How many of you are towing with a short bed truck?

HL markets (or marketed) the ability to tow your 5er with a short bed truck. There was a decal on mine that praised its 89 degree turning and short bed truck hauling capabilities.

I'm eyeing a late model Ram 3500 that seems nicely equipped but it has the 6.5 foot box, not the 8. I know the 8 foot box will work but will the 6.5?

It strikes me that having the hitch correctly positioned over the axle makes for very interesting clearances between the cab and the trailer in tight turns.

How many of you are towing 5ers with a short bed truck and what are you thoughts about it?

I have towed my 2012 Bighorn 3070RL with two GMC Short beds, the 2008 was a extended cab 2500 shortbed and the new truck is a 2015 CC 3500 short bed, both beds were 6'6" beds. I've not no problems to day and have made some really tight turns going forward and backing into sites, only problem has been the plastic hitch pin cover getting cagh on my bed cover track rail.
My success with my 08 led me to invest $$ in a new 15, I didn't buy a Dodge for two reasons, stiff ride and the real short bed, but I have seen folks
towing Heartland products with them.
PS - do yourself a favor - look for a 3500, it will tow almost anything out there safely. I didn't and ended up buying a new truck twice.

I've been towing my Sundance for more than 4 yrs. and have never had a problem, I too have been in some tight turns. Don't use a slider hitch either, maybe different with bigger trailer but no problems for me!

I am another one out there that tows with a short bed truck. I have a 2006 Silverado with the 6'6" bed and never had a problem in the 4 years that I have been towing our Big Horn around. I have put my camper in some very tight spots and don't have a slider hitch either and never had an issue. I do have the same issue with my plastic hitch pin cover catching on my bed cover rails in tight turns backing up, but it never causes any damage.

I tow with a Dodge megacab, so, short bed. I have a Superglide automatic-slider hitch. Without slider - just too close for comfort if you're maneuvering and not perfectly level.

I tow with the 2013 Ram 2500 crew with short bed. My trailer said 88 degree turn radius. I use the TrailerSaver BD3 with a slider mounted on a Curt system as per the manufacturers instructions. I can honestly say that I have never been in a spot so tight that I needed to employ the slider. In-fact I took it off for a while and went without it. I have since decided to keep it installed in the "off chance" that I might need it. I last installed it so that I could get an accurate weight on my TV with the slider. One consideration is that even though the trailer and truck can turn to 88 degrees, sometimes the turn is off camber, which might close the gap a little. But for all practical purposes the slider is a thing of the past. You will not crash your fiver and truck cab by simply making a turn onto a road. Chances are if you have a crunch with you fiver and your cab, you would have had it anyway.

But I think that one should not be turning their trailer to that extent as it is very hard on the trailer tires. But at the same time there are positions we find ourselves that perhap that additional few degrees might help. To protect my tires I never venture into an area I can't turn around, back out, or go through. I walk it if I have to. Protecting my tires is of more importance to me.

My crew cab short bed causes no issues with the Cyclone and I too have made a tight turn or two although for the sake of the tires I try to avoid that also. A Slider is not necessary.

I'm very new to towing 5th wheels. When I did my research, there was a lot of folks talking about sliding hitches. After doing my research on this, I decided against a slider, as we camp in remote locations that are uneven and could be hard to get withing the 5 degree of a straight line that most sliding hitches need in order to hook back up the truck.

Knowing this, I went with the Reese Airborne Sidewinder as the pin box replacement. This moves the trailer back about 2 feet and move the pivot point of the trailer. Very cool in my mind!!

all 3 of my trucks have been short bed and i have towed a cyclone and elkridge the last 6 years with no problems and even making a uturn on a two lane street in my housing developement granted the entire road width is 60 feet lol you will be fine....

Pulled our Sundance for 4 seasons with a Curt slider hitch, never once needed it with our 2010 short bed F-350. Was not happy with the extra slop and play you'll find in a slider hitch. When we got the '14 crew cab short bed we traded the Curt slider in on a B&W companion. No regrets. It's pretty tight backing in our driveway. Cab doesn't come near the FW at all.

We tow a 2009 Bighorn 3670 with a short bed 2012 Dodge Longhorn. Previously towed it with a short bed GMC.

I am not sure that there is a need for anything other than a standard hitch. I too camp in uneven locations (National Forest back roads and primitive camp locations) and have never had an issue getting in or out of some fairly gnarly roads. If I can clear overhead and on the sides without scraping, I can get to it. Ask my wife. She gets white knuckles over some of our sights.

We tow a 2014 Bighorn 3160 with our F350 short bed. Each of us did a small dent on a sharp turn (backing), but the claim is correct that you can get almost to 90 degrees without hitting the cab.

jolar3329 said:

We tow a 2009 Bighorn 3670 with a short bed 2012 Dodge Longhorn. Previously towed it with a short bed GMC.

Click to expand...

Which rear end are you running in this Longhorn? The only ones I've seen only have a 3.42 rear end.

OK, gang, my takeaway from all of this is that, short of occasionally striking the truck's box caps, a short bed shouldn't be a problem, even using a standard FW hitch.

Thanks vey much for your input. Much appreciated!

I also tow with a short bed truck, but I have a slider hitch and have used it extenively to get into tight places. Short bed without a slide hitch, ???, just be careful!

I am pulling a 36 foot Cyclone with a 2003 SB 2500 crew cab Sierra 4x4. I bought the slider hitch, but I do not think I need it, with those 89 degree turn radius built in to front cap. I have had no issues pulling my 5er, but my next truck will be a 3500 SB CC 4x4. If you ever plan to pull a heavier 5er, do your homework and buy the 1 ton, you may even need a DRW.

I have been towing 5er's for over 20 years and have always used a short bed until 4 years ago. I did not have a slider. The newer 5th wheels have a more rounded front end than did some of the trailers I owned but I never had a problem. Just be watchful when turning and backing up.

Have pulled with a Dodge Ram 2500 and a Ram 3500 SRW without any problems with a standard hitch (no slider). We have had the rig in very tight turns without any problems. Both the truck had 3.73 rearend.
-3500 srw -2500

We have a SB F-350 and have a manual slider. It's cheap insurance -- better to have it and not need it rather than need it and not have it. We in fact need it maybe once a year. When you're trying to get onto a tight campsite it's nice to not have hitting the cab to worry about, with so much else going on in that situation. Works for us.