Options for 5th Wheel Towing with a 2003 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 6-1/2 Flareside Bed

Question:

It appears that none of your available towing fifth wheel options workon my flareside pickup. Can you recommend any other options?

asked by: Clyde W

Expert Reply:

A truck with a flareside bed won't generally work for fifth wheel towing because of the narrowness of the truck bed. The sides of your pin box would collide with the top of the bed sides during turns beginning when the trailer is about 40-45 degrees to the truck, which is not very far.

Reese has heard reports that using a Sidewinder replacement pin box that locks the pin box together with the fifth wheel hitch and moves the point of rotation 22 inches rearward will allow folks with flareside truck beds to successfully tow a fifth wheel trailer, but they cannot officially confirm it because they haven't tested it.

Your best chance for being able to tow a fifth wheel would be to install a stationary fifth wheel hitch like the 16K # RP30047 in your truck using the Reese # RP30035 fifth wheel hitch install kit.

The Sidewinder you need will depend on the manufacturer and model number of the pin box on your fifth wheel. This information should be provided on a sticker somewhere on your pin box. I'll link you to an article with more information about how the Sidewinder works and which models replace which OEM pin boxes. You'll also need the Wedge # SWW-03 so that the Sidewinder has a better fit to the 5th wheel hitch.

To install a 7-way in the truck bed I recommend the # 50-97-410.

I have linked the above mentioned parts as well as a Help Article and installation video for you to check out.