Reese 5th Wheel Installation on a 2005 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 HD with Short Bed

Updated 11/03/2011 | Published 11/02/2011

Question:

when I bought a fifth wheel trailer, they gave me the hitch also. The hitch is Reese model #30032 slider. I think i have Curt universal base rails C16100. How far should the king pin be positioned from the cab? I am installing this hitch on a 2005 silverado 1500HD and the rails were on a GMC 1500. i noticed that the bed rails were staggered left to right. one had the outside bolt in the low part of the bed and the other had the outside bolt in the high part of the bed. is this correct? i have watched some videos on your sight and they center both between the wheel wells. Also do you have any instructions on installing the bed rails in my model truck? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

asked by: Wayne R

Expert Reply:

If the specific installation kit you are installing in your 2005 Chevrolet Silverado 1500HD is the CURT Universal Fifth Wheel Base Rails with Installation Kit, # C16100, then the rear most edge of the rear rail should be placed at 30 inches from the end of the truck bed, with the tailgate removed, for an 8 foot bed truck and at 25-1/8 inches for a 6-1/2 foot bed truck. With the CURT kit this should place the center of the king pin directly over the rear axle of your truck, see instructions link.

You should make sure that you have installation instructions handy for the exact kit you are installing and use the instructions from the installation kit manufacturer only.

The rails in the bed should not be staggered. The legs on the fifth wheel hitch are square and the mounting holes in the rails need to be square. If the rails are staggered left to right the fifth-wheel hitch will not fit in the rails. Both rails should be centered and squared up in the truck bed. You will then use the fifth-wheel hitch as a guide for ease of installation before tightening down the hardware. We have found that using the hitch when squaring up the rails helps position the rails also.

You may find that some of the bolts for attaching the rails to the under bed hardware are on the top of the bed corrugations and that others are in the bottom of the corrugations. This is different on every truck and there are spacers supplied with the install kit to accommodate bolts that land in low spots on the bed corrugation.

expert reply by: Robert G