Lightest 5th Wheel

I prefer the Fontaine brand because it's user friendly, and usually takes around $200 and 2 hours to rebuild. Plate on my No Slack II 6000 is light enough for me to pick up by myself, so I'd say it's light enough.



If I was trying to save weight on a 5th wheel I'd ditch the slider before looking into compromising the pivots or plate.

 

They make them out of aluminum now too. Our KW 680 has one. You have to use a plastic slip pad though. I think it's a Jost brand?

 

Your options are either Holland aluminum or just go with the regular fontaine.

 

I see Jordan has aluminum ones on their volvo's also.

 

My truck originally came with a Fontaine sliding 5th.

The adjusters wore out and it was not much more to just replace the 5th wheel with a new one.

How ever,. new Fontaine 5th wheels are now made in China. I thought they were American made,.. it really upset me to see "Made in China" on the plate stamped on.

It was nice and tight for the first few months. I've had to adjust it 2 times already because it keeps developing slack in the jaws. It drives me nuts. Not much adjustment left and if it keeps it up at this rate,.. I will be replacing it and its barely over 1 yr old.

Chinese junk.

Hurst

 

I never had luck keeping a Fontaine in adjustment either, last truck had a Jost, wasn't real impressed with it either. Current truck has a Holland on it, so far so good.

 

If I switch to a Holland do I need to replace the whole thing (Pivot) or are they pretty universal in how they mount?

The slider and pivot are also made by Fontaine on mine and I'd like to keep that part if I could.

Hurst

 

It's completely different.

 

I know nothing about Jost but if Oscar wasn't impressed that's good enough for me. However they used to make a fifth wheel to mount on Fontaine or Holland pivots. Could be an option. I have a Fontaine and I hate it, I would love to have a Holland.