How to Determine if I Can Make a 90 Degree Turn with a 5th Wheel Trailer and a Dodge Ram Mega Cab

Updated 03/12/2015 | Published 03/11/2015

Question:

Hi, I have a short bed Dodge Ram Megacab 2500 and currently tow a travel trailer. Im looking to upgrade to a 5th wheel, around 12,000 lb. Could you advise me if you stock any automatic sliding hitches that would be appropriate, together with any other hardware I might need? Many thanks!

asked by: Rob L

Helpful Expert Reply:

I know turning clearance can be a problem with the Megacab models of the Ram trucks. We do not carry any automatic sliding hitches at this time, only manual slide hitches, but we often find that sliding fifth wheel hitches do not always cut it when it comes to the Ram trucks with the Megacab due to the bed and cab size. Typically, a Sidewinder pin box and a fixed fifth wheel hitch is required to safely make a 90 degree turn with these trucks, especially if the trailer does not have the cut-outs in the nose for short bed trucks.

Before you choose a fifth wheel hitch, I strongly recommend using the following formula to determine if a sliding fifth wheel hitch will be enough for you to safely make a 90 degree turn.

(A +/- B) - C = Clearance

A = Distance from center of rear axle to truck cab

B = Travel of a sliding fifth wheel hitch

C = Width of trailer divided by 2 (to get half)

For example: If the distance from the center of the axle to the cab is 36 inches and the sliding fifth wheel hitch has 12 inches of travel, 36 inches + 12 inches = 48 inches. If your fifth wheel trailer is 96 inches wide, take half (48 inches), then plug in: 48 - 48 = 0 inches of clearance.

NOTE: At least 4 inches of clearance is recommended to safely execute a 90 degree turn.

In this situation, a sliding fifth wheel hitch with 12 inches of additional travel would not be enough to safely execute a 90 degree turn. The solution for this would be to use a fixed fifth wheel hitch and Sidewinder pin box. A Sidewinder moves the pivot point 22 inches away from the truck, so the 12 inches in our formula would turn to 22 inches giving us 10 inches of clearance.

I have attached a help article on Sidewinders for you to check out. Sidewinders can only replace specific OEM pin boxes, so you will have to now the make and model number of the pin box to choose the correct Sidewinder. If you find that you need a Sidewinder, feel free to send me the pin box information and the year of your truck and I would be happy to find all of the parts that you will need.