5th wheel hitches( yes whipping a dead horse)

[ftwkma]

We'll be getting our first fifth wheel a 18' 321rsts shortly. Everything has pros and cons. I thought I was sold on an autoslider hitch but I am not so sure now. I'm not impressed with the nearly 300lb weight, capture plate, and needing to back straight on to hitch among other things. I am considering a manual slider Reese or possibly another brand. I have a 16' 3500hd chevy 6.5' bed. Thoughts???

[Ela1948]

As you probably know, Andersen is by far the lightest and works well at 35 lbs. Pullrite now makes there own version of Andersen's design. The ball and socket are inverted but the same basic principle. I have the Andersen and like it. Be aware that you CAN knock your rear window out if you're not paying attention. Some will say they can jack knife the truck 90 degrees. I'm living proof that if you do, you'll be putting in a rear window!! Rest assured that I'll not take out another window. That being said, I'd buy another Andersen in a minute!

[Chrisb-24]

Hey Bud, I have a Pullrite 12K hutch and I love the way it connects. It uses a hook system instead of the conventional pinch system found on all other brands. Yes I have to be almost straight on to hitch up but wouldn't you do that anyways!! I painted a white strip on top of my pin box and my hitch to help in the connection process. Of you have any other questions please don't hesitate I'll try to answer the best I can. Happy hitch hunting.

[robkelly]

I have a Reese Pro Series 20k and am very happy with it. My previous TV was a 6.5' bed, and while I had a slide, I found I didn't need it. That said though, I was never in a position to need to jackknife either.

If you do go manual slide, be sure to go with the round bar version. I had the square bars and wouldn't wish them on my worst enemy - that's part of the reason I never used the slide.

[poohbear]

I will 2nd on the Andersen. I have no experience with a short box & a fiver but we have a 321rlts that Probly has the same front cap. I don't think it would hit with extended pin box & Andersen ball to rear. I use the aluminum version on a curt turnover gooseneck hitch.

[Ruth]

We have an 07 Silverado 2500 HD 6.5' bed and a 27.5 RKDS with a Reese Revolution pin box and a Reese Titan 16K in the truck bed. With this set up, we don't need a slider, proven when we left the dealer after picking it up. Had to squeeze between trailers and the building and had no problem.

[vcbice]

I've had a manual slide hitch for many years. Have only used the slide a couple times. No, I cannot get to 90deg, but, I can get to 60/70 deg with our trailer. Every trailer is different depending on the front cap design.

If I were doing it now I'd go with an Anderson. I may still get one just for the weight savings and convenience of easily removing the hitch.

[Travler2017]

where did you get this Anderson hitch

[videoguy]

I have 2016 Silverado HD and pull a 2017 28.5 rsts. I have a Reese 16k non-slider. It was $700 installed and works great! It comes apart in two pieces so I can easily pull it out and put it back in myself. I take it out whenever I won't be towing for a week or longer.

[vcbice]

Our local RV dealer had Anderson hitches.

Check for dealer here https://andersenhitches.com/

[Ela1948]

Originally Posted by Travler2017

where did you get this Anderson hitch

I bought mine on Amazon

[cariboocreek]

Three years with the Pullrite. Hooking up has never been an issue. Would by another one without hesitation. There are other great hitches out there as well.

[Skidawg]

It's a matter of preference and common sense. I have owned both a slider and now a non slider and both were Curt 16k and present Q24K. The 24K is a non-slider. Both were mounted in a 6.5 bed. I never used the slider due to applying common sense. The comfort of knowing it was there was always present but common sense continued to win out. All the previous comments have valid points and all ring true to some degree. There are pros and cons to slider non-slider but again, common sense rules the day. Extended pin boxes combined with common sense is hard to beat. What brand or flavor of hitch you purchase is basically down to weight and $$ you want to spend. They all work! The horror stories you hear about busting back windows, if truth be told, is from backing mostly on un-even ground in a tight turn. The FW itself will drop down on one side or the other and take up all the clearance you just had between the bedrails and the FW itself therefore; making contact with the back window. This can happen with only about a 6 inch drop from where the FW is at in regard to where the TV is actually at. Again, common sense wins the day.

[Packerbacker_TX]

Originally Posted by ftwkma

We'll be getting our first fifth wheel a 18' 321rsts shortly. Everything has pros and cons. I thought I was sold on an autoslider hitch but I am not so sure now. I'm not impressed with the nearly 300lb weight, capture plate, and needing to back straight on to hitch among other things. I am considering a manual slider Reese or possibly another brand. I have a 16' 3500hd chevy 6.5' bed. Thoughts???

We've got an Andersen hitch as well. We have an 8' bed but I understand that this will work with short bed trucks as well. You probably just have to be careful about that 90' angle when backing up. Sliders are big and heavy and expensive. I guess it really depends on what you're looking for. I can detach my Andersen in 5 minutes and have a clean bed w/no rails when I'm done. Good luck!

[B5 GTX]

I have a pullrite superglide, my first fifth wheel hitch so I can't compare to a non slider. However I really like it and would purchase again, damaging my truck is not worth the risk.