Hitches

[Jeanne]

We will be towing a 5th wheel with a Ford 350 DRW 4X4 long box can
anybody recommend best hitch to use make and models and any other info will be good. This is our first time RVing and want to get it right. Jeanne

[exav8tr]

In my OPINION, I think the Trailersaver Air Hitch by Hensley is one of the better on the market. Not cheap, but together with the MorRyde Hitch pin I hope to keep my unit for many years. You can spend less on a hitch and folks will be along to recommend some of the others. There are several other air hitches available. Just google 5th wheel hitches......Good luck in your decision......

[stiles watson]

"Getting it right" is the desire of us all. But the answer is not as easy as mentioning a brand name. There are factors that influence a decision. Price is one of those factors, but in my opinion, it is lower than other factors.

"What else do you plan to do with your truck", is a major question to be answered. If all you do with it is pull your RV, then the weight of the hitch and the ease of removing it from the bed is not important. However, if you need to use the truck bed for other purposes, then weight and ease of removal become important.

Since you are going to use a longbox, there is no need for a slider hitch. So you can eliminate those from consideration.

The next question is about what you want the hitch to do? Do you want it to be just a hitch, then there are a lot of good options. Reese, Husky,.... and many more. If you want your hitch to have shock absorbing characteristics, then your weight and cost will go up considerably, but there is no question as to whether the ride is smoother.

For me, I want to be able to remove the hitch from the bed of the truck and use it for other purposes. This is important because this is our only vehicle as we are full timers. When I need to remove the hitch, I need to be able to manage the weight of it myself. I want a flat, unencumbered bed (no rails) when the hitch is removed. with this criteria, the best hitch for me is the B & W turnover ball with the Companion Hitch. It is a very strong hitch by design and comes apart in two pieces so that I can remove it alone.

I use an F350 as my tow vehicle. I don't feel I need the shock absorbing type hitch. Others will disagree. we all do what seems right to us. The answer to the questions will lead you to the desired hitch.

[H. John Kohl]

Both comments are right on. I have the Reese hitch and mine is a 20K hitch. The Trail Saver will fit on the Reese rails. When I bought our first fifth wheel I did not know what to get and the Reese hitch was what the dealer put in. If I knew then what I know now and Money was not a major issue I would also go with the Hensley Trail Saver. My Reese does well but is a solid mount.

You are doing right to ask and like trucks and trailers there are many answers. You have to determine what you want to do and then make your choice. Welcome to the forum, good luck, safe towing and have fun.
You mention long box so a slider is not required.
Cheers,

[ols1932]

You will get as many opinions as there are posters. I've had a Reese, a Drawtite, and presently have the TrailerSaver hitch. I much prefer the TrailerSaver over the others. But like I said, my opinion only.

Orv

[noneck]

Ditto to those previous experts...this novice has a B&W LiL Rocker and like it, also truck has a Goose neck flip down ball hitch...

[Mrs. CountryGuy]

Wish we had:

AIR HITCH!

but,doing pretty good with what ya see in sig line.

You will get lots of opinions, that is for sure!

[8.1al]

You will find that most of us have bought a hitch and then decided we needed something to soften the ride for the trailer so we have then spent several hundred dollars on some sort of a shock absorbing pinbox(Morryde,5th Airborne, etc.). The only problem with this is when you trade trailers there goes the pinbox too and you are faced with another big bill for another pinbox. If you can possibly afford it buy the Trailsaver, this stays with the truck and if you trade trucks, put it on the new one.

[Delaine and Lindy]

I agree the Trailer Saver is a awesome air ride hitch. I had one and it was installed in there different Trucks. However due to the cost and since we aren't full timing we went with the B$W turnover ball with the Companion 5th wheel hitch. We now have a clean Truck bed when we remove the 5th wheel hitch. And when we upgrade Trucks in 2011, if there is any Diesel in the USA we will let the Turnover ball go and just replace the B&W turnover ball, will not have to buy the 5th wheel hitch. If we were still full timing, I would go with the Trailer Saver air ride hitch. We are using the Trailair on the 5th wheel but its not near the hitch as the Trailer Saver. Good Luck with your decision. GBY.....

[jjackflash]

We have the 18K Draw-Tite Signature removable hitch and love it. Both my wife and myself agree that we feel no chucking or rough ride. There's times I have to look behind me to see if the trailer is still there. We also have the Mor/ryde Suspension and pinbox and tow with a 3500 long bed GMC. This is our 4th one ton dually,maybe we're just used to the ride. We have no complaints!
Jack

[TLightning]

One thing that was important to me was to be able to get the hitch out of the truck when not towing. So I got a hitch that comes out in two pieces...all do not come apart. As for the ride, the air hitch is better than an air pin box...but not four times better, and that's the cost difference.

As previously stated, you'll have to decide what is best for you and your situation.

On edit: Forgot to put the brand...16k Husky made by RBW.

[exav8tr]

Tom, You're right, the Trailersaver is much more expensive than most of the others. I am hoping it will help me increase the longevity of our trailer and truck. We hope by adding the Hitch, hitch pin and(come Sept) the independent suspension from MorRyde, we will set ourselves up to keep our unit quite a while. As full timers, we are constantly on the go and plan to be for some time, also, as a fulltimer we see no need to remove hitch from truck, so this was not a consideration in making our choice.

A person definitely needs to evaluate all these considerations and choose wisely. We started out with a 3/4 ton truck and a Husky slider hitch and we and truck were getting beat to hell. Again, evaluate and choose wisely, you don't want the hitch to be the weakest part of the chain, in fact, you don't want any weak links.....

[ols1932]

When we chose the TrailerSaver hitch it was with full timing in mind (we were already into our 3rd year at that time). I wanted to save as much stress on the rig pounding on the truck as I could. Immediately after installing the TrailerSaver and doing my first towing with it, I was really satisfied that, for me, this was the way to go. As exav8tr says, "A person definitely needs to evaluate all these considerations and choose wisely."

Orv

[Jeanne]

Thanks for all the info, we won't need to take hitch out ot Truck and also having a Mor/Ryde fitted to 5th Wheel. Not long now counting the weeks till we leave the UK we arrive 26th August. Can anybody recommend Montana dealer in South Dakota.