NOTICE: Beginning July 10th, 2008, this message board service will no longer be active or available for use.

The RVer's Open Forum / GENERAL RV DISCUSSIONS / Towing with no extended pin and Reese Sl

Roger User ID: 6848563	Nov 17th 11:49 AM I have an F-350 SRW Crew Cab Shortbox, 6 & 3/4 feet long, with a Reese 15K slider hitch that I use to pull my present trailer. I am considering the purchase of a 2000 Excel 30 SKO that has no extended pin. I have been gathering information about an extended pin that would replace the old pin box. The trailer, however, is 1300 miles away, so I need to have my information together before making a move on it. In speaking with probably the most experienced and knowledgeable service manager in the area, he said that I could tow the trailer with the slider in the extended position in situations where I might need to make sharper turns such as in towns or entering gas staions etc., then put it back in position when out on the Hwy. I was always under the impression that one was not to tow with the slider extended other than for maneuvering during parking. Has anyone ever tried this and how did it work? He said I would notice the front end being lighter but it wouldn't damage the hitch etc. It would be much easier to get the rig home and than have the hitch changed. Otherwise I need to find an extended pin to take along to swap and than hope someone hasn't screwed up with what they ordered and sent me. With the way service seems to be today, I figure it to be a 50-50 chance of getting the right new extended pin to swap out. Any experience or thoughts on this would be appreciated. Thanks for ant help! LIKENIT
jd User ID: 0777594	Nov 17th 12:26 PM Yes, Roger, we are told NOT to tow with slider "extended". The weight distribution is meant to put the hitch pin load over the axle. As you move it back, it becomes less like cargo weight and more like hitch weight. Do you already know for certain that the nose of the fiver will interfere with your truck cab to the degree that you cannot bring it home with extreme care? Our RV is a Class C but I've towed and maneuvered a friend's 36' fiver with his extended cab short box Ford that has a slider. Only one of us (fortunately not me) has had an accident maneuvering. Slide was not extended and the cab rear window got broken. I extended the slide once and decided to avoid doing it again. There's so much hitch weight the thing wouldn't slide without way more pull than is really safe, and the crash when it finally slid was enough to wake up the neighbors. With care, we did the rest of a three-week trip and a second two-week trip (these are VERY good friends!) and never extended again. What I don't know is if the trailer had been equipped with a pin extension. If you need, I can try to find out. But I've heard this, too, and you may want to consider: A radical extension increases the strain on the front structure of the fiver frame. Beyond design limits in at least some cases. God Bless, jd
Roger User ID: 0387824	Nov 18th 8:58 PM Thanks jd, You give very wise information. No, I am not sure that there would be a problem that I could not handle or deal with. I just like to gather all the expertise and information I can before I do something. I have tried to calculate this out on paper based on measurements from the seller and measurements I have made. I think at best I would be able to handle a 45 degree turn (didn't have a protractor to measure my drawings). I tend to belive in "Murphy's Law" whenever I do something without having the info ahead of time. As I see it, my potential problems lie in towns, gas stations and ?, but I believe I would be O.K. The empty weight on the pin is about 2300 lbs. Even a small Excell is a heavily built trailer. Thanks for your input and God bless you to. You could also say a prayer to cover me on this trip if it materializes, without my wife and fantastic navigator. She is still working. LIKENIT
jd User ID: 0777594	Nov 19th 8:10 AM My part-time non-paying employer (I'm a Coast Guard Auxiliarist) is heavy into risk management. We have to assign numerical values to six risk categories, then the total of the six can't exceed a certain sum, AND no single item can exceed a certain value. If either happens we have to 1. Abort Mission, 2. Get Special Permission, or 3. Reduce Risk. In your case: 1. I guess you don't buy the trailer or you have it shipped. 2. You make a conscious second decision where you actively assume the consequences of continuing with the trip as now planned. That sounds like what you're doing. 