Hooking up (5th Wheel Questions)

No, but the people that wrote it were...

I'm not going to hide it, I don't care for the rules that California has come up with or the way they write their regulations.

 

Let me add one more tip here, that can save you a lot of future problems. As an example, if you are picking up a trailer with a company truck equipped with 22.5 tires, and the last driver to pull it was an owner operator with 24.5 tires, you can back right past the kingpin and run right over the front of the 5th wheel due to the difference in height. Get in the habit of backing in until the 5th wheel touches, then stop, jump out, and check for any height difference. Crank the gear up a turn or two if you have doubts. The get back in the truck and finish backing under the trailer.

If you do back in under a trailer that's too high, and it's able to clear the 5th wheel, don't get panicky. Back up until the pin is clear of the forward edge of the fifth wheel, then take a piece of wood or something and put it under the rear of the fifth wheel plate until it is level or tipped slightly down at the front end. Let the air out of your truck suspension, and pull ahead. The remove the wooden block and reset the height of the landing dollies to the correct level.

I also try to back in under the trailer, stop before the pin contacts, then gently lock the jaws around the pin. It's much easier on the gears in my rtransmission if I don't hit the pin while I am still under power. Doing that is a good way to twist the teeth on a tranny gear. As I pull out, in a very low gear, I pull the trailer brake and tug very hard 3-4 times to make sure that the trailer is locked in to my fifth wheel. I don't trust the trailer being connected until I have made at least one 90 degree turn with it. You can (and will) get partial hitches once in a while, and that means dropping a trailer, bad if it's empty, worse if it's loaded.

 

Coupla good points...
Passing right under the fifth wheel has happened to me. The biggest danger is that the trailer will contact the back of the tractor! So, like he says, get out and look.

Also, the fifth wheel is pretty well balanced, so it doesn't take any effort at all to tilt it. I just used my gloved hand. And then promptly got grease all over everything.