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Member
Posts: 36
Location: Wellington, Texas | I am looking at buying a new to me dodge 3500 mega cab dually. Has anyone had any issues with the shortness of the bed and 8' wide trailers turning short and hitting the cab? |
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 Veteran
Posts: 141
Location: Helena, Ohio | I have a Dodge quad cab shortbed and I had to be sure that my new trailer had a narrow nose so I could pull it. The square nose hits on the cab on tight turns. |
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Veteran
Posts: 201
| Make sure the gooseneck hitch is OVER the axles and NOT in front of the axles. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 342
Location: Ohio | Actually, the correct placement of a gooseneck hitch is 4" in front of the rear axle. If it is placed any further back you could run into problems due to undue stress on the rear axle and weight not distributed correctly on the truck. Please, for your safety sake, place one correctly. If you purchase a turn-over ball of any brand, they are bolt in kits and will be in the correct place for you already.
If the trailer has a tapered nose, you should be fine. However if it is square nosed, you would need to be very careful. I have a riding friend that pulls a square nose featherlight w/ a 2500hd shortbed and he needs a spotter for tight turns. As far as pulling down the road, there is no issues. He can get about 80* turns from it. Personally, I've never had to do a full 90* turn. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 368
Location: Georgia | Get a hitch extender. |
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Location: A high mountain peak | What's the difference between putting the hitch over the axle or using an extender????(another $200-300 in expnse) I've had shortbed trucks with hitches over the axle for years and pulled everything without any problems. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 402
Location: Valentine, NE | FIL has one. He says he has an alarm on his that lets him know if he is turning to short-----it's when the back window falls out. This happens before you have any sheet metal bending...he has done it 3 times. Just puts it back in and on his way. Ends up with a new scratch, but absolutely no other damage.
I think on most trailers one would be fine..his is an 8' wide RV with a square nose... |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 342
Location: Ohio | The way I understand the extensions to work is that even though they are placed back 4, 9, 10, even 16 inches, the point where the weight contacts the truck is still in correct placement to allow sufficient steering and weight distribution over the front axle. I don't know that i would trust one and am somewhat skeptical of them, but there are many positive reviews, and most say they retain a confident feeling steering wheel. No front end float. I would not under any circumstance place a GN hitch over or behind the axle for trailer clearance. You could always convert your GN to a 5th wheel pin box and add a super slide hitch to allow the hitch to move when you want to turn sharp. Or you could not worry and keep looking for a crew cab ford or chevrolet with a long bed. The Mega Cab's are very cool, but the bed is just impractical and the by far, the biggest downfall of those trucks, IMO. Good luck! |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 714
Location: Minnesota | I have an F350 crewcab, shortbox. When we traded trailers a couple of years ago, we bought an 8' wide. Didn't think anything about it as it was late fall and we didn't get to use the trailer much before it got put away for the winter. When I got it out in the spring and brought it home, as I was turning in my circle drive, I happened to look. Thank god! I stopped with the trailer 1/8" from my rear window. Got out my quick square and determined that I could safely turn 43*. Looked at the hitch extenders, talked to a couple of trailer dealers I trusted, and my mechanic. Based on their unanimus advice, I came to the conclusion that I needed a long box truck. With the trailer I pull (3H with 12' LQ) the weight was going to be transfered from down on the ball, to even more pull, putting a lot of stress on the hitch and ball in particular. My personal recommendation is to get a long box truck. I did and am glad I did.
Edited by genebob 2011-01-06 2:03 PM
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Member
Posts: 36
Location: Wellington, Texas | I presently have an 06 Dodge quad cab with a flat bed which also has a headache rack. My trailer is 8' with a square front. I have to watch closely when turning sharp to keep it from hitting the rack. Not sure but the mega cab looks to have a shorter bed than the quad cab. Was just wondering if anyone with a mega cab had any experience with this |
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Veteran
Posts: 264
Location: Sumas Washington | Short box P/U's are NOT made for pulling GN trailers, Period. If you move the hitch back OR use a hitch extender the result is the same, the truck us operating in a unbalanced condition. You need to have a portion of the trailer pin weight transferd to the front wheels of the truck If you are towing a light GN trailer you can get by. IMHO |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 420
Location: Iowa | Originally written by gonzo1066 on 2011-01-07 10:39 PM Short box P/U's are NOT made for pulling GN trailers, Period. hmm.. nobody ever told me that. Ive had 3 different short box chevys and the same GN trailer. No Problems here. |
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Veteran
Posts: 201
| Why do the owners manuals in short bed trucks have a rated GN towing capacity if they are not intended to pull GN's. There are way to many opinions here from people with little common sense experience. Put the hitch over the axle and stay within your rated towing capacity and you'll be fine. |
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Regular
Posts: 90
| I suggest the Pop Up Industries extender coupler. I had a SB Dodge and it worked wonderfully...now that I have a LB Dodge, I still use it and keep my extra 9" distance from my trailer when hooking up (no more squeezing between tailgate and trailer), have an extra 9" of space behind the cab in my truck bed AND have the really cool latch system that comes with it. The coupler is engineered to maintain the correct weight on the ball...I doubt anyone's opinion who hasn't actually tried one or spoken to the manufacturer of this product. Many, many miles of hauling...love it. I now have their cushion coupler in the extended 9" version...great product. |
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Expert
Posts: 3802
 
Location: Rocky Mount N.C. | Mr. Truck says..... http://mrtruck.net/popup.htm |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 489
| Originally written by Duckman on 2011-01-08 8:05 AM
Why do the owners manuals in short bed trucks have a rated GN towing capacity if they are not intended to pull GN's. There are way to many opinions here from people with little common sense experience. Put the hitch over the axle and stay within your rated towing capacity and you'll be fine. Agreed, I have a 7x20 stock trailer and a 7x26 horse trailer and pull them both with a short bed Dodge 2500, sure I can't turn as sharp as I could with my F-250 but I haven't had any problems. |
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Member
Posts: 30
| I'm learning to drive my gooseneck with a dodge 2500 quad cab short bed. SOOOOOO I've never experienced short turns and I drive like I'm pulling a 50 footer apparently and I'm super careful and turn wide anyway. Maybe in another year or so I will be making tighter turns, but I'm super careful now!
Edited by Bluerose2001 2011-01-11 11:07 PM
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mega cab worries
