New members in Maryland

[john o]

Hello! We are Melissa and John. Located near Annapolis, MD. We have been fortunate to purchase a used 5.0 found well cared for in Virginia. We are former Scampers who needed a larger rig. Who could imagine that? We will be towing with a new GMC Canyon w/Duramax, which has just arrived at the dealer. Can't wait to install a hitch and go on the road...

Melissa and John

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by john o

Hello! We are Melissa and John. Located near Annapolis, MD. We have been fortunate to purchase a used 5.0 found well cared for in Virginia. We are former Scampers who needed a larger rig. Who could imagine that? We will be towing with a new GMC Canyon w/Duramax, which has just arrived at the dealer. Can't wait to install a hitch and go on the road...

Melissa and John

Welcome aboard, and congrats on your new trailer. Lots of fun to be had now.

[Marry]

Isn't she a beauty! With the duramax in front you will make many heads turn. Congratulations!!

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by john o

Hello! We are Melissa and John. Located near Annapolis, MD. We have been fortunate to purchase a used 5.0 found well cared for in Virginia. We are former Scampers who needed a larger rig. Who could imagine that? We will be towing with a new GMC Canyon w/Duramax, which has just arrived at the dealer. Can't wait to install a hitch and go on the road...

Melissa and John

Hi: john o... Congrads on your supersizing. You're on the right path now!!! ENJOY. Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[captmath]

Looks nice

[PGDriver]

Congratulations Melissa & John that's sure going to be one smart looking rig. Have fun and post some pictures.
Cheers
Doug

[Tford]

Congratulations! I would LOVE to hear how the new 2.8L handles the towing, and
its manners in general!

[john o]

Thanks for all the welcoming comments.

Well, we are loving the truck so far. About 1000 miles on so far at 28 MPG. Still working the hitch mounting out. It isn't were I want to mount it, it's where the brackets will fit on the frame rails. Lots of measuring before cutting.

John

[rbryan4]

Congrats and welcome John. Your Canyon should handle the 5er very well.


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[Iowa Dave]

We visited Maryland three years ago in the fall and found the area we were in which was western Maryland to have great Fall color and be very nice
country. Your post got me thinking about going back and camping in some state parks. I was happy to learn that non residents could purchase your Senior pass for $10 good for half price camping Sunday thru Thursday as well as other benefits. Good luck with your new to you Escape, I'm sure you'll like it a
lot.
Dave

[emers382]

Congratulations. We love our 5.0 classic, and if you bought captmath's 5.0 in VA then I'll tell you that your trailer was the very first 5.0 we saw three years ago. Yes it certainly was well taken care of and kept under cover. Enjoy it and put yourselves on the owners' map.

Adrian

[Brian B-P]

It's good to hear that everything in coming together.

Originally Posted by john o

Still working the hitch mounting out. It isn't were I want to mount it, it's where the brackets will fit on the frame rails. Lots of measuring before cutting.

That's expected, because the brackets should be designed to work specifically with the design of the frame, such as holes which are there from the factory, and the brackets will be designed to place the hitch in a fixed place with respect to the axle (or the end of the frame, which amount to the same thing). This is normally just ahead of the axle and might be further forward than desired for clearance of the forward upper body of the trailer, especially with a shorter box (meaning shorter cab-to-axle distance).

John, what style and model of hitch are you setting up? Some offer more options for placing the hitch than others.

[john o]

Brian,
I selected the Pro-Series 15k hitch with a general installation kit. I have found no specific mount kit for this truck. One firm told me it is too light for the purpose, but then they ignored the information that I provided on the trailer. I'm also going to use a RV5 10" pin box extender.
John

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

It's good to hear that everything in coming together.

That's expected, because the brackets should be designed to work specifically with the design of the frame, such as holes which are there from the factory, and the brackets will be designed to place the hitch in a fixed place with respect to the axle (or the end of the frame, which amount to the same thing). This is normally just ahead of the axle and might be further forward than desired for clearance of the forward upper body of the trailer, especially with a shorter box (meaning shorter cab-to-axle distance).

