The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts 5th Wheel Postioning?

I had some rare down time this past weekend and fired up my truck for the first time since last fall and postioned my 5th wheel on the cab and chassis. I'm not sure on the exact postion, it will be for looks only and not used to haul a trailer. I'll be adding a set of step up ramps on the rear of the frame towards the 5th wheel and a pogo stcik for the air lines also 1/4 fenders and rear mudflaps. Anybody have any experience with this type of installation. Here are a few pictures.
Thanks
Steve
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q217/treemendous/P5230029.jpg
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q217/treemendous/P5230027.jpg
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q217/treemendous/P5230032.jpg

Normally a non-slider 5th. wheel on a single drive tractor is set up with the trailer kingpin just slightly ahead of the centerline of the rear axle, so some of the trailer weight goes onto the steer axle. Ths sliding 5th. wheels we used on the twin screw rigs I used to drive were positioned so we could add or remove weight from the steer axle to get legal on a heavy load. The steer axle on a 5-axle rig can carry a legal maximum of 12K lbs. with an 80K gross weight.
Jerry

The 5th wheel would look a lot more correct about 8 to 10" in front of the axle centerline. A slider is not very period correct for a single axle tractor. An angle mount stationery would look a lot more like it belongs there. They are around. In fact I scrapped several dozen stationery 5th wheels about 6 weeks ago when short iron was bringing $240 a ton. If you aren't going to haul anything, you might just cut the slider off and weld 4" angle irons to it and bolt them to the frame. Here is a picture of a stationery mount.

http://www.fifthwheel.com/onlinecatalog/a36.html

topkick(steve)
Listen to Jerry.
Where you have that 5th now is about perfect give or take a 1 1/2 inch more foward.
I say this bcause YOU KNOW and I KNOW that sombodys gonna ask You ta move sumthin in the future,Just Cause Ya got a Truck with a 5 th wheel.
MAKE IT RIGHT.
I Drive for a living and Have owned my own.
All of the last fleet I drove for were 44,000 # Mack camelback rear susp.
All hauled sand and gravel 98% of the time.
Whole units were approx 38,000 lbs, M.T. and all ran 120,000 lbs overweight permits in N.Y.S.
Looking at the susp. at 90 degees ALL were set up with the centerline of the 5 th wheel DEAD inline with the Foward Spring U Bolt. of a Mack Camelback susp.
My everyday Tractor now is a single axle Like Yours And is Almost Exactly where you,ve got it.
ALWAYS Foward,distribute the weight to the front end.
Regards,
steve sr.

Hi, can I ask you what your wheel base is?
Damned I think this is a nice setup.

I can even think about a conversion lite this of my own truck in the future.

BUT then I need to have air brakes for the trailer I guess

Br /Ulf

You basically want to set up the fifth wheel ahead of the rear axle. To properly calculate you would determine the maximum trailer weight and then calculate what your front and rear axle weights would be accordingly. Seeing as you have a slider I would set it so that the kingpin could, at the furthest back, be directly over the rear axle, this way you will have the maximum range of the slider, and there is no case where you would want the kingpin behind the rear axle.

You also have to consider the fifth wheel height. The plate should be between 47-48" above ground so that the trailer will sit level. You may need to add a sub-sill below the fifth wheel plate to bring it to the right height if you are too low. In an old International manual I have it says to run the sub-sill to 1" behind the cab, and not to use a wooden sub-sill less than 4" thick. If you need a shorter one it says to use angle iron.

Tad

Steve
I have the same truck and drive train as you do, only a "67" model. Mine looks to be a longer wheel base though.
GMC 9500 series,637 gasser with 5 speed and duel spotlights like yours.
It was an in-service Fire truck when I bought it about a year ago.
Hope to get it to the Stovebolt Reunion in KC this year. Have some throttle linkage and vibration issues to correct before I would try making it to Kansas City. Sure would hate to pay the tow bill to get it back home.
Guess I need to take time and send Peggy some pics to post in the Gallery.
Check out the photobucket link for a few pics.

Don

I'm not knowledgeable on the correct placement. But my truck was used to haul John Deere farm equipment, and the 5th wheel is mounted so the kingpin is 8" forward of the axle centerline as mentioned earlier. That's good enough for anything I'll be hauling. BTW NEAT TRUCK!!