Recommended Reese 5th Airborne Air Ride Sidewinder to Replace Norco/BAL Pin Box

Published 02/13/2020

Products Featured in This Question

Reese 5th Wheel Trailer Hitch - Dual Jaw - 16,000 lbs

(396)

$519.62

Sidewinder Wedge for Curt E16 5th Wheel Trailer Hitches

(10)

$44.53

5th Airborne Custom Wedge for B&W Fifth Wheels

(101)

$77.97

Question:

Looking for a premium airride with rotating turret so I can tow with a 5.5foot bed F150.. Can you tell me the correct model #? The trailer I purchased is a 2020 Arctic Wolf 291RL with a pin weight of 1255# The tag on king pin reads as follows: Customer : Arctic Wolf Model # : 291 RL STD 12K Pin Box W/Leveling Norco Part # : 20101315 Plant : 40 Mfg Date : 8/12/19 BAL S/N BAL0233176

asked by: Stephen A

Expert Reply:

The manufacturer of your current pin box tells me that the bolt pattern matches up with a Lippert 1621 pin box, so for an Air Ride Sidewinder that would provide the proper clearance between the front of your fifth wheel and the back of your truck cab, you'd want to use part # RP61422. The air ride Sidewinder would relocate the pivot point between the hitch and the king pin 22 inches rearward to the point where the pin box attaches to the underside of the trailer loft.

The Sidewinder includes a universal wedge, which works pretty well for many different fifth wheel hitches, but there are custom wedges that work better, and I'll link our selection of those for you. We have the selection broken down by fifth wheel hitch manufacturer, so choosing the correct one is pretty easy. For example, for a B&W, you'd use # SWW-06, for a Curt you'd use # C16991 for an E series.

I'll also link you to an article that explains further how a Sidewinder works.

expert reply by: Mike L