sliding fifth wheel first time ever...help plz

Yep. I haul cars, and a really big load can severely restrict my turning radius. We are limited in length, so I only slide for maneuvering clearance (and some loading situations,) and if I need to stretch/shorten before/after delivering and don't happen to catch a light, I'd much rather do it on the roll than hit the shoulder. It'll slide easy enough that it doesn't even bang, it's not likely that most people would even know I'd done it. You'll feel a slight change in the tractor's acceleration rate for a second or two.

This was not an uncommon thing back in the days of spring suspension and cabovers; stretching out greatly improved the ride, and it was easy to shorten up on the scale approach to get your weights right. You would then stretch back out as you accelerated away from the scale.

But it was posted as a bit of a troll...

 

You can buy graphite at home depot/Lowe's for about $3 I used it on my RV trailer slides and worked great

 

i have been drivin for 16 years and still find it a pain in the ### to slide the 5th wheel..

 

If we were going to publish the Rookie Driver's Handbook, then SmoothShifter's post would be the chapter for "How to Slide a 5th Wheel." I'd like to add a little to what has already been said.

The main problem is that the locking pins tend to stick in the holes.

First thing is to spray some WD40 (or penetrating oil, if you've got some) into the holes where the pins are engaged.

Then climb back in the cab and press the switch that sends air to the unlocking cylinder - it is usually located on the far right-hand side of the dash, near the power divider ("inter-axle diferential") switch and the air bag dump valve.

Once you have pressed the switch, you must, as SmoothShifter said, gently rock the truck back and forth to release the preload on the pins.

If they are still stuck after you have done that, place a thick screwdriver (or a chisel, if you have one) against the outer end of one of the pins, and give it a few good strikes with a deadblow hammer.

Once you've slid the 5th wheel to the position where you want it (or where the DOT wants it), clean any rust off of the pins and out of the holes with WD40 and a wire brush. Then place a bead of 5th wheel grease around the inside edges of the holes, so that the grease will be spread along the walls of the holes when the pins engage.

 

AMEN JOE !!!...i went to school..not a cdl mill..went out every day for weeks in a very small very tight parking lot with an eagle pro double sleeper and a 48...i backed that thing for miles in this little lot..my own school....sight side, blind side {yeah got to really love the automatic mirrows}..set up cones to represent tractor trailers to back beside of..didnt even have a loading dock so i made one with tape on the side of the building..haha...lot so small you couldnt turn truck around in it until you had stopped and jacknifed it at least twice...down the road was no problem as had hauled large/long gooseneck horse trailer for years...so...now, after 13 yrs and a very many miles of safe accident free {on my part anyway} hauling everything light/heavy/wide/long on every trailer or set of trailers imaginable i have moved the fifth wheel one time...this was after a trip down fancy gap, where at the bottom there is about a 1/2 mile free fall into space just across the guardrail,...i was empty, in a day cab with a 53, maybe going a bit fast {a small bit} for what i was driving and where i was,..it just so happened it was one of those high wind alert days..when i hit the sweeping curve at the bottom i was turning one way the truck was going the other.....when i finally got it going the way i wanted i was into the emergency lane, 2 ft from the guardrail that was the only thing between me and death...at the next exit i pulled in, and decided to slide the trailer forward for what good it would do as i had had no control at all...i think the main reason i did it was to get out from under the wheel, give my heart time enough to restart, and my spinkter time to loosen up...did it help with the steering ? who knows..gave the nerves a much needed break though....have i moved one since no...i dont know it all...never will...i did learn one thing though that day......be more careful at fancy gap...

 

Nah a prime mechanic would die trying to disable my suspension dump sorry but they didnt pay for that truck i did! They dont pay to fix it I do! And I dont think theyre going to pay for my truck to get fixed after an air bag blows because i couldnt dump my air when i hooked up to a trailer!

Although i could believe them prime idiots dropping trailers too low if they had a suspension dump valve. Crank the dollies half way down dump the air unlock the fifth wheel and go like hell to the next trailer. Gotta run like an sob when your companys robbing you blind. Course once in my life i dropped a trailer 2" too low...well dropped it at the right height. But forgot trailers sink. Talk about a PITA to get back under with 49000lbs of lumber on.

 

If you can get the trucks frame rails under it with the bags dropped, inflate the bags roll landing gear down if not high enough , drop bags again and put wood blocks on frame and reinflate the bags . Roll landing gear down again . Way our frames taper down , I can almost get a trailer dropped with landing gear all the way up. Can make this truck kneel , can not make it jump!

Now the fifth wheel slide , soap works best for lube . Grease or sprays tack dirt and grit. Making it harder down the road. Soap will wash away the next rain.

 

Works great on windshields!