5th wheel hitch

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watkinsk
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Cardinal Owners: 2010 Cardinal 3150RL
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Re: 5th wheel hitch

Post by watkinsk »

Is cutting the pin box a necessary action for ALL Cardinals??
I will pick up my used (new to me) 2010 Cardinal 3150RL on Tuesday. I will be towing it with a 2004 Dodge Cummins 4 Wheel/Short Bed and a Reese 16K sliding hitch. Unfortunately I probably will have to do some 90 degree turns!

Thanks Keith
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Diesel Dave 04
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Re: 5th wheel hitch

Post by Diesel Dave 04 »

I have never had a issue with my f-350 and my bird, I have not given it a thought with the new ram I will take a look at it, i have a diffarent truck and a differant hitch. Thanks for the heads up I better take a look.
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Re: 5th wheel hitch

Post by Travelers »

The answer lies in the dimension from the rear of the frame on the rig to the king pin in the pin box. If that dimension is less the the dimension from the center of your hitch to the side rails of your truck then you should be good.

Your pin box type and style and the dimsinsions from the rear bolt holes to the king pin will help answer the question.
Rob & Cathy

Re: 5th wheel hitch

Post by Rob & Cathy »

watkinsk wrote:Is cutting the pin box a necessary action for ALL Cardinals??
I have plenty of room on mine. There seems to be only a few members that have had issues I don't know what they have in common.

Rob
bfast54

Re: 5th wheel hitch

Post by bfast54 »

Lots of room in mine , bed clears by more than enough.
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WVcampers
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Re: 5th wheel hitch

Post by WVcampers »

The only problem that I have is hitting the top of tailgate when the slider is back. It does not hit the bed sides or the tailgate in the towing position. I have also found that there is enough room to leave the tailgate down when the slider is back and the tailgate will not hit the camper, so when I slide the hitch back I just leave the tailgate open. I have a reese 16K and it is set as high as it will go.
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watkinsk
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ARGH 5th wheel hitch problem

Post by watkinsk »

Well I picked up the new (to me) 2010 Cardinal 3150RL and sure enough, the Roto Flex king pin's electrical box extends about 1 inch beyond my tail gate when my Reese 16K Slider is in Maneuver position (my Dodge 3500 is a short-regular bed). Worse yet, when the trailer pivots more than about 50-60 degrees, the King Pin would smack the side of my truck bed hard. There is both a length and height problem on the king pin even though the bottom of the 5th wheel overhang clears the top of the sides of my truck bed by at least 5 inches.

So, I have a sharp RV Tech looking at the problem. I suspect the answer will be to move to the RotoFlex Standard sized hitch instead of the "long" Roto Flex king pin that comes as standard with the Cardinal 3150. Ironically, on my old 2005 32ft Cedar Creek with a standard Lippert Hitch, I had no problems with the length of the King Pin. I may have to go back to the basic Lippert King Pin.

Here I am, with a beautiful 3150RL 5th wheel and no what to pull it!!!

Keith
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Olbird
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Re: 5th wheel hitch

Post by Olbird »

If you can raise the hitch setting in the truck first that will help get a little more bed rail top clearance, 5" is not much. Try not to get the front of the 5th wheel too high from level but to get proper clearance you may have to run a little high in the front.
Cutting the back of the 5th wheel pin box support frame is the best way to gain side rail clearance for turning along with relocating wiring box within the pin box, Forest River now cuts the pin boxes on a angle for more clearance. Alway cut on a angle and not square.

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Re: 5th wheel hitch

Post by Chief409 »

It appears trailers with the TrailAire pin box have the clearance problem. The 'Bird has a Lippert 18K fixed pinbox and on the '05 and '09 FX4 Fords I've owned, I haven't had a problem.
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Re: 5th wheel hitch

Post by Mike Clay »

Had a standard pin box on my 06 cardinal and it would hit the rails on my dodge
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watkinsk
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Re: 5th wheel hitch

Post by watkinsk »

Well, I did some more homework on my problem with the Roto Flex king pin being too long to pivot in the truck bed of my 2010 3150RL. Towing this with an 04 Dodge 3500 and 16K Reese Sliding hitch. My neighbor has a classic Lippert king pin on his 40 ft toy hauler. I measured the length of the Lippert kin pin from the back of the pin box to the center of the pin itself. Then did the same on the Roto Flex.
The Lippert kING Pin measured 27 inches. My Roto Flex measured 36 inches. Plus the Lippert has about a 3-4 in drop from the back of the king pin box to the pin itself. The Roto Flex is a drop of not more than 1.5 inches. This would account for the lack of clearance in the pivot between pin box and the side of the truck bed.Additionally the center of my hitch receiver to the side of the truck bed is 29.5 inches.

