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Towing a 5'er with a 10' flatbed truck?

PNW_Steve
Explorer
Explorer
Hey Everyone,

I am considering moving my 5th wheel hitch to another truck. The challenge with this truck (E450) is that it has a 10' flatbed.

I cannot mount the hitch directly over the axle unless I cut almost 2' off of the bed. Not a good option.

The obvious alternative is to move the hitch back far enough that the trailer clears the back end of the bed. I know that this is NOT ideal but

I have little clue as to what the down side to this move other than reduced tow capacity. Given that I want to tow a 14k trailer with an E450 I am hopeful that the weight won't be an issue.

What other concerns should I have?



Thanks.

S.
2004.5 Dodge 3500 5.9 Cummins, NV5400, 5" turbo back stainless exhaust, Edger programmer & 22.5 Alcoa's
2002 Forest River 36 5th Wheel (staying home)
1992 Jayco 29 5th Wheel (Mexico veteran & headed back)
2002 "faux" Wanderlodge 40' My new toy....
25 REPLIES 25

PNW_Steve
Explorer
Explorer
rjstractor wrote:
PNW_Steve wrote:
From the back of the drivers seat to the back bumper is approximately 14'. You are correct. It is not all bed though.


Makes sense, you must have a sleeper cab or something. Do you have a picture of your truck? If you could cut a couple of feet off the frame it might make a great fifth wheel hauler. V10 or diesel?


Correct again. Almost 4' of storage/sleeper space behind the seats.

My fuel tank is mounted behind the rear axle. If I wanted to shorten the frame enough to accommodate placing the hitch directly over the axle it would be major surgery and require relocating the fuel tank and fill. That would also cost me some utility value. I can haul 16' lumber reasonably well. If I take 2+ feet off of the back end I will have to build some kind of extendable support to make up for it.

It is a diesel. Yes, I have upgraded the EGR, oil cooler and added a coolant filter. ๐Ÿ™‚
2004.5 Dodge 3500 5.9 Cummins, NV5400, 5" turbo back stainless exhaust, Edger programmer & 22.5 Alcoa's
2002 Forest River 36 5th Wheel (staying home)
1992 Jayco 29 5th Wheel (Mexico veteran & headed back)
2002 "faux" Wanderlodge 40' My new toy....

rjstractor
Nomad
Nomad
PNW_Steve wrote:
From the back of the drivers seat to the back bumper is approximately 14'. You are correct. It is not all bed though.


Makes sense, you must have a sleeper cab or something. Do you have a picture of your truck? If you could cut a couple of feet off the frame it might make a great fifth wheel hauler. V10 or diesel?
2017 VW Golf Alltrack
2000 Ford F250 7.3

hard3
Explorer
Explorer
I had the same type of problem with the F550 I bought. It had a 9ft long 8 ft wide flat bed made by Knapheid. I ended up cutting 10 inches off the back of the bed and cutting the corners back 12 inches at a 45 degree angle. I have a turnover ball hitch with a B&W companion 5th wheel in it. The turnover ball receiver is mounted about 1 inch forward of the axle center line. I could not turn with out the corner of the bed getting into the front of the camper. It really didnt take much to cut down the bed and miter the corners off about 10 ft of 3x6 steel tube.

James57
Explorer
Explorer
on my 2016 3500 dodge cab & chassis the bed is 9ft and my 5th wheel hitch
is right over the rear axle

PNW_Steve
Explorer
Explorer
rjstractor wrote:
PNW_Steve wrote:
I have not made it down to the scale yet but I did get a bit of measuring done.

Wheelbase: 158"
Center of axle to rear of bumper: 74"


This is odd, the numbers don't add up. Cab-to-axle measurement on an E450 with the 158" wheelbase is 100", so that's about 8 feet of bed in front of the axle. With 6 feet of overhang that adds up to 14 feet. Is your bed actually 14 feet?


From the back of the drivers seat to the back bumper is approximately 14'. You are correct. It is not all bed though.
2004.5 Dodge 3500 5.9 Cummins, NV5400, 5" turbo back stainless exhaust, Edger programmer & 22.5 Alcoa's
2002 Forest River 36 5th Wheel (staying home)
1992 Jayco 29 5th Wheel (Mexico veteran & headed back)
2002 "faux" Wanderlodge 40' My new toy....

rjstractor
Nomad
Nomad
PNW_Steve wrote:
I have not made it down to the scale yet but I did get a bit of measuring done.