3. Try to reduce risk, and you're looking that way too. So under 3, you could: a. Buy a couple of the best-looking pin extenders with return priviledge. Get a digital picture sent to you with rulers taped in critical spots to get measurements for mounting and determine how much extension you'd get. b. Plan every stop. Call ahead for truck/RV stops and find out how you'd have to maneuver. I've seen FlyingJ's where the "RV Island" lines you dead into the front of the building. Getting turned and out is somewhere between Hard and Never depending on whether cars are parked or not. Other FJs have "RV" marked on one of the lanes in the big rig area, with Diesel, Gas, sometimes a dump station. With gas, you'll not do much better than 8MPG. I don't know about Diesel, maybe 12. You'll have to sleep, plan on a place like FJ, rest areas (check rules) or call motels to look for pull-through parking. c. If your F350 is a Diesel, fuel at truck stops even if they fuss at you. d. Get an Assistant for the trip even if a kid, just somebody to help you spot the rig and watch the cab corners. e. Have the Slider ready to deploy. Grease it up or carry greasy spray lube, something more robust than WD40 and such. Realize you'll have to be straight ahead BEFORE need arises. If it's like the rig I used,you may have to take weight off with the landing gear before it'll slide. f. Consider other issues. Are the Fiver's Tires, Brakes and Bearings good? Do you have a Spare Tire, Jack, Lug Wrench? Fiver wheels have to be TIGHT! You bet we'll pray! When do you think you'll go? Happy Thanksgiving! God Bless, jd
Roger User ID: 0492334	Nov 23rd 6:53 AM Excellent info on 5th wheel hitch selection. http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3707/is_200007/ai_n8912340 (Mod)
jd User ID: 0777594	Nov 23rd 7:15 AM So, Roger, are you moving ahead on this project? Reading back, I think your current hitch is the exact one my friend has in his F250SD. Very satisfactory but very hard to slide as I mentioned earlier. Probably so because of the heavy pin weight of his trailer. I read then bookmarked the article, thanks for that. My interest in all this is high because I'd like to one day replace Class C, Mini Van and Mini Pickup with Fiver and ExtCab ShortBox Pickup. We'd replace three prime movers with one, and gain camping room plus a better tow vehicle for our boat. Disappointed the articled didn't squarely address the "giddy-up ride" we experienced with F-Series and that big Jayco. There wasn't any feeling of looseness, but dips in the road always induced a fore-and-aft motion in the truck. Many folk I talk to say fivers just do it. I've talked to some with air hitch rigs that said they still have that bucking. What's next? Happy Thanksgiving! God Bless, jd
Roger User ID: 0387824	Nov 23rd 10:02 PM jd, Not sure yet. I finaly got the information on extended pin hitches that would be compatible for this trailer and one is a "Glide Ride" I feel comfortable bringing it home without the extended pin after the reasearch I have done. It will be a matter of the seller accepting my offer and then traveling down to look it over, try it out and check out all the systems. We would want to do an "Extreme Makeover" on the interior when we got home. We have already done that on our 95 Designer and are very happy with it. My wife is fabulous at selecting colors etc. We did new carpet, valences, wood floring, storage and painted the interior. I have also done a lot of modifications with the interior and exterior of the trailer for storage, sewage dump, black streak protection and electrical It has been a great trailer for us, but we are now looking at 6 months a year or more and need a little more room and storage and I can add or redue any of the things it needs. I hear you on the "giddy up ride" Some of my seculations have been that Jayco tends to be a bit light on their pin weights compared to the overall trailer weight. Some stretches of roads tend to be a problem and maybe that's just the nature of the ride on road services with rythymical imperfections. Thank God for his wonderful blessings to us. LIKENIT
Mark User ID: 9175333	Mar 30th 11:26 PM I have a F-250 short box FX4. I purchsed a Slide positioner from Airhitch. You simply set it and forget it. NOW I dont know how it works with one of the cheaper pounder hitches like the reese. I use the Airhitch and have had no problems hualing a trailer without a extended pin.
Perry User ID: 1578334	Jul 24th 2:53 PM If you F350 is 2005 OR NEWER and your rails are bolted in like most on the road you will notice the hitch center is somewhere around 4 inches in front of the axle. I have the reese slider and once I bought my new truck I didn't have the clearance I once had in my old 2001 Tow. If you put an extended Pin box on be sure to have your frame area checked by a professional and have it re-enforeced with gussets to offset the weight shift that adding the extend pin will cause. Hope this helps