Removing 5th wheel hitch

[DWDurr57]

I have a factory install 30K 5th wheel hitch on my 2022 Ram 3500. Has anyone every removed it from the bed of the truck by simply leaving it attached to the trailer and lifting it up by the trailer jacks? The hitch assembly weighs about 225 lbs and picking it up into the bed of the truck can be tricky and I was wondering if on the occasions when I need my full truck bed empty if I left it on the trailer and let it hang. I have a 36 ft 5th wheel trailer weighing in at 15.5K and it has a hydraulic jack system with auto leveling 6 point jack locations.
Just curious if anyone has ever attempted to do this!

 

[Tulecreeper]

I have a factory install 30K 5th wheel hitch on my 2022 Ram 3500. Has anyone every removed it from the bed of the truck by simply leaving it attached to the trailer and lifting it up by the trailer jacks? The hitch assembly weighs about 225 lbs and picking it up into the bed of the truck can be tricky and I was wondering if on the occasions when I need my full truck bed empty if I left it on the trailer and let it hang. I have a 36 ft 5th wheel trailer weighing in at 15.5K and it has a hydraulic jack system with auto leveling 6 point jack locations.
Just curious if anyone has ever attempted to do this!

I have towed all my life - TT's, goosenecks, and 5ers - and I don't think I've ever seen anyone do that before.

 

[DWDurr57]

I completely agree with you, I’ve only been towing for 50 years and haven’t seen it either. I’m just thinking that if the kingpin box is rated for towing 15.5 K why can’t it pick up a 225lbs hitch. Once it’s in the bed of the truck I can unhook it and relocate it to lock it in the truck but I don’t need to dead lift 225lbs 3 feet in the air….Just a thought. Obviously I’m inquiring with the trailer manufacturer as well.

 

[Dean2]

Interesting idea. Never tried it myself, never even though of it. When I was young, 225 was a one hand lift. Now that I am getting old, always looking for easier ways to do things. Give it a try, let us know how it works.

 

[ljheptig]

I'm wondering if you are talking about your 5th wheel hitch being installed into the 4 factory puck holes? Just wonder how hard those would be to get lined back up, to remount it when you are ready to tow again?

 

[Tulecreeper]

I'm wondering if you are talking about your 5th wheel hitch being installed into the 4 factory puck holes? Just wonder how hard those would be to get lined back up, to remount it when you are ready to tow again?

I'm guessing a lot easier than trying to lift 225 pounds...

 

[Tulecreeper]

Interesting idea. Never tried it myself, never even though of it. When I was young, 225 was a one hand lift. Now that I am getting old, always looking for easier ways to do things. Give it a try, let us know how it works.

OK, I toss the BS flag on that one. When I was younger I could bench my weight a couple of times in a row. Not gonna say 225# was ever a 1-hand lift, though.

 

[Tulecreeper]

I completely agree with you, I’ve only been towing for 50 years and haven’t seen it either. I’m just thinking that if the kingpin box is rated for towing 15.5 K why can’t it pick up a 225lbs hitch. Once it’s in the bed of the truck I can unhook it and relocate it to lock it in the truck but I don’t need to dead lift 225lbs 3 feet in the air….Just a thought. Obviously I’m inquiring with the trailer manufacturer as well.

They are, of course, going to tell you no for "safety" reasons. Keep us posted.

 

[DWDurr57]

I would not attempt to line up all 4 puck mounts while is hanging from the trailer. I’d simply back the truck under the hitch, use the trailer jacks to set it on the tail gate, then lower the hitch via the trailer jacks then release it then slide the hitch into the puck system, latch everything down then connect the trailer to the hitch like any other time.

 

[18CrewDually]

Yes people do it, I've done it. To realign I just get it close and it falls right in. I have the puck system. On my old trucks with rails I got it in the bed and un-latched it then by hand aligned it for the tabs to drop in.

Word of caution/ advice: Put a lock on the latch so that it cannot be released accidentally when it is hanging. Especially if you have kids running around that don't know better.

 

[DWDurr57]

Excellent word of caution!

 

[Dean2]

OK, I toss the BS flag on that one. When I was younger I could bench my weight a couple of times in a row. Not gonna say 225# was ever a 1-hand lift, though.

