Truck Conversion & Toterhome Community - View Single Post

hot rod · 07-04-2012, 12:17 AM

OK, so I'm finally getting my Topkick 6500 ready to tow. Bought a trailer saver air ride 5th wheel hitch for it, as the truck is leaf sprung and rides like a brick and I figure the cost of the hitch will be worth it in the long run vs. wear and tear on the trailer.

So I'm ready to jump in and fab up a mount for it as soon as it gets here next week. By my quick measurements it is going to have to sit down between the frame rails by several inches, as opposed to on top of the rails as I have seen on similar trucks, due to the low trailer I have. It is a 2000 trailer, which I picked up for a bargain price in like new shape, but which means it was built basically the last year before all the duallys started getting a taller stance when Chevy changed in 2001 and Dodge changed in 2002 etc., and now they build the overhang area a little higher to accommodate taller trucks. So short story long, I need to mount my hitch a little lower.

Has anyone seen one mounted that way? Or even better, have pictures? I know I can fab it up, just hoping for a few other good ideas before I start welding stuff together, I know y'all will toss me a few ideas I did not think of. The mounts I have seen, and all the trailer saver instructions show, is basically a big flat 5/8" thick steel plate that gets attached to the top of the frame rails, and drilled to bolt down the hitch. I need to be lower, so I'm thinking of something with side plates that bolt inside the C of the framerails, drilled and bolted through the rails, then a couple of crossmembers maybe out of heavy 2x4 channel welded across the gap, and the steel plate on top of the channels. Sort of like the framework you see for an underbed gooseneck hitch for a pickup, but much heavier.

Thoughts?

07-04-2012, 12:17 AM	#1
hot rod Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 527	trailer saver air 5th wheel install OK, so I'm finally getting my Topkick 6500 ready to tow. Bought a trailer saver air ride 5th wheel hitch for it, as the truck is leaf sprung and rides like a brick and I figure the cost of the hitch will be worth it in the long run vs. wear and tear on the trailer. So I'm ready to jump in and fab up a mount for it as soon as it gets here next week. By my quick measurements it is going to have to sit down between the frame rails by several inches, as opposed to on top of the rails as I have seen on similar trucks, due to the low trailer I have. It is a 2000 trailer, which I picked up for a bargain price in like new shape, but which means it was built basically the last year before all the duallys started getting a taller stance when Chevy changed in 2001 and Dodge changed in 2002 etc., and now they build the overhang area a little higher to accommodate taller trucks. So short story long, I need to mount my hitch a little lower. Has anyone seen one mounted that way? Or even better, have pictures? I know I can fab it up, just hoping for a few other good ideas before I start welding stuff together, I know y'all will toss me a few ideas I did not think of. The mounts I have seen, and all the trailer saver instructions show, is basically a big flat 5/8" thick steel plate that gets attached to the top of the frame rails, and drilled to bolt down the hitch. I need to be lower, so I'm thinking of something with side plates that bolt inside the C of the framerails, drilled and bolted through the rails, then a couple of crossmembers maybe out of heavy 2x4 channel welded across the gap, and the steel plate on top of the channels. Sort of like the framework you see for an underbed gooseneck hitch for a pickup, but much heavier. Thoughts?