Can Sidewinder Pin Box Be Used with B&W Gooseneck Hitch

Question:

Can I use the Reese Sidewinder king pin with a fifth wheel hitch with a gooseneck attachment? i have a BW turnover under bed gooseneck hitch. I do not have any pucks. If I can, what is the best, light weight fifth wheel hitch you recommend? Thank you!

asked by: Glenn M

Expert Reply:

You can only do this if you plan on locking out the Sidewinder king pin and using it like a standard pin box. Since the B&W gooseneck system only has that single-point attachment (as opposed to a 4-point puck system) the Sidewinder would cause too much torque on the single point and it would cause damage, potentially to both the truck and trailer.

The best option for your situation (and what I recommend going with) is the B&W Companion 5th Wheel Trailer Hitch w/ Slider # BWRVK3400-5W because it fits directly to that gooseneck connection without any additional parts. This is going to weigh in at around 275 lbs

If you want to separate parts out a little you can use the Demco 5th Wheel Base Rails Adapter # DM6140 along with a smaller sliding hitch like the 16K Reese # RP30051 but even though this setup weighs in about 50 lbs lighter than the B&W, you're looking at more pieces to mess with, this has a 4K lower weight rating for this hitch, and this hitch isn't as nice as the B&W, so the tradeoff really comes down to overall weight vs how nice the setup is.

expert reply by: Jon G