John, what style and model of hitch are you setting up? Some offer more options for placing the hitch than others.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by john o

I selected the Pro-Series 15k hitch with a general installation kit. I have found no specific mount kit for this truck..

It looks like the either the truck is too new for custom-fit mounting brackets, or the mid-size format makes fifth-wheel towing uncommon enough that it is not worth making them.

I think the Pro Series 15K is available only in a rail-mount style, and universal bracket kits are normally for this style of mounting, so I assume that's what you're doing.

Originally Posted by john o

I'm also going to use a RV5 10" pin box extender.

I don't know how much you would need to shift the hitch rearward, but an equal effect on available turning angle could be achieved with less than 10 inches of hitch shift.

The B&W Patriot 16K has a structure which can be configured to shift the hitch, but it will only adjust to a couple of inches behind the centre of the rails.

It's a more radical change, but a rail-mount Andersen Ultimate 5th Wheel Connection with the mounting frame placed with the offset to the rear would move the hitch point (a ball) further back than the Patriot; the coupler in this system which adapts the trailer from fifth-wheel to ball also includes an extension (the ball is forward of the pin, by 5 inches as I recall).

[emers382]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

It looks like the either the truck is too new for custom-fit mounting brackets, or the mid-size format makes fifth-wheel towing uncommon enough that it is not worth making them.

The B&W Patriot 16K has a structure which can be configured to shift the hitch, but it will only adjust to a couple of inches behind the centre of the rails.

Brian I just reset my B&W to very bottom position due to my new higher bed truck. There are four positions up and down and two forward and back I have mine forward so its about an inch ahead of centre of rails, back position would be about an inch behind the centre of rails. I don't need to worry about cab clearance as I have the 6.5 ft. box.

Adrian

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by emers382

Brian I just reset my B&W to very bottom position due to my new higher bed truck. There are four positions up and down and two forward and back I have mine forward so its about an inch ahead of centre of rails, back position would be about an inch behind the centre of rails. I don't need to worry about cab clearance as I have the 6.5 ft. box.

There are actually four positions fore and aft, for both the rail-mounted or pad-mounted Patriot and the Companion (which anchors to a Turnover Ball in the bed): the vertical pivot arms are asymmetric and can be turned to face forward or rearward. The are two sets of mounting holes for them at two-inch spacing, providing a total fore-aft range of four inches. With the rail-mounted Patriot, that's centered between the rails, two inches ahead of centre, or two inches behind. That would be only two inches further back than most fifth-wheels, so probably not enough for John.

It would be tempting to drill another four holes per base leg and get another two inches of offset, but I doubt that B&W would endorse that.

[emers382]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

There are actually four positions fore and aft, for both the rail-mounted or pad-mounted Patriot and the Companion (which anchors to a Turnover Ball in the bed): the vertical pivot arms are asymmetric and can be turned to face forward or rearward. The are two sets of mounting holes for them at two-inch spacing, providing a total fore-aft range of four inches. With the rail-mounted Patriot, that's centered between the rails, two inches ahead of centre, or two inches behind. That would be only two inches further back than most fifth-wheels, so probably not enough for John.

It would be tempting to drill another four holes per base leg and get another two inches of offset, but I doubt that B&W would endorse that.

You are right, of course, Brian, I was forgetting about turning the pivot arms. Glad you are the mechanical one around here

[john o]

Hi Dave! Yes, that's the one we bought. Now hitched up and pulling fine. How do we add to the map?

John

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by john o

Hi Dave! Yes, that's the one we bought. Now hitched up and pulling fine. How do we add to the map?

John

Hi: john o... Very interested in seeing some pic's of your rig... all hitched and ready to tow. Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by john o

Now hitched up and pulling fine. How do we add to the map?

John

Post on this link, and it magically gets done.

http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f3...tml#post152563