paging the SFT design team

[RED caddy]

Big Red needs a bed, I need some design help.

What I'm trying to build first is a slider for use with a Reese 20K 4 way 5th wheel hitch, as well as my gooseneck adapter. The standard, in bed, mounting rails are 32 inches apart fore and aft pinned to the 20 K hitch and 43" wide. Frame rails, truck, are 34 inches wide.

I intend to mount the slider all the way back to the end of the frame rails, and extend forward to 30 inches forward of the axel centerline. This will yield an adjustment range, to center the pin, from about 15 inches forward of the axel centerline, to about 26 inches aft of the axel centerline. Overall length of slide will be about 70 inches.

As I said, that's what I want, what I end up with might be some different, I told you guys I need help. I had thought about mounting 2 identical 34 in sliders in line, as a 70 inch, one piece slider is apparently unobtanium.

Once the slider is fabbed and tested, I'll start the bed frame and mounts for the various items, generator, air compressor, poly water tank, tool boxes, stowage boxes and such, as all of us can dream up. I found 16.5 X 20" wide steel fenders, $100.00 a pair+ the ride. (We seem to be a bit shy of 55 gal. heavy wall, soft top drums, just now)

Thinking caps in place, pencil's up, begin.

Thanks, RED

[Norm W]

Don't forget a receiver hitch at the back end. If for no other reason than a place to mount a vice or a step.

[RED caddy]

Norm, The ICC bar and class 3 receiver are already done, by the upfitter. I'll design in a couple of steps on each side od the bed. (I'm getting too old to "hop right up there")

RED

[USMCPOP]

Originally Posted by Norm W

... a place to mount a vice or a step.

Bumper Dumper...

[Norm W]

I didn't catch that in any of the other pix.

[dubby]

What's the purpose of having such a massive range to the slider? Do you expect the loads to shift that much or really need all the adjustment? Or is it just gonna be that way because that's how you want it?

I'd think starting with a single slider but making it adjustable if'n you needed to instead of a rigid mount.

[RED caddy]

This rig will have more than one purpose. The primary is to drag the 26 foot 5'er down he hi way.

I've been using my 1 ton bobtail to drag stock trailers, tag trailers , setting hunt trailers and so forth. (some people around here buy park units and have me drag them to hunting leases etc. (I do the easy ones cheap, I have other buddies with BIG 4X4's for the tough ones.)

I move boats and campers around a storage yard/building that caters to snowbirds and safe stores their toys while they are back up north.

I even take the odd call to rescue a travel trailer on the interstate, when the FERD TV quits. (Yes, I know they all quit sometimes, but around here lately, it's mostly dead Ford F-250's, 6.0's.

Most of the local tow/recovery guys are not equipped to deal with medium to large 5th wheels or tag's. I have a "lend lease"/ profit share agreement with a couple. I don't have to meet all the rules and reg's that the real recovery guys do, but I get some protection from liability and they get fast, safe, professional service from an OCCASIONAL employee.

Usually, I drag them off the hi way to a local CG or even the Stealership lot

I tried to get AAA interested, but the hoops they wanted me to jump thru were just too tough for an old man, that just wanted to help folks having a really bad day.

I have made do with my bobtail 1 ton but having the long adjustment will make it MUCH easier and safer to drag a wide spectrum of vehicles whose hitch weight can be from 200 Lbs to 2800 Lbs.

RED

[dubby]

Makes sense. I knew you had a lot of different personal hauls but didn't realize you needed to move that sorta stuff too. If it were just your personal stuff you wouldn't have to move it so often. Doing that sort of work I can certainly see where the need to have the adjustment comes into play.

[Grizz]

If you don't need the huge load rating of a class 8 slider, I would think that a Reese style RV hitch slider would be much easier to work with. Holland sliders are pretty hard to get to slide on a good day. Jost makes a somewhat friendlier design http://www.jostinternational.com/wp-...el-Catalog.pdf starts on page 13 , they make a 72 inch plate it looks like.

I think you can get the binkley mini in dual pivot http://www.hhrvresource.com/sites/de...inkleyhead.jpg

I have also seen a slider system on Class 8 truck that has the lock plate in the middle , these look like they should slide easily, I can't find an example.

[RED caddy]

And that's why I bring the really strange problems to the brotherhood of SFT.

No, I really don't need a rig to pull 80,000 LBS. a 10 or 12 K rig is about the biggest I would ever fool with. I don't do hi way speeds with a rig I don't know well and the old (50's-70's) park model mobile homes are way too fragile to jerk around much, and are likely going to their final resting place any way.

Reese was the first place I interrogated, being as how I have used their products for years, and know them well. (And already have a virtually unused 20 K 4 way and bed mount plates. (as well as a couple of 16K's if anybody needs some) Reese said They only produce a max travel of 10 inches, and are NOT interested in engineering or building what I asked for.

The longest Reese style (round or square tube) slider I found was 11.5 inches,

It's beginning to look like I might have to build my own. Not that I want to reinvent the wheel, or explain to a DOT cop why my slider has no name plate or model number, and I'm hauling a trailer I don't own...

I jumped on the class 7 & 8 stuff because it 's what is available, Is there stuff out there designed to do what I'm trying to do? I'm off to price that JOST stuff.

My only personal experience with sliders on OTR trucks was way last century (70's-80's)

I knew if I asked the right question here, I'd get more information than I could use. Thanks for the info, keep it coming.

RED