MrD wrote: It confuses me when some of you say that you forgot to chock your tires and pulled the pin and could have or did damage your bed rails? There are a few things that I do before I pull the bar, Make sure the trailer is level, put out the chocks and lower the landing gears. Did you all forget both the chocks and the landing gear? If you forgot the chocks only, the landing gear would save the rails.
Mike
I wasn't concerned about bed damage when I had my incident, I was concerned about it rolling back, damaging the landing gear and/or the camp behind me. It's a piece of safety equipment, period. Can you safely tow without one? Yes, and I have never had a towing/hitching incident with mine. I included a bedsaver when I bought my first hitch/fiver, since I knew hitching was vastly different from the TC I had been using for ten years. I didn't buy it with the intention of using it. I much rather have one and never need it, than need it and not have one. Unlike #20 there, I didn't have 100% confidence the first few times I hitched/unhitched it, which is why I still always do a pull test in addition to the visual inspection before raising the landing gear, etc. I educated myself on how the hitches work, some the failures that had happened, and how do avoid mistakes, yet I still made one.
The person I don't want to be on the road with my family is the one who is so confident they know what they are doing that they do not do the proper safety checks before getting on the road. #20, how confident were you the very first time you backed your truck under your camper? Do you always get it perfectly aligned the first time without having to pull forward and reposition? The only way you get confident in something is by educating yourself about it (i.e. read these forums and ask questions) and practice and learn from the mistakes you make everyday of your life.
The Reese 15K is a good hitch and if hitching is done properly, will not "need" a bedsaver.
When I first got the fiver, I had someone with much more experience ask me if I was going to add a bedsaver. My answer was no, shouldn't be a problem, I have my inspection list to save me. Several years later when hitching in the driveway, I connected, checked the hitch, and pulled forword. Dropped the trailer on the truck, crushed one quarter panel and the tailgate. Over $3k in damage.
I still don't know why it happened, I swear it was fully hitched. I now have a bedsaver, and painted the latch on the hitch orange so I can see it easier. When I saw the more experienced camper sometime later and told him what had happened, he just smiled!
#20 Home Depot wrote: IMO, If you feel you need a bedsaver then you probably shouldn't be hitched to something this big and heavy and driving down the highway shared by me, my family, friends and everyone else.. My point is, if done properly every time you cannot drop your trailer. If you cannot to 100% sure you are doing it properly and understand it then just maybe you shouldn't undertake the responsibility of towing the beast in the first place.
Are you really saying that anyone that wants the "insurance" of a bed saver is not competent enough to pull a 5th wheel trailer, and is a "threat" to the safety of everyone else on the road?
I've been pulling a travel trailer for 30 years and have never had an accident. I still continued to have, and hook up safety chains every time I pulled the trailer "just in case" something failed. I never considered the thought I was at higher risk of hurting someone else because of my precautions. Maybe I should have assumed that because I always double checked my hook-up procedures that there was no need for the additional safety of chains.
Like the poster above, I'm in the process of getting my first 5th wheel. Hook-up procedures will be new to me for a while. I bought a bed saver for the amount of $166 shipped to my door. I strictly consider it "insurance", just as I do the premium I pay for my vehicle insurance.
I see very few trucks with hitches using a bed saver, and only every now and then see evidence of a dropped trailer. So, they are obviously not for everyone.
* This post was
edited 02/25/09 08:07am by dryfly *
Having been a OTR Truck driver and having hooked and unhooked thousands of times frome drop decks thur all types of dry vans 53 footers etc. Since owning 5th wheels I have been in many RV parks. "Yes you need a Bed Saver", from what I have seen on many different occasions and just this past week a Rv'er dropped his Montana on a F-350 accross the street from our site. Its not really a accident, its called failure to pay attention. It is really scary to watch the things that happen in the process of setting the 5th wheels up and taking them down. You know as well as I that its not always the new RVer. The hitch we now have is the B&W turnover ball with the 5th wheel Companion hitch, which I think is the safest hitch I have ever owned. If the safety pin is in you can't drop the 5th wheel. The key to not dropping a 5th wheel is pay attention to detail, and do the pull test. And always follow the "GOAL" system which is "GET OUR AND LOOK". If not you need a Bed Saver. Good Luck. GBY...
