Hooking up 5ver

[doc73]

So I do not have a 5er so I have NO IDEA how to actually use one/ hook one up.. But this past weekend I had a nice 5er (Montana with a bunk house) next to us.

When it came time for him to pack up.. Never mind the sewer hose coiled into the rear compartment... Then the drinking hose payed on top!!!

When he went to hook up.. He put out his tow mirrors on the Ram... And without doing anything else used its name sake and RAMMED the truck under the 5er!

I was shocked! The whole trailer surged backwards, broke one of the x chocks in the wheels, knocked it off its level blocks. Luckily the site was level or I could imagine things could have gotten worse. He did this a few times until the truck sagged under the weight and the trailer lifted off the ground. Then I guess he could not gets the thing to latch because he backed up, pulled up (dropping the 5er back to the ground) and started the ramming again! Three or four of us sat and watched from our sites until their was a loud bang (like a gunshot loud) on the final ram and he got everything hooked up! WOW!

[djeirlessr]

It is very easy to hookup a 5er. It only takes about a minute or two. I back up to where I am lined up to the pin. I lower my tailgate and back up until the pin is a few inches from the hitch. I check to see if pin is high enough to easily go into the hitch. I put the handle down on the hitch to lock the pin when it enters the receiver (?). Then I slowly back up until I hear the pin get locked in place. I then retract the the jacks and I'm good to go.


Duane & Jan
2016 Crusader 295RST FW
2011 Toyota Tundra iForce 5.7 Limited Double Cab 6 speed automatic 4.10 gears

[Mars]

Boy was he doing it wrong. Hooking up is the only thing I miss about my last 5th wheel. On a half decent site all you would hear is a low clunk followed by a high ping and I was locked in.

[CaptnJohn]

I have an aluminum 5er tailgate so I just eyeball it close, check for height of pin and back up slowly. Listen for the light clang, look again and add the lock. Now ready to hold the trailer break and try to go forward ~~ just another check to see we are properly connected ~~ done. Takes a total of 3 minutes. No bars ~~ nothing to do but raise the landing gear (push a button, nothing like auto-level), but away the chocks, and leave.

[Emptypockets]

Sounds to me (yes I am a retire OTR driver) that he has seen semi's or drove them & yes that is the way you hook them up. But in saying that those trailers have the parking brake that locks so the trailer can't roll. Sooner or later he will have is 5th roll away on him. Not fun!

[rick42wood]

The instructions with my hitch tell you to set the trailer slightly lower than the top of the hitch plate so that the trailer rides the plate up when the truck is backed up. I set it about 1/2" below and I never have any trouble hitching up. The latch pops in and I only have to flip the lock latch into place. It's a Mopar 25 hitch

[gilwilliams101]

Our 1st toy hauler last year was a hitch pull that 6 weeks later turned into a 5th wheel. As everyone on here has already said, hitching a 5th wheel is soooooo easy. For that reason alone I will never have another hitch pull !!!

[B and B]

If you have Reese Revolution and use it make sure sure you grease the pin, plate, throat and wedge. Makes all the difference in the world.Add grease to any hitch as well.

[asquared]

I have seen others slam into their hitch. Totally unnecessary. I ease back while DH adjusts the height as needed (or if alone I will get out and check). Lined up and correct height it slides right in and you get a click. hop out close the jaws, plug in pigtail and hook up emergency break away cable. Raise the landing gear a couple inches, do a quick pull test to ensure not high hitched. Raise landing gear rest of way, pull chocks and good to go.

[tahoe1840]

So for many years we towed a conventional and after selling it we pulled the pin, so to speak on a 5er. In the beginning I had nothing but trouble hitching it up because it had the Reese Revolution hitch on it that is very unforgiving. If I was not at the exact height (46 3/4 inches to base of pin) on level ground and if I was not exactly aligned it was a nightmare and took some time to hitch up. After thousands of miles towing my rig it is now super easy to hitch up and in fact very enjoyable to tow. The benefits of towing and backing a fifth wheel are so superior to a conventional. That being said when we sold our first conventional tears came to our eyes since it was such a great travel trailer. In short, time heals all.

[asquared]

Originally Posted by B and B

If you have Reese Revolution and use it make sure sure you grease the pin, plate, throat and wedge. Makes all the difference in the world.Add grease to any hitch as well.

I use this.
Fifth wheel lube plate

[B and B]

Originally Posted by asquared

I use this.
Fifth wheel lube plate

Can not use that with a wedge, need grease!

[denville]

He did not read the instructions that came with the hitch. When hooking up the jaws should be closed Then just back in, the jaws will open and then close around the pin. What he probably was doing was opening the jaws and backing up so hard that it would unlatch the jaws so the would close around the pin.


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[RollingDownTheHighway]

hooking up a 5'er is quite easy, make sure the jaws on the fifth wheel are open, back under the king pin slowly, one you hear the 'click', do a slight tug to make sure the fifth wheel closed and locked, then put the legs up. No need to jam it, I've seen a guy break the pin box by jamming his truck under it.

[Kenny kustom]

Originally Posted by rick42wood

The instructions with my hitch tell you to set the trailer slightly lower than the top of the hitch plate so that the trailer rides the plate up when the truck is backed up. I set it about 1/2" below and I never have any trouble hitching up. The latch pops in and I only have to flip the lock latch into place. It's a Mopar 25 hitch

Same here.
5er a little lower, allow it to ride up.
With the bags on my hitch, they compress when the pin rides up.
Smooth and easy.


2016 Sabre 36QBOK
2015 Ram 3500 CUMMINS

[doc73]

Well.. He must have the same hitch... He set his trailer nice and low from the hitch and let it "glide" on up! LOL

Guess the bang was the jaws locking then, but man, it was LOUD!

[ependydad]

Am I the only one who thought, "man, I pity that poor guy's wife." ... ?

[Ford Idaho]

When I hook up it does not make a loud banging noise, it just goes "click" when the jaw locks in place.

Little tug test, pull the chocks and store then in the basement.

Pigtail in, breakaway cable, light check and a walk around to make sure I did not forget anything.

Hoses aside IMHO your neighbor did it ALL wrong.

[doc73]

Originally Posted by ependydad

Am I the only one who thought, "man, I pity that poor guy's wife." ... ?

You know.. Funny you say that.. When this began, she and the three kids walked away and returned well after this was all done. Guess the loud bang was the message to return home.

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[DaveandSue]

I have done the same thing once. I couldn't get the hitch to lock. Pulled out and hit it hard. BAM!. Wife came out and asked what the "H" I was doing. As I walked around the truck I looked at the hitch,forgot to release the handle.
Wife was POd and I knocked the tv off the shelve in the front room. Little dog was scared to death.

Needless to say,I haven't made that mistake again. I did have a problem a couple of weeks ago when It wouldn't latch again.I too always have the pin lower than the hitch.This time a little to low.My lube plate caught and was holding the latch open. Broke the lube plate and have to buy another one.