Jaxom

I have to pull a regular 5th wheel next weekend. It has an extended nose and pin box.
Supposedly I won't need the 5th wheel to slide.
Here's what I did to make the SuperGlide stationary.
Welded bar stock to go under the pivot points, between the slide rails:


Welded some angle iron to go over the pivot point:


Bent the main angle iron, reinforced the notch, to fit the angle of the hitch frame:


Mounted it in place, clamped it tight pulled forward w/ bar clamps and drilled the holes.


No fore or aft movement in the hitch head, nothing seems loose or sloppy.


Hitch will still pivot front to back and side to side.
It's just locked in place and can't rotate or slide. Now it's just a regular stationary 5th wheel. Easy to change back when I pull mine.

Okay...thoughts or ideas? What would you have done differently???
Could have just used his FERD...NOT! 16-18 hour drive. I have a 53 gallon aux fuel tank and can buy U.S. fuel before I go into Canada.
$2.309/gallon at the Duty-Free store, or $3.37 per gallon over there.

SundayMoney

I guess I'm lost.

I don't see the point of preventing the SG from sliding. What do you think is gonna happen if the SG slides while using an extended pin?

Seems like a waste of time to me.

SuperGewl

Let's see, I've got a much easier fix. All I do is pull the plate off the pinbox(4 allen head screws) and attach it to the other pinbox. 15minutes max and the SuperGlide still serves it's purpose.

huntr70

Only problem there is that the plate is pinbox specific, and if the other fiver has a different pinbox than his, it won't fit.....

Jaxom

You might want to add a few more screws. Mine has 12, but they are drilled up through the 5th wheel plate and attached w/ lock nuts. The manual for the SuperGlide specifies at least 10.

Jaxom

The purpose is to prevent the unwanted, accidental movement of the 5th wheel. Go around a corner and have the 5th wheel slam backwards and jerking to a stop??? Not my idea of fun.
Some of the 5th wheel trailers w/ extended pin boxes will also get into the tailgate that way.
It would be hard to unhook if the 5th wheel was sideways. How would you/could you rotate it straight again to drop the trailer? I would guess that the 5th wheel would also slowly rotate backwards while going down the road.

SundayMoney

I'm still not getting it.

Does your trailer slam backwards and jerk to a stop when you use the Superglide now? I don't know why you think using an extended pin would cause that to happen.

There are thousand of guys with shortbed trucks that use a sliding hitch and an extended pin. I've never heard of anyone having any of the issues you think you'll have.

Oh well,shes welded up now. Have a safe trip.

Jaxom

A SuperGlide is not a typical slider. It is a 2-part hitch. One part bolts to the trailer. and locks the 5th wheel from pivoting on the kingpin.

It automatically slides when you turn.

Without the upper plate bolted to the trailer, you can and likely will get the movement I describe. How violent the movement might be, I don't know.

NJMurvin

I actually experienced this - accidentally. I took the plate off my kingpin box because we needed to tow my trailer with my brother's truck which has a standard hitch. Months later, I had forgotten to bolt the plate back on. I hooked up to my SuperGlide and went out the driveway. Something didn't feel right, so I stopped. The trailer pushed the slider forward all the way to the stop (thankfully, it stopped there) and it looked and sounded like it was going to come right through the cab!!!!

After I changed my shorts, I jacked it up right there in the street, bolted the plate back on and thanked my lucky stars nothing bad happened. They make universal style plates now that can be fairly easily moved between trailers. I guess it would depend on how compatible the pin boxes are. I've also read where someone jammed some lumber in there strategically to prevent the sliding. Not sure I'd go with that for more than a couple of blocks.

rotax800

All I did was cut two pieces of channel iron to fit over top of the slide rails so the hitch could not pivot.

rotax800

The other nice thing is that Pullrite now makes capture plates for specific size pin boxes, so if you are lucky (I was) the capture plate is now held on with a set screw so it is real easy to remove. Sorry 5er is not at home or I would post a picture.

Jaxom

That sounds a lot easier than what I did. Did you have any movement with it like that?

rotax800

There is about 1/32 of pivot movement as I wanted the channels to be easy to remove and put on. They simply drop on. Have used them a couple of times and works great.

Jaxom

Then you see no potential problem w/ my solution? Other than all the work involved in fabbing it up of course?!?!?!

rotax800

you should have no problems at all. What the h@##, you have it built why not use it.