Jeff in TD

No, you can't drill the 4" hole from the bottom through the center part. This photo kind of shows how the center section wouldn't allow that. Good idea, though.



I use a companion with my long box, and have talked to a couple of people who have them with a short bed. Whether it works I think depends on the width of your 5th wheel, and if the pin box is under the overhang, or out front a ways. An extended pin box might be an option...

RustyJC

An extended pin box would help, but bear in mind that it doesn't make the 5th wheel any narrower. This matters as the angle between the truck and 5th wheel becomes more acute or if you have a 102" wide RV like mine.

Rusty

ptgarcia

Jeff,

Thanks for the pic and info. Could a smaller drill be inserted from under the bed, through the ball hole (I think there's a joke in there somewhere ) to make a pilot hole?


One of the rigs I'm looking at is 102" (Keystone Raptor). I guess the Pull-Rite SuperGlide is the best option. Or maybe a B&W with that tongue pivot/extension thingy I saw. Once more of those start hitting the street it may turn out to be a viable option.

Jeff in TD

ptgarcia,

I don't think the idea of reaching through the center to drill a pilot hole would work well, either. There is a round 4" protrusion on the top of the center part that sits in the hole, so you couldn't get the center section in it's exact place w/o the hole being there first. Also, I think you would be more accurate measuring from the top rather than eyeballing the center from below...

If you are looking at toyhaulers, a wide body would be really nice. I have to grunt quads around sideways in order to get two big utilities in my standard width toyhauler. If you go widebody, though, I think you would be better served by a sliding hitch.

The offset thing posted above is for goose necks, and although there are adapters to make a 5th wheel trailer work with a goose neck ball, the adapter acts like a cheater bar and places a load on the 5th wheel frame for which it was not designed to handle... Also, when on the road you want the hitch over or slightly ahead of the axle.


I think my bottom line would be that although some folks have made a Companion work with a short box with a particular trailer, if I were setting up a short bed for a 5th wheel I'd get a slider.

ptgarcia

Thanks Jeff. You're right about centering the bit.

The pin extender I was talking about is something new by 5th Airborne called the Sidewinder. Not much information available yet, but I expect to see more soon.

Homer S.

If someone wanted to would it even be possible to add a superglide hitch onto a truck with the b&w already installed? I'd think their must be conflicts with mounting locations, but I've never seen a dodge with the super glide.