Short Bed

I had a 2015 2500 dodge ram and the truck sat up really high in the rear. When everything was hooked up it was sitting level and I had plenty of adjustment left. I now have a 3500 with leveling and it sits level at trailer height. I have not experienced your driving issues and I have about 3k miles on the trailer already

DScopano said:

We just purchased a Bighorn 3275FB. I am wonder if anyone pulls their large fifth wheel with a short bed truck? If so do I need a slider hitch? I am looking at a Dodge 3500 Mega cab, short bed.

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DScopano,
We pull our Gateway 3650BH with a 2015 RAM 3500 Mega Cab. Only comes in short bed since it is built on the longbed frame or so I was told. Our Curt Q24 hitch is mounted on a slider which I have never needed yet. Kept it from our RAM 2500 CC short bed that we traded in for the 3500. Never needed it in the 2500 either.

Different brands of trucks with properly positioned hitches with give you completely different camper to truck spacing. I know I said that poorly.
One of my camping friends has a F250 and when we hitch my camper to his truck, if we put down his tailgate there is about 6inches of space between the lowered tailgate and my generator bay door.
On my RAM 2500 and now the new RAM 3500 when I lower my tailgate I have almost 2ft of space between the lowered tailgate and the generator bay door. more than enough room to walk through and load a fully loaded yetti onto the tailgate with 2 people. Ford must have more bed behind the axle than RAM.

If you go with the RAM 3500 I think you will love it. We do. Will pull your 16K tailer through Tenn. mountains like its not even there.

GWRam said:

....On my RAM 2500 and now the new RAM 3500 when I lower my tailgate I have almost 2ft of space between the lowered tailgate and the generator bay door. more than enough room to walk through and load a fully loaded yetti onto the tailgate with 2 people. Ford must have more bed behind the axle than RAM.

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That is awesome! I'd love to have that kind of space behind my tailgate, but I only have about 6-8" when tailgate is down. #jealous!!

Oregon_Camper said:

That is awesome! I'd love to have that kind of space behind my tailgate, but I only have about 6-8" when tailgate is down. #jealous!!

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I have enough room to open my tail gate as well as lifting up the storage bay door with the tail gate down.

I have a short bed F250 Super Duty ... now on my 2nd 5'er with it. When I originally bought it for my 2008 38' fifth wheel (not 88 degree turning) I had a sliding hitch installed. I now have a 2014 39' Big Horn with the 88 degree turning. In my 7 years now of frequent RVing I have only utilized the slide feature 6 times ... all 6 times turning into my sisters road in NY which is about a 110 degree turn. Just came back from there last week again, and this time did not feel like getting out of the truck ... so simply did 2 forward and backward maneuvers and voila !!

If I start to get too close when backing up, I can always just pull forward a little and go at it again. I suppose if I ever had to buy a new one ... MAYBE I would get the slide just for peace of mind ... but I really haven't had a predicament that demanded it in the 7 years.

Bones said:

I have enough room to open my tail gate as well as lifting up the storage bay door with the tail gate down.

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Huh? When my tailgate is down I have about 2 inches to the front of the trailer. I can't even lift the storage door to the open position with the tailgate up.
My pin is directly over the axle, I have a short pinbox and a different model trailer.
My 07 GMC had plenty of room back there, no so on this truck.

Peace
Dave

I have the same issue with a 214 long bed (8ft) bed. I have to back into the pin perfectly square and then raise the tail gate when I am about to enter the hitch. I, too, cannot get the storage door up very far when hitched. It works fine as long as I take my time and move slowly. I thought of getting a fifth wheel tailgate like I had on my 2005 Ram, but then I would loose my backup camera. Jury is still out on that decision.

Maybe I'm a little overzealous on opening the door and tailgate but here is the best picture I have so far and you can see lots and lots of room back there.


New truck


Old truck

pullrite super glide,,,highly recommended,,,,

DScopano said:

We just purchased a Bighorn 3275FB. I am wonder if anyone pulls their large fifth wheel with a short bed truck? If so do I need a slider hitch? I am looking at a Dodge 3500 Mega cab, short bed.

