5er hitch & PickUp Topper

[AlBeatty]

Hi group,

I've had our 5th wheel for a little over a month and beyond happy with it. I do have one problem and that is a heavy hitch setting in the middle of my PU bed. My neighbor showed me his rail-mount Anderson hitch and I've decided it's on my "wish list" that I'll soon purchase so I can easily remove it to haul "stuff."

I also saw something while driving down a freeway on a recent trip; it was a canvas-type PU topper. Upon returning home I decided to check it out online. It appears to be a good option to add as a "temporary PU topper" during times I'm not towing the 5er. Have any of you got one of these and use it (folded up) with your 5er? A link to the topper is listed below:

https://www.softopper.com

I'm looking forward to your comments. Take care & ...

Tight Lines - AB

[JRTJH]

I don't have any specific knowledge of this type of topper but I've seen them on trucks in some areas. Mostly in the Midwest. My concern with fifth wheel towing and the folded topper is the aluminum tubing and how it stores. It appears that the tubing folds forward, toward the cab and that when folded, it rests from about "center bedrail" forward and rises to the level of about "mid rear glass height". If it folds lower than that, it may work, but if it rests that far above the bed rails, in any kind of "tight turn" or in almost any "back in campsite" you're going to contact the fifth wheel overhang/topper. There's only about 6-8 inches of clearance between the fifth wheel and the bed rails. In any turn or backing maneuver where there's an uphill/downhill rise between the trailer and the truck, you'll see that 6-8 inches quickly turn into "almost riding on the bed rail". To have a folded topper riding 8 to 12 inches above the bedrail that close to the fifth wheel would probably make contact and damage one or both.

My suggestion would be to look very closely at the clearance issues. Most of us have either a tonneau cover (sliding, folding or roll type) and don't have any significant problems with storage that's "out of sight"... Of course, that folding topper would give you "taller storage" but at the expense of having to take it off to back into a campsite and then reinstall?? I think it may become more of a burden and get left at home most of the time. If that's the situation, then it may be just as easy to get a "permanent fiberglass or aluminum topper and develop a lifting device to help get it on/off the truck when not towing. But that would leave the bed open when camping, unless you had a cheap tonneau cover.... Only you can decide, but I'd consider contacting the fifth wheel "over-bed" area to almost be inevitable.

[AlBeatty]

Hi John,

Thanks and good thought. I'll check into it. Take care & ...

Tight Lines - AB

[MattHelm21]

Everything John said and one more thing. I had a bad experience with a trifold cover and an 8 foot bed. I wanted to tow with the cover folded across the front third of the bed. At 65 mpg on the NJ turnpike, the wind off the nose of the fifth wheel caused such a high pressure under the folded cover that it blew up and began unfolding. I had to pull over twice and tighten it before I finally took the whole thing off and threw it in the fiver. I'm sure that the folded up topper doesn't take this kind of pressure into account. You would be in uncharted territory as every trailer/truck combination is likely to behave differently in this regard.

[rhagfo]

Might give some thought to a a soft tonneau cover. I just put on a TrueXport roll up, have a below rail tool box in the bed and it works great and covers the 5er hitch also.

http://www.keystoneforums.com/attachments/photobucket/img_243360_0_cc1a52f862e8655b2aaecb14cd20ed43.jpg

http://www.keystoneforums.com/attachments/photobucket/img_243360_1_98d64cb3eb7dc47ea65af8df5077a348.jpg

[Pmedic4]

We use a roll-up cover, and it works very well, with no issues.

The one thing I would add to any discussion, which I think John covered, is that the wind effect on anything in the bed of the pickup is very, very strong! The only thing you can put in the bed of your truck is something with sufficient weight, or strapped in. I had set our plastic wheel chocks in the bed one time, and they were blowing around in the bed like popcorn in a popper, had to stop to put them in the back seat. Another time, I laid a roll of paper towels in the bed when cleaning, and forgot, and I had a 40' long streamer of paper towels blowing out the back, feel very embarrassed stopping to fix that.

So yes, I would wonder about that soft cover not getting blown around and ripped up when driving with the fiver hooked up.

[rhagfo]

We use a roll-up cover, and it works very well, with no issues.

The one thing I would add to any discussion, which I think John covered, is that the wind effect on anything in the bed of the pickup is very, very strong! The only thing you can put in the bed of your truck is something with sufficient weight, or strapped in. I had set our plastic wheel chocks in the bed one time, and they were blowing around in the bed like popcorn in a popper, had to stop to put them in the back seat. Another time, I laid a roll of paper towels in the bed when cleaning, and forgot, and I had a 40' long streamer of paper towels blowing out the back, feel very embarrassed stopping to fix that.

So yes, I would wonder about that soft cover not getting blown around and ripped up when driving with the fiver hooked up.

There are Velcro straps the keep it rolled up, towed with it rolled
Up just fine. I was a bit anti tonneau cover for a while, but now with a dry bed I am all for them!
Our TrueXport fits like a glove, the bed on the 2nd Gen Rams is narrower at the Tailgate than the cab, mine follows the bed rails exactly and took about 30 minutes to install.

[WaltBennett]

I've had a SoftTopper on our truck since we got it and our Monty. Never had a problem with the tubes and trailer and really like having a cap not a cover so I can haul things even with the hitch still in the truck. It's now four years and 35k towing miles old and has weathered well. Highly recommend it.

[AlBeatty]

Hi Group,

My thanks to everyone for their thoughts and suggestions. For now I plan to get the Anderson hitch and see how that works for us. I'll have to think about the SoftTopper for a bit as I can easily get along with my truck the way it is for now.

The plan is to use a SoftTopper (or equivalent) to go from a RV-park, base camp into really remote country to do research (go fly fishing) on a book we are working on. The topper would be used (as we have done with a hard topper for the past 30+ years) to sleep for a night or two in a remote camp that doesn't include sleeping on the ground (I promised myself to never sleep on the ground again after discovering the "joys of doing so" in the military some 50+ years ago). Take care & ...

Tight Lines - AB

[rhagfo]

We use a roll-up cover, and it works very well, with no issues.

The one thing I would add to any discussion, which I think John covered, is that the wind effect on anything in the bed of the pickup is very, very strong! The only thing you can put in the bed of your truck is something with sufficient weight, or strapped in. I had set our plastic wheel chocks in the bed one time, and they were blowing around in the bed like popcorn in a popper, had to stop to put them in the back seat. Another time, I laid a roll of paper towels in the bed when cleaning, and forgot, and I had a 40' long streamer of paper towels blowing out the back, feel very embarrassed stopping to fix that.

So yes, I would wonder about that soft cover not getting blown around and ripped up when driving with the fiver hooked up.

Do you use a standard tailgate or a 5er tailgate, I would think a regular TG would create more turbulence than a louvered 5er TG.

[Harleyhop]

We have an Advantage trifold canvas top and love it! Folds up nicely under the back window when towing and plenty of clearance to the bottom of rig.
If I would have to do it all over again I would not hesitate to get another one.
Hope this helps good luck!:)

[Desert185]

We have a Trifecta. No problems at all on a long bed.

[Bigpuddie]

Tonno Pro Low Roll. Love it!

https://www.tonnopro.com/catalog/loroll-covers-c-264.html

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk