Ram Box and Fifth Wheel

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Hydrasport

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I have a 2013 1500 with ram boxes. Has any one installed a fifth wheel assembly in the bed of a truck that has the rambox option? I really hate to loose the bed space with a fifth wheel hitch, but they tow so much better than the bumper pull campers. If you have seen a short bed 1500 with ramboxes and a fifth wheel , what style hitch was used? I would like a fifth wheel assembly that could be easily removed. Any ideas?
 

Mega-Hemi

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If you go with a fifth wheel in the RamBox you may have to go with a sidewinder pin box. Other than that I don't think you'll have the clearance in turns. There's a thread here somewhere where someone put the factory puck system in their RamBox.

That or it may have been on the Cummins forum, can't remember now.
 

mtofell

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1500 trucks have a VERY limited # of 5th wheel choices due to payload of the truck and pin weight of the 5th. 5th hitches are super heavy which further reduces the truck's ability (my hitch weighs 250# + which comes straight off of the available payload). Be sure you are calculating ALL the numbers before buying an expensive hitch.
 

NewBlackDak

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1500 trucks have a VERY limited # of 5th wheel choices due to payload of the truck and pin weight of the 5th. 5th hitches are super heavy which further reduces the truck's ability (my hitch weighs 250# + which comes straight off of the available payload). Be sure you are calculating ALL the numbers before buying an expensive hitch.



This! 5er in a half ton is almost always a bad idea. With the RAM 1500 payload being even lower than other half tons it's an exceptionally bad idea.


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rontimmer

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I have a 2500 with a Ram Box and I decided to go with a Sidewinder, it works great. But, be careful with your numbers, I am at almost max with my 2500 due to the pin weight. You are going to have to find a really light 5th wheel to pull it with a 1500. If you can find one though they do pull a lot better, I will never go back to a TT after having my fifth wheel.
 
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Hydrasport

Hydrasport

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Well, it looks like I may need to rethink this. A bumper pull may be the easiest solution for me. We have fifth wheel trailers and bumper pulls at work and I can't see the need to continue buying the bumper pull trailers, but we are using F550's so all the trucks have about the same capacity. The bumper pulls are harder to hook up and back into tight spots. I just wanted to get away from a bumper pull.
 

MADDOG

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You can get 1/2T towable 5'vrs but you do have to calculate the weights carefully.

Jayco makes a nice, smaller, 1/2T towable fifth wheel.
 

NewBlackDak

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You can get 1/2T towable 5'vrs but you do have to calculate the weights carefully.

Jayco makes a nice, smaller, 1/2T towable fifth wheel.



Yeh, but even their smallest has a Dry hitch weight of 1285. Add propane, batteries, and some sheets for the bed. Now it's you alone in the truck and the trailer. Water, food, camp chairs, etc, etc, etc. Fully loaded hitch weight is closer to 1725
Crew cab 4x4 payload ranges from 1240-1550
4x2 is from 1380 to 1720.
Hitches range from ~150-300lbs



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hunter99

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I've looked at the Jayco, Keystone, and Open range fifth wheels rated for a half-ton truck. Unless you don't want to take anything with you in the trailer it's not possible with the Ram. I believe either Chevy or Ford has one model that has a higher payload and can barely handle it.

When they say half-ton towable they are full of it. Dry weight, sure tow it anywhere. Like NewBlackDak said, add the normal camping gear and forget it. I played with the numbers and it always goes over.
 

talk2cpu

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I have a 1500 CC 6.5' RamBox pickup and the door tag says 1065# Cargo. I barely make it with a 25' bumper pull trailer with a small generator, small compressor and 2 gals of fuel in the bed. Of course I have the RamBoxes with tools and such. Going over scales with the equalizer hitch, full tanks on the trailer and 2 batteries, I am at 3800 lbs on the 3900 lb rear axle. All other weights are nearly as close as the axle weight. Trailer weighs in at 5800lbs. That is 2000lbs less than max tow weight! Just adding that weight in a trailer would put me over just on axle weight.
Must be real careful when figuring weights to stay legal any one over and you could have liability issues or even a citation.
Tom
 

sandawilliams

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I have a 2013 1500 with ram boxes. Has any one installed a fifth wheel assembly in the bed of a truck that has the rambox option? I really hate to loose the bed space with a fifth wheel hitch, but they tow so much better than the bumper pull campers. If you have seen a short bed 1500 with ramboxes and a fifth wheel , what style hitch was used? I would like a fifth wheel assembly that could be easily removed. Any ideas?

If you have a good tandem axle trailer they handle great. I have towed fifth wheels and bumper pulls and there is no difference in the way they tow. With the fifth wheel and travel trailer being of the same length the fifth wheel will maneuver better in tight places but to me that is the only benefit. I keep my truck box for hauling an ATV and other camping equipment.
 
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