You are welcome to toss whatever flag you like. I have absolutely no idea what I could bench but, I worked north of 60 for a long time. In that part of the country fuel came in 45 and 55 gallon drums. There was no mechanical assist for loading and unloading them. I cannot count the number of those barrels I loaded and unloaded from the deck of a Nodwell, jet boat, pier to plane, umatik and every other thing used to transport them. It is a two handed lift but those drums weigh from 450 to 550 pounds each. In addition to those, all the other freight was hand balmed too. We did that for hours a day because there was no other option. I was FAR from the biggest or strongest guy that I worked with. What some of the really big guyscould lift was truly amazing.

I am really glad I don't have to make a living doing that any more but working and living up there for many years was a tremendous experience that I wouldn't trade for anything.

 

[GTyankee]

That reminds me of working on the dairy farm in Connecticut, when i was a teenager.
In the winter, we fed the cows grass & corn silage.
corn in the morning & grass in the afternoon.
Grass loses its flavor about mid winter, it gets sour.
We would have to drive to the feed store & buy 50 gallon drums of Molasses. The drums had to be tapped & then lifted onto a rack that was higher than a 5 gallon pail.
Of course no one else was around, when the barrel was empty.
I could never lift them into place today

 

[WY-Dave]

If you have a garage, I have one these lil HF guys (440# dual cable) hanging from a reinforced rafter.

with one these hitch lifting bracket (amazon)

and put the hitch on one of these guys


setup worked great for also getting out the 200# generator and ?# compressor out of the bed

 

[stevenP]

One time at a campground, I could not get the curt hitch to lock on the pin. So I did just what you described... hung the receiver portion on the king pin, and then lowered the assembly into the hitch in the truck. It will work.

 

[2003F350]

I completely agree with you, I’ve only been towing for 50 years and haven’t seen it either. I’m just thinking that if the kingpin box is rated for towing 15.5 K why can’t it pick up a 225lbs hitch. Once it’s in the bed of the truck I can unhook it and relocate it to lock it in the truck but I don’t need to dead lift 225lbs 3 feet in the air….Just a thought. Obviously I’m inquiring with the trailer manufacturer as well.

I haven't read through the entire thread, but having been around fifth wheels all of my 40 years, I have seen people do this several times...then wonder why their hitch fails suddenly.

Fifth wheel hitches aren't designed to be picked up by the jaws, which is essentially what you're doing. They are designed and tested to handle a little bit of up and down movement, and a LOT of horizontal force.

My advice is to separate the hitch if it's too heavy to lift in one unit. The hitch 'head' should come off with just a couple of hitch pins, then the base can be lifted separately. I've been installing them this way for years now, and it makes it a one-man operation.

 

[0rion]

I did this for 12 years on my old trailer. I'd store it that way during the off season too. New trailer I haven't done it yet but that's mostly because of lack of need. Kids are older now so I have help getting hitch in/out of truck. I think you should make your own decision. Is it the correct way to do it? No. Will it work without issue? Did for me for 12 years.

 

[Smokeybear01]

I've seen guys lift the rear of their trucks up because they forgot to pull the pin. I don't 'think' a 225# hitch is going to be harmed or harm anything lifting it out of the bed with the trailer. But like someone else mentioned, lock it on so it can't accidentally fall on some poor kid trying to swing from it.

 

[MDM8770]

I actually contacted Lippert and they advised I could remove a PullRite 2315 (weighs more than 225). I wasn’t comfortable with how high I had to use the landing gear to accomplish this. I went to Harbor Freight, got a 2 ton engine hoist and use that. Works great.

 

[Marshall]

If you have a garage, I have one these lil HF guys (440# dual cable) hanging from a reinforced rafter.
View attachment 522900
with one these hitch lifting bracket (amazon)
View attachment 522902
and put the hitch on one of these guys
View attachment 522901

setup worked great for also getting out the 200# generator and ?# compressor out of the bed

That would work, I had a winch like that in the shop, as well as real chain hoist.
But for most of this type of thing ,That is why God made front end loaders, and the kids are never home when you need them seems like.