What am i doing wrong....5th wheel wont budge

Yeah. I haul a lot of overlength ewp, and our trucks are set up for lots of front overhang off the flatbed. We have to watch the sweep of the front during turns, but also be careful in dips and turns to avoid letting the load contact the drom on the catwalk. Lots to think about when making turns.

 

Check the air line to see if it is leaking and not pulling the pins

 

Somewhat of an update.

Had a load 2 weeks ago and was over on my steers. Got in a rush and moved 5th all the way back like before. Forgot to pull it forward.

Took a light load(7000 lb) to FL. Reset my mpg before starting and 1000 miles driving 65 I got it to 9.1

Pulling 35k doing 64-65 got me down to 8

This truck will pull hills like it means business,but man does it drink fuel doing so. Cruise control is what's hurting me. I don't gun it up hills anymore unless its a short one.

Currently at 8.0 with a 35k load driving about 64 mph.

 

Closing the gap between the trailer and the tractor should increase mileage..when you increase the distance you create air turbulence which affects mileage...supposedly..

 

Not much of an update because I'm confused. Are you alleging you get better mpg with 5th wheel all the way back? If so, your misleading yourself.

As long as you remain under 12500 heavy and full of fuel, leave it forward and weld it there (forget it). One short trip should never be used to make long term assumptions.

No need in adding more unnecessary variables to your weight distribution work.

 

I'm saying slowing down helped. And that this truck will drink fuel if I leave cruise set going up and down hills constantly.

 

What was your mileage with the fifth wheel all the way forward?

 

ours will not allow us to slide the 5th wheel all the way back. there is a flat bar across the rail which stops the backward motion with 4 holes still open. what's with that? thanks

 

I would see if you can contact prior owners and ask. Or you can ask a shop to see if they think the bar can be removed safely.

It's possible that the 5th wheel assembly was mounted farther back on the frame than is typical, say, to allow for an oddly-inset kingpin on a flatbed hauler setup, and that resulted in the last few slots being undesirable because it could potentially take too much weight off the steers.