7 Best Curt Adjustable 5th Wheel Hitch Brackets For Different Trailer Heights Nomads Swear By

You’ve found the perfect spot, but backing your fifth wheel in requires a sharp turn. Suddenly, you hear a sickening crunch—the corner of your rig just met the back of your truck’s cab. This nightmare scenario, along with a host of other towing problems, often starts with one simple thing: incorrect hitch height. Getting your trailer perfectly level isn’t just for looks; it’s the foundation of a safe and stable towing experience.

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Why Proper Hitch Height is Non-Negotiable

A fifth wheel that’s riding nose-high or nose-low is a system under stress. When the trailer isn’t level, it places an uneven load on its axles and tires. A nose-high trailer puts excessive weight on the rear axle, leading to premature tire wear and potential suspension failure.

This isn’t just about wear and tear; it’s a critical safety issue. An unlevel rig can compromise braking effectiveness and create unpredictable handling, especially in crosswinds or during emergency maneuvers. That jarring "chucking" sensation you feel is often made worse by an improper height setup, turning a pleasant drive into a white-knuckle ordeal.

Beyond the mechanics of towing, a level trailer is essential for life on the road. Your RV’s refrigerator needs to be relatively level to function correctly. A slight incline can also mean cabinet doors swing open and items slide off counters. Getting the height right from the start ensures your home on wheels is safe, stable, and comfortable.

Curt A20 Hitch: The All-Around Performer

For most full-time nomads, the Curt A20 is the go-to workhorse. It strikes a perfect balance between capability, features, and price. With a 20,000-pound gross trailer weight rating, it can handle the vast majority of fifth wheels on the road today without being overkill.

What sets the A20 apart is its interlocking, dual-jaw system. Unlike a simple slide bar, these jaws wrap 360 degrees around the kingpin. This creates a secure, rattle-free connection that significantly reduces the chucking and jarring common with lesser hitches. It also features a simple, color-coded indicator that gives you visual confirmation of a secure coupling, which is a massive confidence boost during every hookup.

The A20 head is designed with built-in adjustability, typically offering a vertical range of 13 to 17 inches. This flexibility is key. It allows you to dial in the perfect height for your specific truck and trailer combination, even if you upgrade one or the other down the road. It’s a versatile and reliable choice you won’t quickly outgrow.

Curt Q25 Hitch: For Heavy-Duty Hauling Needs

If you’re pulling a large toy hauler or a luxury residential fifth wheel, you need to step up to the Q25. With its 25,000-pound capacity, this hitch is engineered for the heaviest legal loads. But its real magic isn’t just the strength; it’s the ride quality.

The "Q" in Q25 stands for "Quiet Towing," and it delivers. The hitch head pivots on a spherical axial bearing, allowing it to tilt and articulate in any direction. This fluid movement absorbs road shock and vibrations before they transfer to the truck, creating an exceptionally smooth and quiet ride. For long-haul days on rough interstates, the difference is night and day.

Like its smaller siblings, the Q25 head offers multiple height settings to achieve a level ride. Choosing the Q25 is an investment in comfort and peace of mind. If your rig is pushing the 20k-pound mark, the superior stability and dampening of the Q25 make it a non-negotiable upgrade for serious full-timers.

Curt #16021 Ram Puck System Legs: OEM Fit

Modern trucks often come with a factory-installed "puck system"—a set of four mounting points built directly into the truck bed. If you have a Ram truck with this prep package, the Curt #16021 legs are the only way to go. They are designed to drop directly into these pucks for a perfect, secure fit.

The beauty of this system is its simplicity and strength. There’s no drilling into your truck bed and no bulky rails to install. The legs use a quarter-turn anchoring system that makes installation and removal a tool-free, five-minute job. This gives you full use of your truck bed back whenever you’re not towing.

These legs work with Curt’s A-series and Q-series hitch heads, and they provide their own height adjustment settings. This dual adjustability—on both the legs and the head—gives you maximum control to dial in the exact height required. It’s the cleanest, strongest, and most integrated mounting solution for a Ram owner.

