Fifth Wheel Hitches

[lopaka]

I am looking for advise on some hitches I saw at the Jacksonville, Fl. RV Show. There was a hitch called the Sidewinder, supposed to allow you to turn 90 degrees eith a shortbed truck without having to use a slider. They advertise on the web with a video that shows it in use. Also a hitch called the 5th Airborn, basically an air shock suspension to smooth out the ride of the trailer. Claimed to reduce chunking, although one of their advertised testimonials said it did not eliminate chunking. they also offer these hitches in a combined version, for around $2ooo. Susposedly they are made by the major 5th wheel hitch manufacturer, Liebert or something like that.

 

[hertig]

Re: Fifth Wheel Hitches

The Sidewinder sounds a little like the PullRite. That is an 'automatic' slider, which slides based on the angle to the hitch. It senses this by the addition of a second pin in line with the first. Sounded like a good idea to me at first, until it appeared that if you ever tried to attach to the hitch from an angle, you'd be pretty much screwed.

I'm not sure I see the value in the air hitches (or pin boxes). Yes, it sounds good, but when I was towing, I didn't really notice any problems with a 'regular' hitch. Of course, I had a lot of truck and not much trailer; perhaps if they were closer matched it would have been of value.

In my opinion, I'd look into shocks for the trailer first; the contents of the trailers without shocks seem to take a beating.