2006 FreightLiner M2
Trailer Saver Air Ride (TSLB2H)
Pressure Pro System
2008 Chevy Silverado 1500 C/C (Grocery hauler)
2009 Chevy HHR LT 2
2010 Mobile Suites 38 RSSB 3/4
The Mad Norsky wrote: I like the GOAL as mentioned. Good acronym and good idea.
Bedsaver needed with Reese hitch. The Reese is the root cause for all these reported dropped fifth wheels.
Yes, another brand can drop too, but good grief. GOAL. Laziness and being in too much of a hurry are the other root causes for dropping a fiver.
The Reese hitch is the root cause of all these reported dropped fifth wheel trailers ?? That ranks up there with "they had weapons of mass destruction" or ........................ other interesting theories.
A search shows just about all hitch brands/types involved in a 5er landing on the bed rails were not all Reese hitches. "Goal" didn't do the Superglide owners in the Oct/NOV ? of '08 Trailer Life mag article any good when his hitch unloaded his 5er in the middle of the road. Pullrite says the hitch wasn't lubed dailey. If a Bedsaver was available it would have cought the pin. Same with other brands. In just about every thread that involved a drop from any brand a Bedsaver would have stopped the damage.
There are several reasons a 5er can land on the bed rails. Operator error is only "ONE" of them.
Using a Bedsaver or hooking up the chains on a TT/GN trailer create much of the same bash the users or the product mentality as we see on this thread.
"good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment" Will Rogers
'03 2500 QC Dodge/Cummins HO 3.73 6 speed manual Jacobs Westach Linex
'97 Park Avanue 28' 5er with two slides 16" BFG Commercial LTs
If some want to use the bedsaver by all means do so! They are for sure cheap insurance. My main point was to bring out how important it is to know and understand the mechanical aspects of the hitches and how important it is to accept and educate yourself them and to take great care in doing things right. I just hope some don't think that because they have a bedsaver they don't have to be quiet as careful as they would if they didn't have one. I'm sure this dosn't apply to most who have them, as they are just adding a safety factor to something and that is a good thing.
The Mad Norsky wrote: Bedsaver needed with Reese hitch. The Reese is the root cause for all these reported dropped fifth wheels.
Seems like a good reason to avoid Reese. Is Reese the low price leader?
It has nothing to do with price or quality with Reese. Reese is comparatively priced, and a very good quality hitch.
It all has to do with the system that absolutely has to be used to hitch correctly with a Reese, which includes a pull test at the end of the procedure to make sure you have done all correctly.
Fifth wheel too high, too low, jaws look closed, no pull test, lift legs, pull away and drop fifth wheel onto your pickup.
A poster previously mentioned GOAL (Get Out And Look) which is, or at least, should be mandatory.
Problem with the Reese is you cannot tell by looking. You MUST do the pull test. Reese has jaws you actually punch through with your fifth wheel kingpin to hook up. That's why it looks closed, when it is not locked in place properly and bang, the fifth wheel drops.
I guess I am pretty vocal when it comes to this particular topic. But after six years on this forum, and literally dozens of threads on dropped fifth wheels, it seems the factor most common is Reese hitch and no pull test completed.
The bed saver equipment seemed to come in a few years back, and it frankly is a life saver for those who do have a fifth wheel drop.
But it is not a replacement for doing the job right in the first place.
I use an RBW hitch, with sliding bar, and have for the last 16 years. I use GOAL, make sure the sliding bar is all the way across behind the kingpin, (I physically reach in and touch parts) make sure the handle is down, and all the way in to the lock position and drive off. No pull test needed, because, unlike the Reese, you can tell when the RBW is hooked correctly.
I also use my ears, because you can hear that sliding bar slam home when it is shut correctly. But again, I GOAL and check as above.
Hijacker makes a similar hitch, and it is equally as easy to learn and to use.
To me, Reese is a big learning curve for a beginner, and too complicated in its hitching process. Its is also the subject of many threads here.
I believe Reese is the number one selling hitch in the U.S.A. witch may be why you here more about them. Regardless of hitch brand and what you think you can see if you don't do a pull test you have not done your pretrip right. Yes I have a bed saver and yes it saved my camper and truck. I was hooking on Ice on a slight downhill slope wheels chocked and when I backed into the kingpin it pushed camper over chocks, thank to bedsaver I'm in Myrtle Beach and enjoying the warmer weather.
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