Clearly, I am fighting a losing battle to use the Roto Flex. It is just too long by about 8 inches and I don't feel that cutting the pin box is going to yield the clearance I need. The screwy location of the power supply on the back of the Pin Box does not help the situation. This week I will trade out the Roto Flex for a more basic Lippert or MoreRyde. Too bad as one of the reasons I bought the Cardinal was the opportunity to try out the Roto Flex that is supposed to reduce the chucking while towing. I am having a very hard time understanding why FR would design a pin box that is so long and with so little drop given the slightly higher truck bed sides in the newer trucks.

I appreciate all the posts above....without these posts I would have had a harder time understanding my options.

Keith
r/ Keith & Sher
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Re: 5th wheel hitch

Post by Chief409 »

Out of curiosity, does anyone have a 5th Airborne hitch. I looked at one a few years ago and it looked to be the same size and shape as a 18K, fixed Lippert hitch.
Jeff & Terry
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Re: 5th wheel hitch

Post by Olbird »

Keep in mind the longer pin box was designed to help eliminate having to use the sliding hitch, also the new drop down frames are shorter under the front bedroom making trailer closer to the rear of the truck.
If you are talking a couple inches cut the back of the pin box frame and try to raise the front a little at the hitch also to gain more clearance.
Changing the pin box, you better have the dealer contact FR, I do not think 5 inches rail clearance is that great if the truck gets out of level from the camper it will hit the bottom of the camper and top bed of the truck.
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watkinsk
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Alternatives to Roto Flex Pin Box

Post by watkinsk »

Trying to discover the possible alternatives to using the RotoFlex pin box for my Cardinal 3150RL. I called Camping World and got the proverbial "gee, I have never heard of this problem before" to "I will try to call FR and see what they say." To heck with that so I called FR myself and they said they hadn't heard of any problems with the Roto Flex being too long but maybe I should call Lippert. Interestingly, FR had no idea what would be an alternative Pin Box for the RotoFlex on a Cardinal 3150. FR was helpful in that they gave me who to call at Lippert.

Lippert (who also makes the RotoFlex) was really helpful. What I learned is that there are only 4 pin boxes that fit the Cardinal 3150:
1. The RotoFlex (1621L) ...comes as standard equipment on the Cardinal 3150.
2. LIPPERt 0179, Model 119117.$523.25 plus shipping
3. Trail Air Air Ride M15. $999.95 plus shipping
4. More Ryde RPB72-0719 (Medium) about $750 plus shipping.

Also learned that the bolts should be torqued to 110 ft/lbs for all of these models.

The Lippert 0179 is the classic Lippert that most of us have seen on the 5th Wheels. Looks like I will probably get the Lippert 0179 or the More Ryde (if they will give me a guarantee on the installation).

Anyone know someone who wants a barely used Roto Flex :)
r/ Keith & Sher
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2022 Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD LTZ, 4x4, SRW, Std Bed
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Re: 5th wheel hitch

Post by Rodney »

Hi! everyone. Thanks for all the great info. I had the wings cut off my pin box and had the pin arm (rota flex) dropped down to the next bolt hole which gave me approximately two inches lift on the bird. However, dropping the pin arm gave the bird such a shake rattle and roll in the rear and rough riding in the truck, that my sofa bed drawer opened and clock fell of the wall, I'm thinking of putting the pin arm (rota flex) back to its original position and take my chances on the truck sides while making a 90. With the box drop, the bird is still slightly nose down but I think my air bags would lift it up a little. Does anyone have any suggestions
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