King Pin Mount

I had trouble hooking up the Wildcat to the fifth wheel in my truck. I had to manually pivot the fifth wheel in the truck so it was level horizontally, then raise or lower the Wildcat so the king pin would slide into the fifth wheel without moving the fifth wheel out of its level position. If I let the fifth wheel pivot with the back side low as it normally does, I could not hook up to the king pin. The king pin would hit the fifth wheel above the jaws and the fifth wheel would not pivot to a horizontal position and allow the king pin to slide correctly into the fifth wheel.

My dad and I analyzed the problem and discovered that the king pin is too close to the front of the metal frame in which it is mounted. The king pin hits the fifth wheel before the metal framework connects with the fifth wheel. Therefore there is no force to level the fifth wheel horizontally so the king pin can slide in correctly. The solution was to extend the metal framework in which the king pin is mounted, so the metal framework hits the fifth wheel before the king pin. This pivots the fifth wheel into a horizontal position and the king pin slides in correctly.

My setup now works as it should. Height of the king pin is not critical to hooking up. The king pin can be a few inches off center either vertically or horizontally and still slide into the fifth wheel. This may not be a problem with other brands of fifth wheels, but it was definitely a problem with my Reese 15k Trailboss.