Short bed truck cab clerance

First post. Sorry if this has been discussed before. Were looking to buy a Wildcat 2012 312BHX. I have a 3/4 ton short bed Chevy with the 6'6" bed. This will be my first 5er. I have a Reese 16K hitch non-slider. Some tell me I need a sliding hitch. Others say I dont.

So are the new Wildcat 5ers front rounded enough for me to use my Reese hitch or should I plan on a slider?
Thanks

I have an extended cab '07 chevy classic with 6' 7" bed. Measured with my own tape.
I absolutely do not need a slider hitch with our 2010 RLBS.

My brother-in-law has a crew cab '06 Chevy. His bed is only 6' (actually a little under 6') and does need the slider in a sharp turn with incline at the same time.
Its very rare he would need it but it is possible for his to hit.

He was totally convinced and had been told by others his bed was the same length as an extended cab. I had to prove it to him with a tape measure.

MountainMan wrote:I have an extended cab '07 chevy classic with 6' 7" bed. Measured with my own tape.
I absolutely do not need a slider hitch with our 2010 RLBS.

My brother-in-law has a crew cab '06 Chevy. His bed is only 6' (actually a little under 6') and does need the slider in a sharp turn with incline at the same time.
Its very rare he would need it but it is possible for his to hit.

What engine you have in your Chevy? I have a 2000 Classic 4x4 crew cab. Has the 6'7" bed. Also has the 7.4L Vortec 454. Im hoping Ill be happy towing the 8300lb UVWeight of the 312bhx Wildcat.

I have a 2001 Crew Cab short bed and have not used the slider, yet. Our 2005 Camper doesn't have the nose of the 2010 (which gives you more room than the 2005). I don't think you'll have a problem towing (other than the gas consumption, lol). I have the 8.1L.

wormy wrote:

What engine you have in your Chevy? I have a 2000 Classic 4x4 crew cab. Has the 6'7" bed. Also has the 7.4L Vortec 454. Im hoping Ill be happy towing the 8300lb UVWeight of the 312bhx Wildcat.

I have the Duramax Diesel. You'll have no problems with power with the big block Chevy. You may need an auxillary gas tank but you'll have plenty of power.

The 2000 Trail Harbor 28RKBS that we previously owned had very sharp corners. When I wasn't looking the right hand one dented the top corner of the cab in a tight turn. Should have used the slider.

But, my 29RLBS has very rounded corners and I think that the kingpin housing relative to the front of the trailer extends farther forward than the old 28RKBS. I have never had to use the slide with the Cat.

Hey there wormy and welcome...

I am new to pulling a fifth wheel as well, I ended up installing a reese 16k round tube slider and went for my first tow last saturday...

I did some turning radius tests in a huge empty parking lot and there is most definately a benefit to the slider...

My truck is a crew cab chevy "05" with the 6'6" bed...

You are right I think you could possibly tow across the world without a slider if you wanted to, but I have pulled into a few TIGHT gas stations before with my travel trailer.... haveing the option to get the extra room and get out of a bind would be a plus!

Not saying that I plan on sliding back everytime I stop to fuel, but we have all been there... some numb nut pulls in sideways to the pump to your right and then spends 100 dollars on ho ho's and slushies and an hour in the quicky mart... the entire time your waiting for him to exit with his screaming little hoodlums....
Sorry bout the rant...flash back....

I can think of one or two camp grounds sites that with the current rig I have, if I did not have the slider It would be REAL tough...

On my truck it is amazing the amount of extra turn available with the slider back...Also the round tube will give you 12" of rear movement versus 10" on the square tube...it is more $$$ but cheaper than a trip to the body shop...
Either way your rig will hit the cab its just gonna be ALOT sooner without the slider

heres what i'm gonna do...soon as I get off this computer I need to go hook up and move my Cat so Irene doesn't get her...I will take some photos in the towing versus manuvering positions...might even have an angle gauge...then we can take the guess work out of it and you can decide.

