Tips from The Fifth Wheel Bible

Throughout my book, I provide tips on various topics, suggestions based on my own experiences. Here are a couple of tips from Chapter 7 - The Fifth Wheel Hitch:

How to determine the approximate trailer height for aligning king pin with hitch: After you unhitch your trailer but before you raise or lower the landing gear to make it level, note how far your breakaway cable hangs above the ground. In my case it is usually about the width of the palm of my hand. When you are preparing to hitch, adjust the trailer height to return the cable to that position and you should be very close to the correct hitching height.

Test your hitch: After hitching, raise the landing gear until they clear the ground by a couple of inches. Then with wheel chocks still in place, apply the trailer brakes with the brake controller and put the truck in gear. If there is anything amiss and the hitch doesn’t hold, you will find out without crushing the side rails of the truck bed. The trailer will simply drop onto the landing gear. Is there a sadder sight than a nice shiny truck with crushed side rails?

— Jerry Brown

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