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This hitch manually slides to give you 14" of clearance for tight turns. Sturdy wraparound jaw has a locking bar for added security. Pivoting head allows easy hook up and helps limit chucking. Polyurethane bumpers ensure a smooth ride.
Features:
Specs:
Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Hi there, I'm Michael with etrailer.com. Today we're gonna take a quick look at this Demco Recon manual slide 5th wheel trailer hitch. So this is a 5th wheel hitch that's gonna mount in your short bed F-250 or F-350 so you can tow your 5th wheel trailer. This hitch is going to have the manual slide feature and so especially for your short bed trucks where you have a little bit of clearance issues and when you're trying to make those tight turns, and this is going to allow you to get out of your truck, (lever clicks) move that lever into the slide position, and then the hitch can slide towards your tailgate up to 14 inches to provide that clearance that you need for your short bed pickup truck to make those slow speed turns safely. Then when you're straightened out, get everything lined up again and simply move that back (lever clicks) to the locked position there over top of your axle, so it's gonna have the weight distributed correctly for your regular speeds. So this is going to help prevent your trailer from making contact with your pickup during your sharp slow speed turns.
I will say it is going to be a little bit of effort required, so when you find yourself in those sort of situations, you'll have to get out of your vehicle, go back, undo that lever, get back in, make your turn, get back out, get it all positioned again. There are auto slides which save you that hassle of having to get out but they are gonna be significantly more expensive. So something to keep in mind there. If you want the convenience, I think those auto slides are well worth the money but if it just doesn't fit into your price range, this is going to give you that same clearance option for a much lower price. Now this will work with your pin boxes, your standard pin boxes that are 12 to 14 inches wide.
It is not gonna be compatible with your rotating pin boxes so you won't be able to combine those different features to give you even more clearance just because that would give you two pivot points and could potentially cause safety issues and problems down the road. So it's gotta be a static pin box, but once you get the pin box connected with your kingpin and the hitch here it is going to give you that adjustability so you can make those tight turns even with your short bed truck. Now this does have a sturdy steel construction. It's made here in the U.S.A., so it is gonna be very durable for you. It also has this black powder coat finish on it that's going to resist rust and corrosion.
That steel construction is gonna give us the 21,000 pound gross towing weight and it has a vertical load limit of 5,250 pounds. So of course you wanna make sure that that's going to work with your setup, that your trailer's gonna fit within that range. This is gonna be very fast and easy to get installed. We've got the side plate here that's designed specifically for your Ford Prep package. So we've got the arms that will open up so that you can just set this in place.
Those vehicles that this will work with are your 2011 and newer Ford F-250, and F-350 Super Duty with the OEM prep package, obviously for the 6 3/4 inch, or sorry, 6 3/4 foot bed. So once you get it set down into your factory puck system you'll be able to slide these levers into place, put your pin in, and then that you'll have a nice solid connection there and make sure that your feet are gonna be well connected to your setup. So, way of utilizing your OEM prep package and still having that slider functionality for you. Getting into the specifics of our hitch, I'll zoom in a little bit here and you can see we do have a wraparound single-piece jaw that's gonna provide a nice secure connection for you. Having that 360 degree jaw-to-kingpin contact is going to allow for less rattling and more security than your slide bar jaws. I'll use a screwdriver here so you can kind of see how this will operate. Once you back up your truck to your trailer's kingpin, that kingpin is gonna make contact with its plate back here and that's going to allow it to slide shut. And when it's shut, you can see we do have this 3/4 inch thick solid steel bar that's gonna reinforce that connection for your coupled trailer. It's gonna automatically lock into place when the jaw closes. We're gonna be able to operate that with the spring-loaded handle here. That's got the comfort grip and that will allow you to get this set up very easily, so you can get coupled. Does also have a tethered safety pin that will allow you to secure the handle in the open or the closed position. That tether's obviously gonna make sure that you don't lose track of that. This does have a double pivot head that's gonna ease hookup and help to limit your chucking. It's gonna pivot front-and-back and side-to-side. If I turn this to the side a little bit, you can see inside here we've got the cushioning polyurethane dampeners that are gonna help reduce your noise and absorb road shock, ensure a nice smooth ride for you. Working our way down, we do have this pin down here that's going to allow us to set the head at different heights to accommodate your setup so you can make sure you have plenty of clearance on your side bed rails. So our three different height settings will give us a max height of 20 7/8 of an inch. Our middle setting will be 19 5/8 of an inch, and our lowest setting will be 18 3/8 of an inch. So again, make sure that it's gonna work for your setup, give you the clearance that you need. So overall, a really great option here if you are looking to give yourself that extra clearance that you need for those tight turns You have the Ford Factory Prep package, this will allow you to take advantage of that and it's gonna save you a little bit of money over the more expensive, but a little bit more convenient, auto slide systems. And that completes our look for today. Again, I'm Michael with etrailer.com. Thanks for watching.