I have a short bed crew cab chevy with a slider hitch and a 2011 28rkbs. We don't usually camp in rv campgrounds, we camp in remote campsites in the mountains and I haven't used my slider yet but I can see where there will be a time that I will need it. I have one freind who has hit his cab twice and a another freind who has hit his cab once. Bottom line if you haven't bought one yet I would lean towards the slider.

Short bed and a 8 foot piece of plywood or 12 foot 2X4 or 10 foot lengths of plastic pipe just does not compute. Long bed only way to go.

wormy here are two vids of what you can expect with your chevy 6'6'' bed....while in the towing position it is the same position plus or minus a little as a fixed 5th wheel.

You can see my hand in the lower right and get a sense of the angle...while demonstrating I almost put the cat into my back glass my fingers were touchin the front cap and glass at the same time...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gO0QcDQ5TM

Now in this shot you can see you can hit 90 degrees with plenty of room to go...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqYfVgw8kxI

you already have your 6-6 bed so im sure running out and spending 40 grand an an 8 foot bed truck is not an option, or maybe it is I dont know but the slider IMHO is worth the extra money...then you will have to decide on round tube, square tube, brand ect...

I posted on the subject myself and went with the round tube after getting others opinions...

No fancy video editing here but you get the idea...hope this helps in your decision

excellent demonstration and great videos. Thanks for that.

Great videos Tim.The first one was not even close to a 90 degree turn before you ran out of room.
Can't get a long bed CC in my garage,and I don't haul enough plywood, 2x4's, or plastic pipe to justify trading my truck in on an 8ft. bed.

Excellent video of testing the extreme limits of your set up Tim.

I think you'll find with a little time actually pulling the 5er, you'll never need a 45 degree turning ability. I agree its nice to have the ability if it ever comes up though.

I looked around at your other videos. We share another hobby as well. Jeepin'!


Have you measured the inside of your bed? From front to tailgate along the floor of your bed?

Thanks Tim. Great videos. Well I have a Reese 16K non-slider sitting in my garage waiting to be installed. I only gave 200 bucks for it and its like new with the Reese rails. I guess I could always sell later it if I decide I need a slider. Does anyone know if the new Superglide 15k hitch would drop in my Reese rails after I install them?

Not bad for a bone stock JK...they said that mountain couldn't be done stock....

HA!

I dont have an exact with the tail gate on but its just shy of 6'6"
I'll have to check...

One thing I didnt mention though...my tail gate has to be OFF to not hit the pin box in the manuver position...Also there is a 4x4 electrical juntion box mounted to the rear of the pin box that I needed to relocate or it would have hit the bed rail at 90 degrees...like you said very rarely will I get that torqued up but better safe than sorry. so I moved it to the inside of the pin box....seems like its a better place anyways....

wormy did you get a new frame mount kit, I was gonna suggest the custom mounts...Are you installing it yourself?

The universal kits looks like a LOT of drilling but not sure about that...

THEHIWAYMAN (aka Tim) wrote:wormy did you get a new frame mount kit, I was gonna suggest the custom mounts...Are you installing it yourself?

The universal kits looks like a LOT of drilling but not sure about that...

Its the universal Reese rail kit. Im going to install it. I was thinking it would be a good idea to buy the new frame mount hardware. Or couldnt I just buy some grade 5 bolts at the hardware store? Yea there is several holes to drill but shouldnt be to bad with some good sharp bits.

Do you have the instructions or another source for locating the rails?

On my kit I started by placing the front rail and marking its location based on the measurements from the application chart...you then worked backwards locating the under bed mounts and the rear rail based on the hitch itself...

also did you get the spacers to take up the space between the frame and the corrugations of the bed?

Not trying to sound like i'm preaching but placement front to rear and center is key... It looks like you could have a large swing front to back with the universal kit....my custom mount kit could only go in one spot on the frame more or less once the front rail was indexed

And new hardwear is a must in my opinion

THEHIWAYMAN (aka Tim) wrote:Do you have the instructions or another source for locating the rails?