Wheelbase: 158"
Center of axle to rear of bumper: 74"


This is odd, the numbers don't add up. Cab-to-axle measurement on an E450 with the 158" wheelbase is 100", so that's about 8 feet of bed in front of the axle. With 6 feet of overhang that adds up to 14 feet. Is your bed actually 14 feet?
2017 VW Golf Alltrack
2000 Ford F250 7.3

PNW_Steve
Explorer
Explorer
I have not made it down to the scale yet but I did get a bit of measuring done.

Wheelbase: 158"
Center of axle to rear of bumper: 74"
2004.5 Dodge 3500 5.9 Cummins, NV5400, 5" turbo back stainless exhaust, Edger programmer & 22.5 Alcoa's
2002 Forest River 36 5th Wheel (staying home)
1992 Jayco 29 5th Wheel (Mexico veteran & headed back)
2002 "faux" Wanderlodge 40' My new toy....

PNW_Steve
Explorer
Explorer
justafordguy wrote:
What about an extended pin box?

I also think cutting the back corners off the flatbed would be a good option.


I considered the extended pin box and asked at a local RV service shop and the gent there told me that they do not make them that long and that even if they did it would place too much stress on the trailer frame. It made sense to me.
2004.5 Dodge 3500 5.9 Cummins, NV5400, 5" turbo back stainless exhaust, Edger programmer & 22.5 Alcoa's
2002 Forest River 36 5th Wheel (staying home)
1992 Jayco 29 5th Wheel (Mexico veteran & headed back)
2002 "faux" Wanderlodge 40' My new toy....

justafordguy
Explorer
Explorer
What about an extended pin box?

I also think cutting the back corners off the flatbed would be a good option.
2015 Heartland Gateway 3650BH
2017 F350 CCLB KR FX4
2005 F250 CC FX4
77 Bronco, 302,C4,PS,PB,A/C,33" KM2s,D44/Lock-Right,9"/Grizzly locker

PNW_Steve
Explorer
Explorer
Thank you All for the responses.

Yes it is a two door E450 and the frame is long enough that in order to shorten the bed I would have to cut the frame rails and modifying the fuel tank mount.

If I can get some time next week I will run down to the scales and get axle weights empty and measure wheelbase etc. That may help with the E450 vs F450 weight distribution question.

Thanks again.

S.
2004.5 Dodge 3500 5.9 Cummins, NV5400, 5" turbo back stainless exhaust, Edger programmer & 22.5 Alcoa's
2002 Forest River 36 5th Wheel (staying home)
1992 Jayco 29 5th Wheel (Mexico veteran & headed back)
2002 "faux" Wanderlodge 40' My new toy....

rjstractor
Nomad
Nomad
Dayle1 wrote:
I assumed it was an error. An E450 with a 10ft flatbed would be a strange bird. Especially if it had more than 2 doors.


They are not uncommon in the NW, although not with 4 doors. ๐Ÿ˜‰ A local ambulance builder often takes used ambulances, reuses the ambulance module and sells the chassis with a flatbed.
2017 VW Golf Alltrack
2000 Ford F250 7.3

tinner12002
Explorer
Explorer
I think if it were me and wanted to retain a flat bed, I would sell the 10ft one and get an 8ft bed as a replacement unless the truck frame prevents using an 8ft bed.
2015 Ram 3500/DRW/Aisin/auto/Max tow/4.10s,Cummins, stock Laramie Limited--Silver
Tequila Sunrise 2012 Ultra Classic Limited
2018 Raptor 428SP

fj12ryder
Explorer II
Explorer II
^^^^Why would moving the pivot point affect sway? The OP was talking about having the hitch 2 feet behind the axle.
Howard and Peggy

"Don't Panic"

Dayle1
Explorer
Explorer
fj12ryder wrote:
Dayle1 wrote:
I agree 100percent, I have seen a number of rigs setup that way for transient workers like welders , etc. It would take a very heavy fiver to impact front axle weight on an F450. Also, the Reese Sidewinder moves the pivot point back 2 ft behind the truck axle and no owner has reported sway issues even on SRW trucks. You won't have a tailgate, but you can notch the back corners of the flat bed and you can minimize how far back the hitch needs to be for clearance.
As far as the Sidewinder goes, the pivot moves but the weight still sits on the hitch which is still over the rear axle. The weight doesn't move, just the pivot.

In fact that is one of their selling points: "With Sidewinder the trailer pin weight is always above/forward of axle and never unloads the truck's front axle".


And I stated it moves the pivot point w/o sway issues. Which is a separate but equally important issue.
Larry Day
Texas Baptist Men-Retiree Builders since '01
'13 Silverado 3500HD LT 2wd CCSB SRW, custom RKI bed
'19 Starcraft Telluride 292RLS
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