5er - which hitch?

[quarque]

I need some advice on which 5th wheel hitch to buy for a trailer I plan to buy. Trailer GVWR is 7500 and pin wt is 967. I'd like something that is easy to remove so I can use the bed for hauling plywood etc. What brand and model do you suggest? Any to avoid? Do I need 18" or more height for Tundra rail clearance?

Truck is 2008 Tundra DC, 6.5 bed, 5.7L 4x4.
Thanks for any help.

[Only Toyota for me]

Originally Posted by quarque

I need some advice on which 5th wheel hitch to buy for a trailer I plan to buy. Trailer GVWR is 7500 and pin wt is 967. I'd like something that is easy to remove so I can use the bed for hauling plywood etc. What brand and model do you suggest? Any to avoid? Do I need 18" or more height for Tundra rail clearance?

Truck is 2008 Tundra DC, 6.5 bed, 5.7L 4x4.
Thanks for any help.

For what you want, i'd go with an underbed turnover ball hitch. B&W or hidden hitch at etrailer.com. I settled for the hidden hitch, and i like it. But i'd go B&W because it's now available. It's nice because you simply remove the ball & you have a full bed to use. And they only drill a 4" round hole in the bed.
The only problem you'll have with the tundra is the tall bed rails. You may want to buy an extended ball with the hitch to help. I have 7" clearance between rails & trailer which is ideal. I had to put 1.5" blocks on the trailer to lift it so it would be level when hooked up. Fairly inexpensive & easy to do. I also got a 5" ball extender that goes into the hitch itself in the bed, which also gave me an extra 1" height, and the trailer sets 5" backward. Do not buy the extended adapter that goes on the trailer, it screws up your turning radius big time.

Here's a couple pic's of my set up.



This is the adapter i'd recomend for the trailer ( probably the strongest). You must consult with the trailer manufacturer to be sure there is enough support to handle a goose-type setup.

[ddbrown17]

Originally Posted by quarque

I need some advice on which 5th wheel hitch to buy for a trailer I plan to buy. Trailer GVWR is 7500 and pin wt is 967. I'd like something that is easy to remove so I can use the bed for hauling plywood etc. What brand and model do you suggest? Any to avoid? Do I need 18" or more height for Tundra rail clearance?

Truck is 2008 Tundra DC, 6.5 bed, 5.7L 4x4.
Thanks for any help.

We have a Pull Rite 18K Super Slider Hitch. We can jack knife the trailer without hitting the cab. Downside is that it's spendy.

[/IMG]

[fivecodys]

We have a Pullrite Superglide 14K. Works great but is expensive.
BTW the specs for your trailer are the same as mine.
You might also want to consider adding airbags to the rear suspension.

We have only pulled once but I am happy to report that the truck did a very good job. Plenty of power too.

Bill

[quarque]

Thanks for the input. I like the Pullrite units but what about Reese and Curt? I do plan on airbags after reading the reports on tundrasolutions - everyone seems to like them.

fivecodys - what trailer do you have? Any problems?

[ddbrown17]

Originally Posted by quarque

Thanks for the input. I like the Pullrite units but what about Reese and Curt? I do plan on airbags after reading the reports on tundrasolutions - everyone seems to like them.

fivecodys - what trailer do you have? Any problems?

My understanding on the other brand of hitches is that you must manually operate the slide feature, in other words get out of your truck before and engage the slide feature. The reason we didn't want this was that we were afraid we would forget. We have a friend who did that and damaged his cab. If you really careful to remember, these units are less expensive. Anyway, that is my understanding of them. I could be wrong.

[quarque]

Good point. But the trailer I'm buying has notched corners on the front end and thus will not require a slider. One of the best features I've seen on a 5er.

[ddbrown17]

Originally Posted by quarque

Good point. But the trailer I'm buying has notched corners on the front end and thus will not require a slider. One of the best features I've seen on a 5er.

What kind of 5th Wheel did you get?

[quarque]

I have not purchased it yet but have spent many hours researching them. I found a unit from Forest River in their Surveyor line that seemed to be just what I wanted: small & light. The SVF241RK is 26.5' long, 7500 GVWR and pin weight of 967. It will typically be carrying two people so I don't really need a 35' monster. It has decent tank sizes and lots of nice features. Surveyor is top of their line in the lightweight category. I hope to pick one up later this year when I will have a place to park it.

[mudfuel07]

[quote=Only Toyota for me;1003984]For what you want, i'd go with an underbed turnover ball hitch. B&W or hidden hitch at etrailer.com. I settled for the hidden hitch, and i like it. But i'd go B&W because it's now available. It's nice because you simply remove the ball & you have a full bed to use. And they only drill a 4" round hole in the bed.
x2
I have the B&W hitch and conversion and I love it. Plenty of bed space to use when you need it.

[fivecodys]

Originally Posted by quarque

Thanks for the input. I like the Pullrite units but what about Reese and Curt? I do plan on airbags after reading the reports on tundrasolutions - everyone seems to like them.

fivecodys - what trailer do you have? Any problems?

We have a Forrest River (Flagstaff 8528RKSS)
No problems yet but we have only had it for a couple of months.
The truck pulls it great.
I will tell you this. Backing it up is quite a bit different than our TT. It responds totally different than the TT did. Much more sensitive.

I am planning on towing it over to the church parking lot to get a handle on it. I can get where it needs to go but it aint pretty. My guess is that I am oversteering initally but a couple of hours in the parking lot should get me the practice I need. I was able to back my TT very well so it's just a mental thing.

Bill

[quarque]

Bill - I know what you mean. I grew up on a farm and even got good at backing a tandem wagon set, but one try in my uncle's 5er showed me what I was not ready for. He said you have to think of it like hitch is attached to the back of your seat and not the back end of the truck. That is how much different it feels.

I looked at the Flagstaff and Rockwood units as well. They were my second choice after Surveyor. Forest River seems to have a pretty good reputation. I originally wanted to go with Jayco but their lightest 5er has a 1290 pin weight. That would easily put me over the Tundra payload rating so I started looking for others.

Larry

[fivecodys]

Originally Posted by quarque

He said you have to think of it like hitch is attached to the back of your seat and not the back end of the truck. That is how much different it feels.

Larry

That's a good way to think of it. I wil see if that helps any.
We had a friend that had a Rockwood trailer and they had little to no problems with theirs. I am hoping for the same. We had an Aljo TT and it was great. ......just too small. We outgrew it quickly.

Happy trailer hunting.

Bill

[quarque]

Bill - what is the height of your hitch (bed to pin bottom)? I'm wondering if I need 18" like some of these hitches will do. They seem to want about 6" between the bed rails and the trailer body. Tundra bed is 1-2" deeper than others so I'm concerned about it.

[fivecodys]

Originally Posted by quarque

Bill - what is the height of your hitch (bed to pin bottom)? I'm wondering if I need 18" like some of these hitches will do. They seem to want about 6" between the bed rails and the trailer body. Tundra bed is 1-2" deeper than others so I'm concerned about it.

I have the king pin at it's lowest bolt holes and that net's me 5-3/4" of clearance between the bed rails and the bottom of the fiver.
I have removed the hitch until it's next use so I don't have a good measurement for you. But here is what I do have (see pic attached)


Hope this is helpful.

Bill