On my kit I started by placing the front rail and marking its location based on the measurements from the application chart...you then worked backwards locating the under bed mounts and the rear rail based on the hitch itself...

also did you get the spacers to take up the space between the frame and the corrugations of the bed?

Not trying to sound like i'm preaching but placement front to rear and center is key... It looks like you could have a large swing front to back with the universal kit....my custom mount kit could only go in one spot on the frame more or less once the front rail was indexed

And new hardwear is a must in my opinion

Yea I have the spacers. Installation instructions etc. have everything but the frame bolts. It looks like the new hardware kit comes with alot not needed parts for different truck configurations. I think I will go the bolt store and get some good grade 5 bolts.

Ive studied the installation instructions diligently. Looks like I could set the hitch in the rails in the bed and get it all centered up over the axle and mark the outside holes to start drilling.

The trick Ive not figured out yet is exactly how to line up the hole in the rail with the hole in the frame bracket. No margin of error there.

My crew cab Ford has 6 foot 8 inches between the back of the cab and the tailgate. I have towed fith wheel trailers with it for three years. In May, I managed to contact the back of the truck cab moving the WC in my yard. $700 repair!! I did not think it was possible. I have the slider but did not use it When doing hard backing and filling, I will use it in the future!!!

well heres how it worked for me...

I had an exact measurement from the back of the bed with the tailgate removed to the rear edge of the front rail...

you would check for center on the bed rail and bed and then drill pilot holes through the bed.

then you knew where the frame rails would intersect the bed rails...

Basically those measurements from the rear of the bed to the front bed rail will put the king pin center point two inches forward of the rear axle when everything is all installed...

I dont know if this will help...keep in mind mine is a 2005.

I wonder if you have a similair sheet or if its online somewhere...there might be a difference in bed lenghts but I tend to doubt that
You could find the center point of the rear axel with a string and base your rail measurement from that as well.

I have the ultra short bed Ford F-150 5.5ft Towing a 312BHX 96" wide - initially informed that this was an impossible combo. pull rite super glide while an expensive solution it is superb and works as advertised. No levers latches etc. Work forward and reverse with NO need to stop unlatch etc.
As an aside this is the EcoBoost 3.5 V6 F-150 also had my sanity questioned on this one the EW on the 312BHX is 8400# unhitched I am getting about 18MPG on the highway and pretty sure a long trip would get me into the low 20's towing is a different story 8.5MPG HOWEVER truck handles load without complaint! I do have the max gross and factory tow package including mirrors and integrated brake controller.

Our bed is longer than yours, but we have the pull-rite super glide also. We like it. Before we had it, truck and trailer came very close on a sharp turn. It takes some time getting used to backing, but every time gets better - even now that we've had it for awhile.

Tater

Daveflyer wrote:
As an aside this is the EcoBoost 3.5 V6 F-150 also had my sanity questioned on this one the EW on the 312BHX is 8400# unhitched I am getting about 18MPG on the highway and pretty sure a long trip would get me into the low 20's towing is a different story 8.5MPG HOWEVER truck handles load without complaint! I do have the max gross and factory tow package including mirrors and integrated brake controller.

We recently returned from a 12 day trip to the coast of South Carolina. I seen more 1/2 ton trucks pulling 5ers (some much larger and heavier than our 29RLBS) than all other places/years combined in my life. I talked with several and they were all local flat-landers. Each said they were fine as long as they stayed near the coast on the flat land and wanted no part of anything that resembled a mountain.

I'm among those who would question your choice of a V6 1/2 ton towing a 5er but after what I saw in South Carolina, I know its done. And done often.

Well we have had our Wildcat for a few weeks now. I have pulled it several times and tested my non-slider Reese 16K. I cant imagine ever needing a sliding hitch. I have jacked the camper hard and it doesent come close to the cab. I may need a slider someday but for now Im glad I didnt get one.

Wormy think you said in your 1st post that you have 6.5ft bed which seems to be the "decision" length as to whether a slider would be required - good you didn't need one between weight and cost!
Mountain Man I pulled our Cat from Michigan via WV to VA and did fine not sure I would be so confident with extensive mountain towing tho'
Dave