Average Customer Rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars (71 Customer Reviews)
This hitch manually slides to give you 14" of clearance for tight turns. Sturdy wraparound jaw has a locking bar for added security. Pivoting head allows easy hook up and helps limit chucking. Polyurethane bumpers ensure a smooth ride.
I like it’s design and how it sits in the bed. It seems to want to rotate some while pulling. I see some reviews that other people are having this problem also. Some have put a bolt down through the base into the truck bed. I haven’t wanted to do that as of yet. Otherwise I like the hitch.
The truck that got the install is a 2002 Ford F350 Super Duty 7.3 L Diesel dually. The Demco Recon 5th wheel hitch (DM8550043) looks like a well made, heavy duty hitch. All the welds are precise and well done. I like the single wrap around jaw with the real thick bar that backs that up. The handle that pulls out to unlock the jaw moves with ease and locks in the out position when the jaw opens. When the king pin comes in contact with the back of jaw, the jaw wraps around the king pin, the handle closes, you put in the safety pin and your ready to go RVing. I chose the Husky Custom Rails and installation kit (HT31405-686) for my install. The reason I chose these rails over the ones that etrailer had matched up for the hitch is, I had previously installed a set of Airlift Airbags and I didn't want the rail install to interfere with the airbags. It was a good choice, there was no interference at all. If I had not had the bags, I would have chose the rails and install kit that require no drilling. Drilling the holes went very fast and easy, it was torking the rear bolts down that was very difficult. There was not enough room to get a wrench of any kind around the nut. I wound up using a set of vise grips on the nut while a friend of mine torked the bolt slowly from above.
All and all I'm happy with the product and I'll give another review in a year.
Excellent product and customer service was outstanding. I just bought the product so I haven’t towed with it yet but after many many years of towing with other fifth wheel hitches, I can tell this is going to be an huge improvement!
very good product although when unhitching rv it wants to trip the latch. I had to address that problem by drilling a hole in the trip bar for the pin to hold it open.
Parts arrived for the DM 8550043, received only the hitch base plate and adjustable shaft for the hitch head. Have been told that the hitch head is shipped separately. Now have a problem with the hitch plate fitting the bed rails. The holes for the pin that secures the hitch plate to the rails are to close to the bottom of the hitch plate photos are given of the problem a pencil was used for reference. There is NO WAY the pin will go through the rail and hitch plate. Waiting on a solution from etrailer. The hole that you can barely see the pencil is tailgate rails pin fits fine.
The only issue I am having with the fifth wheel hitch is latch handle will not stay open (out) when hooking up or disconnecting from king Pin sometimes (and yes, I know how to work a fifth wheel hitch). If it wasn't for that I would give it 5 stars.
Easy to set up and use I borrowed a buddies cause I bought a camper and didn’t have a hitch set up in the bed of my truck just had the goose neck ball pulled real nice so I order o e just like it
Hitch works great and delivery from etrailer was fast.
Rugged product, easy to install, quick latch system. easy to remove. Purchased the Reese adapter with this hitch, and installation was easy. Some minor adjustments with the cam over lugs, and setting the hitch posts into the adapter. Overall very easy set up. Looks good, and can be taken apart in pieces, for ease of removal and installation, after set up. Ordering was simple and all parts came in about a week.