Curt #16022 Ford Puck Legs: Secure OEM Mounting

Just like Ram, Ford has its own proprietary puck system, and the Curt #16022 legs are engineered specifically for it. Trying to use a universal rail system on a truck with an OEM prep package is a mistake. It adds unnecessary complexity and potential failure points. These legs provide a direct, rock-solid connection to the truck’s frame as the manufacturer intended.

The #16022 legs use the same simple quarter-turn anchor system as the Ram version, allowing for quick, tool-free installation. This is a huge benefit for nomads who might use their truck for non-towing purposes and want to clear the bed easily. The connection is incredibly secure, eliminating the worry of bolts loosening over time that can come with aftermarket rail installations.

Modern Ford trucks, especially F-350s and F-450s, tend to sit very high. This makes achieving a level trailer a real challenge. By combining the height settings on these legs with the adjustments on a Curt hitch head, you gain the wide range needed to get your trailer perfectly level, ensuring proper clearance and a safe tow.

Curt #16560 R24 Roller: Max Clearance Solution

If you have a short-bed truck (anything under an 8-foot bed), a slider or roller hitch isn’t a feature; it’s a necessity. Without one, you risk a catastrophic cab strike during any tight turn. The Curt R24 Roller is a robust base that allows the entire hitch assembly to slide back up to 12 inches, creating the space you need to maneuver.

The R24 is designed to operate smoothly even with a heavy trailer connected. Its thick, sturdy rollers can handle up to 24,000 pounds. When you’re ready to make a tight turn, you simply pull a handle and let the truck’s momentum slide the hitch back into the maneuvering position. It locks securely in both the towing and maneuvering positions.

This roller base is compatible with most Curt 5th wheel heads and offers its own vertical height adjustment from 14 to 18 inches. The tradeoff for this clearance is significant added weight in the truck bed. However, for a short-bed owner, that extra weight is a small price to pay to avoid a multi-thousand-dollar repair bill for a smashed cab and trailer cap.

Curt #16427 Brackets: For Modern GM Trucks

What if your truck doesn’t have the OEM puck system? For modern GM trucks, the answer is a vehicle-specific bracket kit like the #16427. Do not use "universal" brackets. These custom-fit brackets are designed to bolt directly to pre-existing holes in your truck’s frame, providing a secure foundation without any drilling or welding.

This kit creates the mounting points for industry-standard 5th wheel base rails in your bed. While the rails themselves look generic, the strength comes from these frame-mounted brackets underneath. This approach is vastly superior to kits that just bolt to the bed floor, as it ties the towing forces directly to the strongest part of the truck.

While the brackets themselves are not adjustable, they are the critical first step. By providing a solid, perfectly positioned base, they ensure that the adjustable legs and hitch head you mount on top can do their job effectively. A level tow starts with a solid foundation, and for a GM truck, this is it.

Curt E16 Hitch: A Solid, Economical Choice

Not everyone is pulling a 45-foot residential rig. For those with smaller, lighter fifth wheels (up to 16,000 pounds), the Curt E16 is a solid and budget-friendly option. It provides a safe, reliable connection without the bells and whistles—and the higher price tag—of the premium models.

The E16 uses a slide-bar jaw mechanism and a dual-pivoting head. It’s a proven design that gets the job done. The tradeoff is that you will experience more noise and chucking compared to a Q-series hitch. For the weekend warrior or someone on a strict budget, this is a perfectly acceptable compromise.

Even at this entry-level price point, you don’t sacrifice the most important feature: adjustability. The E16 head still offers a vertical height adjustment range, typically from 13 to 17 inches. This ensures that even budget-conscious nomads can achieve a safe, level towing setup, which is something you should never compromise on.

Ultimately, your hitch system is the single most critical link between your truck and your home. Choosing the right combination of hitch head, legs, or brackets is about creating a unified, stable platform that you can trust for thousands of miles. Take the time to match the components to your specific truck and trailer, and you’ll be rewarded with a safer, smoother, and more enjoyable journey.