Fifth Wheel or Gooseneck Hitch Recommendation for 2014 Ram 2500 with Short Bed Hitch Prep

Question:

Adam R. answered my question about which was the better route with choice of 5th wheel slider hitch or nonslider. Great response and great on the timeliness of the response. I have one more question. Which is better to use 5th wheel hitch or gooseneck? I have the abilitiy to use either with the Prep group for my 2014 Ram 2500.

asked by: Sean

Expert Reply:

Since the bed length of the 2014 Ram 2500 is 6-1/2 foot you are going to want to go the fifth wheel route since short bed trucks don't have as much clearance to make tight turns.

With fifth wheel hitch setups you can use a slider hitch to allow the truck and trailer to make tight turns. The hitch slides back several inches to provide the turning clearance.

With gooseneck hitches there is no option for giving additional clearance for tight turns so they are typically better for long bed applications.

The setup that I think you would like the most would be a Demco Hijacker that has an autoslide that will slide the head of the hitch back automatically around tight corners to give you additional clearance. This is very convenient when compared to a manual slider that requires you to get out and activate the slider every time you enter or leave a parking lot.

For the hitch you would want the part # DM8550034 and then for a rail kit the part # DM6099.

expert reply by: Jameson C