5.0TA towed by F250 or larger - any issues?

[Pilotshot]

I took delivery of my 2020 5.0 TA on 5 February. I drive a 2017 F-350 Diesel as the tow vehicle. The pickups have a 1 1/2" higher sidewalls starting in 2017 which I have been told it was for aerodynamic.reasons. ETI measured the rail bed height to be 58" so I optioned for the raised trailer axle and the extra step. ETI adjusted the trailer pin height to match the Ford optioned 5th wheel Reese 18K hitch unit. On initial hookup, the trailer was level with about 10 inch clearance above the bed rails. The lower second step was about 6" off the ground. After towing a 31 foot 5th wheel for 15 years , the ETI unit is a dream to tow. I have an extended trip in March so I will pass on comments on the trailer towing when I return.

[Little Richie]

I I have a 2017 F250 4 x 2. I note the following:
1. I really like it.

2. I chose the 4 x 2 instead of the 4 x 4 because the 4 x 4 had a higher bedrail. I wanted significant clearance space so I would never fear hitting the camper against the rails. It might work just fine with the 4 x 4, in retrospect.

3. With any larger truck you need to pay attention to the distance from the hitch to the end of the tail gate when it is down. You need enough of an offset to hitch up. Escape can fill you in on the details. There are several ways to achieve this. The only hitch that I found that works with out using a slider and/or closing the tailgate the gate before hitching up is the B&W companion hitch. Specifically The one that uses the turn-a-ball connection. When I purchased this hitch it was available with a 7 inch offset. (Other B&W companionships hitches has smaller offsets. ) I am able to hitch up without fooling around with the tailgate as long as I approach straight on to the camper.

4. Some pictures below.

You might look for comments from Charlie of Charlie and Lucy.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by StillCampin

It is the dropped tailgate that is the "problem". When squarely aligned don't drop the tailgate with your fingers on the tailgate where the 5.0 front frame rises or they may get mashed. I'm single so if I ever have to connect/disconnect at much of an angle I'll need to rig up something to hold the tailgate partially up.

Even with my F150 I need to be lined up perfectly straight to get about a good inch of clearance with the tailgate from the frame.

What I find works fine if at all at an angle is if disconnecting I first raise the pin off the hitch then pull my truck forward about a foot, then drop the tailgate with no problem.

When connecting at an angle, I reverse far enough with the tailgate down that I only come close to the trailer, then close the tailgate and reverse enough to connect. I have even done this at a large angle to the trailer.

This way, no need for any kinda tailgate prop. I bet it would work fine with your truck to, give it a shot.

Though not single, I do at least 90% of connecting and disconnecting alone.

[StillCampin]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

What I find works fine if at all at an angle is if disconnecting I first raise the pin off the hitch then pull my truck forward about a foot, then drop the tailgate with no problem.

When connecting at an angle, I reverse far enough with the tailgate down that I only come close to the trailer, then close the tailgate and reverse enough to connect. I have even done this at a large angle to the trailer.

That sounds like what I do, tho I certainly don't have an inch of clearance.

So far I've not needed to be at an angle. I was thinking that a support to keep the tailgate as high as possible but letting the hitch cross over would lessen the trips out of the cab to see how close I was getting.

I'm thinking that I need to rig up some sticks or something with markings to use for determining how close I am getting while using the rear view camera in the lowered tailgate. Or even with the tailgate up for aligning the ball with the cup.

[Jim Bennett]

I have always thought about getting a Bluetooth camera for watching the hitch, but never bothered. Still might, but not a big deal.

[RonDebZ]

I towed my 5.0 with a 2500 HD Chevy. I had them add the lift kit when building. It sat a little off level but pulled good. My truck was under the maximum bed height.

[thataway4]

Ooch.. We have a 2019 Ford F250 crew cab, 6'7" bed, with a factory prep for 5th wheel hitch, 4 x 4 off road edition, bought primarily to tow an 8500 lb. boat...Bed rails are 59 1/2" off the ground, with no weight in the bed. Any thoughts if that would even be possible with the standard lift kit? We are planing to look at the trailer in March, when we were in the central part of Florida...

Thanks

Bob Austin
Pensacola

[Little Richie]

Originally Posted by thataway4

Ooch.. We have a 2019 Ford F250 crew cab, 6'7" bed, with a factory prep for 5th wheel hitch, 4 x 4 off road edition, bought primarily to tow an 8500 lb. boat...Bed rails are 59 1/2" off the ground, with no weight in the bed. Any thoughts if that would even be possible with the standard lift kit? We are planing to look at the trailer in March, when we were in the central part of Florida...

