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Old 07-31-2014, 09:07 PM   #1
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Dakota 5th wheel hitch options

I have a 2006 Dakota 4 door pickup and am considering a Curt Q16 hitch. I have looked at one and it seems well made. The locking pins and anti rattle plate also intrigue me. Do any of you other Dakota drivers have experience with this product? Generally with respects to installing a hitch- any issues with the shorter bed of the Dakota? What's the best placement/ location of the rails and/ or hitch? I realize that given the light weight of Escape 5th wheels any hitch will be overkill, but are there any other issues I should be aware of with other products. Am I safe just buying on price alone?
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Old 08-01-2014, 02:19 AM   #2
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The concern with the short bed, 5'3" for the Dakota, is you need clearance for turning without the trailer hitting the cab. Someone with a short bed may be able to furnish the distance for their setup, hitch center to front of bed. From what I've read the hitch should be centered over or just in front of the axle, in my case 1" (8' bed).
Does the Dakota have enough payload? the pin weight for the trailer is about 900 lbs, add another 100 for the hitch.
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Old 08-01-2014, 06:04 AM   #3
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Hi: wayne_m... If you're hoping to adopt, that means you'd be looking at an Escape 5.0 Classic fifth. The dry hitch wt. for them is less than 500 lbs. You need about 29" from the hitch plate to the truck cab. We used a slider hitch, but never slid it, and I have the dent in the cab next to the stop lamp to prove it!!! Close counts.
There's a fellow on this forum who had a long bed Nissan, and now has a short bed. I recommended he get a 10" pin extender bolted onto the pin box and it works like a charm. That way the trailer can be converted back if and when you need a new tug. Alf
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Old 08-01-2014, 06:21 AM   #4
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Oops, I read the SA but wrote about the TA, sorry.
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Old 08-01-2014, 06:40 AM   #5
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Oops, I read the SA but wrote about the TA, sorry.
Hi: padlin... No problem!!! The pin wt. of our 5.0 was around 700 lbs. as we had an 8" thick full Queen sized memo foam mattress up there. We also carried our 0 grav. chairs plus a couple bag chairs there too. Alf
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Old 08-01-2014, 11:08 AM   #6
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Our pin weight with an almost empty 5.0 classic was 720 pounds. We pull with a Frontier crew cab short bed (5') and have placed the hitch a bit behind the axle in order to get clearance. we also use the B&W Patriot hitch which allows some adjustment in the placement of the pin head receiver to gain a little more distance away from the cab.
It has been working well for us. Check out this thread:
http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f1...tier-2530.html
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Old 08-01-2014, 12:11 PM   #7
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Our pin weight with an almost empty 5.0 classic was 720 pounds. We pull with a Frontier crew cab short bed (5') and have placed the hitch a bit behind the axle in order to get clearance. we also use the B&W Patriot hitch which allows some adjustment in the placement of the pin head receiver to gain a little more distance away from the cab.
It has been working well for us. Check out this thread:
http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f1...tier-2530.html
It's tight back there. I have retractable tonneau cover that protrudes approximately 9" into the box and drops 8" below. It only leaves 13" from the edge of housing for the tonneau to the center of the axle. I'd like to keep the tonneau and will likely just have to opt for a hitch that fits. I'm aware of BW, Curt and Reese products. I'll have do a bit of research to find the most compact one. Any others I should look into?
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Old 08-01-2014, 01:52 PM   #8
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It's tight back there. I have retractable tonneau cover that protrudes approximately 9" into the box and drops 8" below. It only leaves 13" from the edge of housing for the tonneau to the center of the axle. I'd like to keep the tonneau and will likely just have to opt for a hitch that fits. I'm aware of BW, Curt and Reese products. I'll have do a bit of research to find the most compact one. Any others I should look into?

What ever happened to folks using the Anderson 5th wheel hitch, anyone using it?
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Old 08-01-2014, 03:39 PM   #9
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What ever happened to folks using the Anderson 5th wheel hitch, anyone using it?
The Andersen Ultimate looks like it may be the way to go. Anybody know what the base dimensions are? Does the height compensate for the ball coupler you have to install on the kingpin? Does it need safety chains?
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Old 08-01-2014, 04:02 PM   #10
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The Andersen Ultimate looks like it may be the way to go.
For those who don't recall the previous discussion, this is the Andersen "Ultimate 5th Wheel Connection".

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Originally Posted by wayne_m View Post
Anybody know what the base dimensions are?
The rail mount base fits common fifth-wheel mounting rails, so it has the same fore-aft length and similar side-to-side width.

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Originally Posted by wayne_m View Post
Does the height compensate for the ball coupler you have to see install on the kingpin? Does it need safety chains?
The general idea is that the Andersen mount, ball, and coupler add up to a similar height stack of hardware as a conventional fifth-wheel frame, head and pin. The Andersen coupler puts the socket (which goes over the ball) up ahead of the pin, not below it.

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Does it need safety chains?
I believe that in most jurisdictions any ball-and-socket coupling is required to use safety chains, while pin-and-plate (conventional fifth-wheel) couplings are not. Gooseneck industrial and agricultural trailers which use ball couplings do routinely use safety chains.
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Old 08-01-2014, 04:51 PM   #11
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The Andersen Ultimate looks like it may be the way to go. Anybody know what the base dimensions are? Does the height compensate for the ball coupler you have to install on the kingpin? Does it need safety chains?
Hi: wayne_m... One of the many reasons I didn't buy a Scamp 5th. is I don't like the ball/socket gooseneck connection. I prefer the real 5th wheel connector.
We have a Husky 16K hitch and the EZRoller slider. Husky Towing Alf
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Old 08-01-2014, 05:35 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wayne_m View Post
The Andersen Ultimate looks like it may be the way to go.
...
Does the height compensate for the ball coupler you have to install on the kingpin?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian B-P View Post
The general idea is that the Andersen mount, ball, and coupler add up to a similar height stack of hardware as a conventional fifth-wheel frame, head and pin. The Andersen coupler puts the socket (which goes over the ball) up ahead of the pin, not below it.
It occurred to me after posting this that the Andersen system is not adjustable for height, unlike typical fifth-wheel hitches which have multiple holes in their brackets so that they can be assembled within some range of heights. That makes knowing the actual height of the Andersen "Ultimate" hardware more important.

The total of:
  • height from ground to floor of truck bed, plus
  • total height of Andersen rails, frame, ball, and coupler
must be within the range of height that the trailer's pinbox plate can be above the ground.

Since I'm curious about this, I just sent an e-mail message to Andersen asking for this height.
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Old 08-01-2014, 06:33 PM   #13
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we also use the B&W Patriot hitch which allows some adjustment in the placement of the pin head receiver to gain a little more distance away from the cab.
I think this is a useful feature; the Patriot arms can be bolted into any of three fore-aft positions, with two inches between each position. This helps if you can't quite put the rails where you want them, or if you want to adjust after the initial installation.

The Andersen "Ultimate" system can do the same thing, but with only two positions; I don't know how far apart they are, so I asked Andersen that by e-mail today.
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