Sloppy 5th Wheel

amen! I just had mine adjusted last Fri. I started a new job and my truck is kinda old (99 pete, 1.4 million miles) and I checked it out real well, except for the fifth wheel. I noticed it the first time I was loaded, when I would stop, then take off, you could feel it slide, then BAM it would catch. Took it to the shop as soon as I could get there....I do not need to see my trailer laying in the road behind me.

 

I got a surprise with my 5th when I bought my Western Star. The dealership had adjusted the jaws to their last degree and then cut the adjustment bolt off so it looked like a relatively new one. Locked onto the btrailer pin and would not release. I had to have it cut off and put a whole new setup in it. That was in the first week and should have told me right off to take the truck back.

 

Another tip. Believe it or not the owners manual on the 5th wheel will tell you how many miles an "adjustment" or regular maitnence is needed. Usually it's 50,000 miles. The 5th wheel is the most ignored piece of equipment on the truch!

 

I think I would have hired an attorney and sued their ##$es off myself.

Putting the safety of the public first is a priority of any professional.

 

This was in Canada, not anywhere's near as easy to sue someone as down here.

But this is why, when someone asks my opinion, I tell a "first time buyer" that I would always demand a new 5th wheel and complete new brakes on any used truck purchase. Too easy to patch and hide worn stuff so it gets off their hands.