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Oregon_Camper said:

Respect your input, but I have a 2016 F-350 DRW and the Reese Airborne Sidewinder pulls my 3160EL like a DREAM. Trailer is spot on level and I have never experienced any porpoising while towing. Wonder if you have too much weight in the back of your toy-hauler, resulting in an incorrect pin weight.

Just back in July you even commented on this forum how great the Airborne was...what changed?

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My initial comment was when bringing the 305RW home empty on relatively smooth roads. Apparently your F350 sits lower. With an 850 lb. ROAD King in the back, 10 gal. of fuel in the fueling tank and 30 gal. of water along with minimal food and sundries the trailer weighed 14,500 lbs. With 2,200 lb. pin weight. I would call that a normal load, not excessively loaded in garage and within limits of the truck per CAT scales. With that load and Fifth airborne sidewinder, it was not safe. I can attest to that after some South Dakota I -80 whoop d' doosies that ruined a pair of shorts. It was easy to park, but that's where the good ended. After changing out to the standard Lippert pin box and getting the trailer level, it tows great. I also did not like the way the sidewinder would shift on the fifth wheel plate while negotiating curvy roads. Looked and felt bad. Thought the wedge had moved but it did not. I'm glad you like yours, I did not. As to needing a slider. The RW is 88 degree scalloped up front and I have not needed a slider during any maneuvering. I am always vigilant and thinking about the clearance as I maneuver

ok. Took a few measurements today. My bed is 68 inches from the fifth wheel center with the tail gate down and 49 inches with the tail gate up. The kingpin is 89 inches till I hit the back of the kingpin area section. That gives me a clearance of 21 inches with the tail gate down and 40 inches with the tail gate up. What are your clearances?

The difference for me is that I have 71" from the kingpin to the cargo door.
So with an 18" difference I have 3" with the tailgate down.
Even with my skinny jeans I can't squeeze through.

Peace
Dave

cookie said:

The difference for me is that I have 71" from the kingpin to the cargo door.
So with an 18" difference I have 3" with the tailgate down.
Even with my skinny jeans I can't squeeze through.

Peace
Dave

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Yeah That is tight. I wonder if it is my pin box giving me the extra length?

The pin on the new pin box is 5" further forward than the factory. Which should give me 5" more space between tailgate (down) and cargo door. Should be around 20+ inches.

I am circling back. I took a picture yesterday while I was hooked up to the trailer. I can open the cargo door and have my tailgate down. It barley clears but it does clear. Here are the pictures.



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This is probably why it is difficult for me to back into spaces sometimes because this probably adds quite a few feet to the overall length.

Bones said:

I am circling back. I took a picture yesterday while I was hooked up to the trailer. I can open the cargo door and have my tailgate down. It barley clears but it does clear. Here are the pictures.

View attachment 41045View attachment 41046

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That is about as much room as I have with our Prowler.

I do have a slider hitch if I need to add a little extra room when hitched up.

JohnD said:

That is about as much room as I have with our Prowler.

I do have a slider hitch if I need to add a little extra room when hitched up.

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I have 77" from center of the pin to generator door on my Cyclone with Reese Goosebox coupled with my 2500 short box Chevy 2006 it will make contact with the cab as I said earlier if you haven't bought it definitely go for a long box it eliminates every bad scenario imaginable

Bones said:

Yeah That is tight. I wonder if it is my pin box giving me the extra length?

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JWalker said:

The pin on the new pin box is 5" further forward than the factory. Which should give me 5" more space between tailgate (down) and cargo door. Should be around 20+ inches.

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hi;have short bed 2014 f350 towing 35' pinnacle had reese hitch from old truck long box.not thinking about turn radius change.so went and got a pull rite slider.what a nice hitch and also put on a moyride pin box no more chucking.money well spent

scottie said:

hi;have short bed 2014 f350 towing 35' pinnacle had reese hitch from old truck long box.not thinking about turn radius change.so went and got a pull rite slider.what a nice hitch and also put on a moyride pin box no more chucking.money well spent

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There is a flange nut on your pullrite that if you set it so that the hitch barely moves, you will find the there should be no chucking.