King Pin Mount
I had trouble hooking up the Wildcat to the fifth
wheel in my truck. I had to manually pivot the fifth wheel in the truck so
it was level horizontally, then raise or lower the Wildcat so the king pin would
slide into the fifth wheel without moving the fifth wheel out of its level
position. If I let the fifth wheel pivot with the back side low as it
normally does, I could not hook up to the king pin. The king pin would hit
the fifth wheel above the jaws and the fifth wheel would not pivot to a
horizontal position and allow the king pin to slide correctly into the fifth
wheel.
My dad and I analyzed the problem and discovered
that the king pin is too close to the front of the metal frame in which it is
mounted. The king pin hits the fifth wheel before the metal framework
connects with the fifth wheel. Therefore there is no force to level the
fifth wheel horizontally so the king pin can slide in correctly. The
solution was to extend the metal framework in which the king pin is mounted, so
the metal framework hits the fifth wheel before the king pin. This pivots
the fifth wheel into a horizontal position and the king pin slides in correctly.
My setup now works as it should. Height of
the king pin is not critical to hooking up. The king pin can be a few
inches off center either vertically or horizontally and still slide into the
fifth wheel. This may not be a problem with other brands of fifth wheels, but it
was definitely a problem with my Reese 15k Trailboss.
| This photo shows the sheet metal
my dad welded to the front of the metal framework. He rounded the
edge of the metal slightly upwards. I painted the metal black and it
looks like original equipment.
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| View from below, looking up.
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| I inserted a piece of stiff wire in one of the holes of the
metal framework. I use this wire as a hook to keep the RV plug out
of the way when I hook/unhook.
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