Most fifth wheel haulers today prefer to use short box trucks to tow their trailers to have a shorter overall length on the road, and to reduce the turning circle required.

In a short box truck, it would be necessary to keep the hitch behind the rear axle to prevent the trailer from hitting the back of the cab when manoeuvring into a campsite. But, if a fifth wheel trailer hitch is mounted far enough back to prevent crushing the front of the RV during turns or knocking out the rear window of the cab, the fifth wheel trailer will fishtail like crazy on the road.

Many systems have been offered to keep the hitch directly over the rear axle or a few inches ahead during travel and some method of moving the hitch up to 15-inches back to prevent the trailer from wiping out the rear window of the truck during turns in the campground.

(At a 45 degree and 90 degree angle, the PullRite Fifth Wheel Hitch prevents the corner of the trailer from colliding with the cab of the truck.) One of the first that I used, required that on entering the campground, I lowered the landing gear, unhooked the fifth wheel to get the weight off the hitch, then slide the hitch further back, locked it into position, and then reconnect the trailer for the journey through the trees and turns of the campground. When getting ready for the road, I had to reverse this to bring the hitch forward enough and remember to lock it in the new position for travel safely on the highway. ( Top )

Next I was introduced to a sliding hitch that would move back by moving a lever on the side of the hitch, apply the brakes of the trailer, then drive the truck ahead until the hitch moved back into the new position behind the axle. I have towed with this type for several years now with excellent results. I just had to remember after registering at the campground office to throw the lever before I got back in the truck so that I could move the hitch to the campground position. This worked well as long as I had both units in a relatively straight line, and the trailer was not on a hill or canted at a different angle from the truck that might put a strain on the mechanism. When I wanted to go back on the road again, I would move the lever to the forward position, set the brakes on the trailer, and back the truck up until the hitch locked into the travel position.

Another company at the Louisville RVIA Show in Kentucky introduced me to a new version of the sliding hitch This one had an electric motor in the hitch bed that would activate the hitch with the flip of a switch in the cab of the truck. It had high torque power to move the loaded hitch from forward to the rear position or back again.

I met Andrew Pulliam, the designer of the PullRite Fifth Wheel Hitch the other day to see for myself, how this intriguing hitch automatically moves the trailer away from the cab of the truck during turns.

(Left: By turning the hitch pins 90 degrees, you can remove all of the hitch mechanisms from the truck bed.) We used a 102-inch wide body Carraige 5th wheel trailer and a Ford F350 dual wheel truck with short box for the test of the hitch just to emphasis the problems usually found making tight turns in a campground. At no time did the corner or side of the RV come closer than 4-inches to the rear of the truck cab.

With a standard sliding 5th wheel hitch and short box, it has been known that the corner of the 5th wheel has struck the back of the cab in a jacknife situation on an icy highway, not only knocking out the rear window, but also dislodging the cab body from the frame of the truck. But, this cannot happen with the PullRite, as soon as the trailer moves more than 16 degrees away from straight ahead, the hitch automatically moves back so that it is impossible for the front of the trailer to collide with the rear of the cab. ( Top )

The Pulliam hitch uses a cam system in the lower part of the hitch that keeps the pin box forward of the rear axle during highway manoeuvres, allowing turns up to 16 degrees in either direction without the hitch box moving back. When turns greater than 16 degrees are negotiated, the cam moves into a path that rotates the hitch head and also moves it towards the rear automatically.

There is no rotation at the pin itself, the whole pivoting 5th wheel head rotates as the cam moves, so there is no real need to grease up the fifth wheel head, or use a Teflon bearing plate to get grease on your clothes and hands - just a little shot of WD40 is sufficient to allow the pin box to slide up the rotating head during hookup.

During original installation of the PullRite hitch, a plate with a triangular shape at the back is bolted to the bottom of the pin box. This triangular shape engages a receptacle on the hitch head making sure that the hitch lines up properly, even though you may be backing into the trailer at an angle. A very positive locking mechanism makes sure that the pin is secure in the head before you travel.

The hitch is installed with four stout pins inserted down through the bed of the truck into heavy duty brackets that are attached to the frame. There is no need to drill holes for the brackets as they install using existing holes in the frame. If you want to remove the hitch completely from the truck to carry other loads, just twist these pins 90 degrees, and they will free the bed from all of the hitch mechanism. Most 5th wheel hitches I have used, leave two rails in the bed when the hitch is removed.

As fifth wheel hitches become more sophisticated, they increase in price. The extra cost for this new PullRite hitch is well worth the extra piece of mind on the road, and in the campground. ( Page Top )

Look for a full review of the Ford F350 and the Carraige 5th wheel trailer in our test issue Vol 30-6.