool boxes in the long beds it and figured I would toss it out there for discussion.


Thanks

[Festus2]

I think removing the box now and then assessing the situation when your TV and 5th are hooked up is the best choice. Having a long box will help and; if you are fortunate, there will be enough "swing room" to allow you to put the box back.

Having a box in the bed is handy. I have one that sits flush with the rails of my short bed GMC and I use it for stowing a variety of "stuff".

Hope it works out for you that you can have your raised box in the bed.

[rhagfo]

Originally Posted by Festus2

I think removing the box now and then assessing the situation when your TV and 5th are hooked up is the best choice. Having a long box will help and; if you are fortunate, there will be enough "swing room" to allow you to put the box back.

Having a box in the bed is handy. I have one that sits flush with the rails of my short bed GMC and I use it for stowing a variety of "stuff".

Hope it works out for you that you can have your raised box in the bed.

Same solution here, tool box flush with top of bed. Great for storage and no issues with Tralier swing.

[Roberson4]

My guess is it will work just fine with the tool box in. We pull our 5er with a lwb, crew cab Chevy. I haul 4 bicycles standing up in the bed of the truck where your tool box will be.

I did not, however pick our 5er up the first time with the bikes in the bed.

[jsmith948]

Agree with the others regarding playing safe by temporarily removing the tool box. We have the same model 5er. It has an extended pin box that places the pin almost in line with the front curve of the nose cap. I think you will find that you will have plenty of room once you get your new rig home. BTW, loaded for a 2 week trip (extra cooler, ice, firewood, 100+ lbs of cut blocks that I delivered to my son for his TT, full FW tank) and the trailer weighed 2100 on the pin and 7800 on the axles. Your truck will have no problem, IMHO. Enjoy your new camper - we love ours
Jack

[CJMW]

Thank you everyone for the advice. I'm impressed with the speed everyone responded. This forum is going to be a great recourse in the future!

We are very excited to go get the trailer in the next week or two and will post back with results.

Thanks again.

[swbouton]

I ended up with a truck box bolted to the truck bed. I also wanted a truck box that would fit beneath my roll-out tonneau cover.

It works great for me.

[rhagfo]

Originally Posted by swbouton

I ended up with a truck box bolted to the truck bed. I also wanted a truck box that would fit beneath my roll-out tonneau cover.

It works great for me.

Looks like mine, except for the tennis ball on the antenna?

Hope that is not for lining up the 5er!

[swbouton]

Yes, the tennis ball on the antenna is for lining up the 5'er. There's a matching antenna with a ball on the 5'er and the system works just fine.

Why, is there a problem doing it this way?

[azlee56]

nice use for a magnetic db antenna, at least that is what my attenna looked like.