Thanks

Bob Austin
Pensacola

I have the lift kit. I put it on for extra clearance for the bed rails. In retrospect I find that having a higher camper is of significant benefit to me when looking at my propane tanks. I am 6 feet four.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by StillCampin

... It is the dropped tailgate that is the "problem". When squarely aligned don't drop the tailgate with your fingers on the tailgate where the 5.0 front frame rises or they may get mashed. I'm single so if I ever have to connect/disconnect at much of an angle I'll need to rig up something to hold the tailgate partially up.

I note a lot of 5th wheelers replace their tailgate with either one of those webbing mesh things, or somethign like this....

[Little Richie]

The replacement gives increased flexibility. They can make connections easier. They do have some downside for some users. Specifically:

1. If you have the OEM cameras like those on the Ford F serIes you loose the tailgate camera.

2. when you disconnect you cannot lock up the bed.

[John in Santa Cruz]

My 2002 F250 has neither cameras nor a locking tailgate.

[Vin and Janice]

Hi,
My wife and I tow our 5.0TA with a "06 Ram 2500 w/ cummins diesel. I don't remember the rail height, but the truck came with a factory lift kit, so it's up there. We already had a gooseneck horse trailer when we got the 5.0, so we added an adapter to the hitch to simplify swapping trailers w/o having to change out everything. We use a 4" offset ball in the bed to provide the tailgate / propane hatch clearance.
We're near Augusta GA, so if you're interested in looking at the hitch set up for a 2500 truck, we'd be happy to show you. It might give us a reason to go camping somewhere in N GA.
PS - the diesel gets 17 - 18 MPG running over the mountains. We get lots of comments from other 5th wheelers (the beast sizes) saying our hookup is "overkill". I usually answer "we crossed the (name the mountain) at 70mph, what were you doing?". They usually slink away at that point

[Tim L]

Originally Posted by Vin and Janice

Hi,
My wife and I tow our 5.0TA with a "06 Ram 2500 w/ cummins diesel. I don't remember the rail height, but the truck came with a factory lift kit, so it's up there. We already had a gooseneck horse trailer when we got the 5.0, so we added an adapter to the hitch to simplify swapping trailers w/o having to change out everything. We use a 4" offset ball in the bed to provide the tailgate / propane hatch clearance.
We're near Augusta GA, so if you're interested in looking at the hitch set up for a 2500 truck, we'd be happy to show you. It might give us a reason to go camping somewhere in N GA.
PS - the diesel gets 17 - 18 MPG running over the mountains. We get lots of comments from other 5th wheelers (the beast sizes) saying our hookup is "overkill". I usually answer "we crossed the (name the mountain) at 70mph, what were you doing?". They usually slink away at that point

Could you post a photo of the set up?

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Little Richie

The replacement gives increased flexibility. They can make connections easier. They do have some downside for some users. Specifically:

1. If you have the OEM cameras like those on the Ford F serIes you loose the tailgate camera.

2. when you disconnect you cannot lock up the bed.

Yes, while there are definitely some pluses to these tailgates, but in addition to the two things you mention, just the fact that most of the time the truck is disconnected, it is nice to have a good weatherproof storage area.

If I had a fifth wheel connected almost all the time, and did lots of disconnecting and connecting, I would quite possibly use one. I do know a couple folks that tow larger fifth wheel RVs, as well as some fifth wheel work trailers, that use these gates and love them.

When I drove big truck with fifth wheel attachment it sure was nice to have the hitch in the wide open, much easier to deal with while connecting for sure. These tractors were for work, our pickups (at least for me) more for other uses, work and personal wise, than fifth wheel towing.

[John in Santa Cruz]

my last 2 pickups, you could swap the tailgate in a short minute. on the F250, its probably a 2-man job because its so heavy.


weatherproof implies covered..... and covered doesn't work so great for a fifthwheel.

[cpaharley2008]

How hard would it be to fabricate a shorter cable that the tailgate has so that it only drops 1/2 way, that way you can "open" and have the needed space??

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

How hard would it be to fabricate a shorter cable that the tailgate has so that it only drops 1/2 way, that way you can "open" and have the needed space??

hmmm, went and looked at my Ford F250...






thinking the thing to do would be to buy two new cables, cut a few inches out of the middle and reassemble them using appropriate cable splices.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

How hard would it be to fabricate a shorter cable that the tailgate has so that it only drops 1/2 way, that way you can "open" and have the needed space??

That would work great for keeping the tailgate up some, but would certainly be a bother for using the bed for other needs while camping. You could swap the cables after docking the trailer, but that would be more of a bother than the method I described.

[dfandrews]

Buy one, cut it in half, and add these

[Vin and Janice]

Originally Posted by Tim L

Could you post a photo of the set up?

Here are 2 pictures, we're usually taking pictures of scenery, not the rig!
We use a gooseneck hitch / adapter and love it. There's way more room in the truck bed with this arrangement.