M920, to keep or swap out 5th wheel setup

[Hammer]

Ok, either way I need to at least swap out the top plate to a commercial 2" kingpin.
But, I think that I would like to keep the rest of the stock setup.
Especially since I would eventually get a M870 trailer for it.

Thing is, it really limits the other trailers that I can pull.

So, for those of you that moved your 5th wheel back, or took them off in favor of a sliding 5th wheel and NO ramps at all.
Would you do it again?

I am concerned that with the larger 16r20 tires that I would have interference with a lot of commercial trailers if I just put a sliding 5th wheel mounted low on the frame with no ramps, etc.
It would make it very handy to borrow trailers from work.... But I can always use the 818 for that if need be.

 

[NDT]

An option is to remove the ramps and spacer and mount the stock Kompensator to the frame, and swap the plate to a 2" Holland. There is a old thread here on the p/n of the plate (available new).

 

[Hammer]

Yeah, I got the "Holland xa-351-a-l-p" part number saved if I go that route.

Thing is, I 'think' that I will end up getting a M870 type trailer. I see a couple civilian scissor neck trailers locally, but they tend to be a bit out of my price range at the moment.

I thought about finding a set of ramps and 5th wheel from a5 ton tractor. They would locate the kingpin pretty close to centered over the tandems, so I could haul more trailers and keep it up high enough for tire clearance.

Decisions, decisions, decisions.

 

[Monkeyboyarmy]

You are going to hate me for this but what I would do is keep the 5th wheel and swap the 920 out for my 915. Seriously, does the M870 have a reversible king pin?

 

[Hammer]

Nah, I have plenty of trucks at work if I wanted a line haul tractor.
And the M870 does have the dual pin setup. So either way I go, I will always be able to hook it up. But it would sit pretty low if I pulled the stock setup.

 

[simp5782]

The 1600s are going to have issues on height. Maybe i am pretty sure. I think this setup is on 395s. Could be 16s but i dunno from that distance. 395s are 1 inch shorter than 12.00R24s

Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk

 

[zebedee]

And the M870 does have the dual pin setup. << >> But it would sit pretty low if I pulled the stock setup.

I believe the M870 (not sure if it is true for A2's) have an adjustment in the parallelogram to set the 'gooseneck' at different heights - so OK for civi 2" 5th wheels down close to the frame and for the higher 60+ inch x 3 1/2" LET/METs.

 

[Hammer]

Didn't know about the height adjustment on the 870 trailer. Good to know!

 

[Hammer]

Ok, I broke a few of my 3/4" sockets, but I got the ramps and 5th wheel off the 920.
Then I took off the 5th wheel from my 818 and located roughly the same distance from the rear of the frame rails so I should have enough clearance.
I was originally going to swap over the ramps off the 818, but after thinking it over, I think I will cut the 920 ramps off at only 26" long or so, which should be almost the exact same height as the 818 ramps, just a few inches longer.

If I can figure out how to mount the 818 5th wheel, minus the big flat brackets, to a slider, this might be the best setup for me.

 

[Hammer]

Ok, cut down the 920 ramps to work with the 5th wheel off the 818.

 

[Castle Bravo]

A bit late to the party, but M870A1 (at least) does not have a reversible kingpin. It has a 3-1/2" kingpin and did not come with a 2" kingpin option. The A2, A3, A4... all did, as far as I know.

The M870A1 neck is not adjustable for height. It seems like I remember seeing some photos of an M870 or maybe a 403LF that had such a feature.

I remember checking to see if the M870A1 would have enough ground clearance on a M931A1 fifth wheel and I recall that it did.

 

[zebedee]

CB - doesn't the king-pin "float" or at least come out so that it doesn't get buried in the dirt/damaged by blacktop-hard surfaced roads when lowering the gooseneck to the ground? Therefore an alternative king-pin (2") could be used instead.......?

If it weren't for the locking pins in the parallelogram linkage - alternative 'stop pads' could be employed similar to some RGNs.

 

[Castle Bravo]

CB - doesn't the king-pin "float" or at least come out so that it doesn't get buried in the dirt/damaged by blacktop-hard surfaced roads when lowering the gooseneck to the ground? Therefore an alternative king-pin (2") could be used instead.......?

If it weren't for the locking pins in the parallelogram linkage - alternative 'stop pads' could be employed similar to some RGNs.

The kingpin does come out, yes, and yes, you can use a 2" kingpin in it. I have a custom manufactured one, though I don't have any 2" fifth wheel tractors right now.

I think I know someone who put new pin holes in the neck on an M870 to tow it with an M52A1. I don't have any photos.