This hitch with the Airbourne Sidewinder worked great with the 2018 Ram 2500 Mega cab short bed with Ram boxes. Can maneuver a 90 degree turn without issue. Still have to get trailer lifted higher to get the trailer nose lowered, but for the complicated research we had on the right combo, this is tested and verified
I bought this to replace a Demco Autoslide hitch. The Autoslide was great but too heavy for me. Because of my bad back, this was a great choice! The hitch is awesome, easy to put in and out. Quiet and smooth towing. Thx E-Trailer!
This is a really nice hitch for the money. Extremely easy to installl for one person. I can’t wait to pull my camper with it. The only problem I had was how badly damaged the package was when delivered. Fortunately the hitch was not damaged. The picture shows how it was when I got it.
Ordered hitch late Wednesday evening and received early afternoon on Friday, that is super fast delivery. Two cartons received with no damage and all parts were there as expected. It looks exactly as advertised online and it was at a great price. AND FREE SHIPPING.
Also made in the USA.
I am replacing my Demco Hi Jacker Auto Slider that weighs approximately 300 lbs with the Demco Recon that according to the shipping labels weighs 91 lbs. It will be installed on a Ford F150 with 5 1/2 ft bed and fiver with a Lippert Turning Point Pin box.
Part was delivered vey damaged. Looks like a couple thousand miles has already been put on it and it’s not even installed yet! Missing Lynch pin .313 is missing! Not happy at all.
Hitch came in two boxes UPS. The head was stapled and secured in one box. The base and upright piece came, not in a box, but rolled up in cardboard and taped up with clear packing tape. I put it together so I could hook up and set the height and there is no hitch pin and lynch pin. I don’t know if it was rolled up in the cardboard and lost in shipping or wasn’t packed at all. I also didn’t get the instruction manual and had to go to Demcos website for it. The base and upright being rolled up together banged up the base or it was used and returned and that is why it was rolled up and not in a box. Now I have a hitch that I can’t use because I didn’t get all the parts. Called etrailer for the hitch pin and lynch pin and don’t know when it’ll arrive because it’s not an etrailer part. I can’t review the hitch because as of yet I can’t use it.
So far so good pulling my fifth wheel around. I went this route so I could have dual purpose and not corner myself with just a drop in plate with my trucks factory fifth wheel package. No issues with this hitch, locks tight and no slop.
works every time has never failed, replaced a curt 20k that i used for 10 years,lots of times it wouldnt click and lock .easy to use no chucking.very happy with this hitch.3 years ago i installed air lift air bags ,love them too!!etrailer is a great place to buy from
Looks great
Haven't used it yet but it's unlikely to be anything but 5 stars. I'll update review if so. The hitch came in 2 boxes. The head was packages in a HD box. The box that the base came in was battered pretty bad. But, no marks in the base. All hardware arrived. Took about 15 minutes to assemble and get set up.
The product arrived as scheduled and all the parts and pieces were in the two boxes. It installed quickly in my pickup and I hooked it to the fifth wheel and moved it forward and back. Seems to work well, takes all the slop out of the hitch. The hitch seems to be well constructed and the double latch is what I was looking for.
The hitch arrived in four days was easy to install in truck not too heavy for a 70 year old man hooks up easy and I really like the double locking jaw the only issue I had was the wedge for my sidewinder the bolt holes did not line up took me about an hour making holes longer to be able to bolt up
Seems to be a well built hitch and the 3 piece design is VERY nice in the load/unload space. Why this received 3 stars is that it was missing parts and the base was beat up badly (cosmetic) when received. Missing parts included the pins to connect the base to the rails and the pin to connect the neck to the base. Not usable at this point. Etrailer is sending out the parts, and I'll contact Demco for new stickers. Will update review and photos once I have used it.
Looks great nice workmanship. Easy to install.
Packaging on large components should be changed??? Need custom molded styrofoam to slide on two sieds and hold product in shipping box. Will include pictures of delivered packages
This was an upgrade from the dealer installed hitch. Best purchase since I didn't know how much longer the old hitch would last. After purchase, I was at the dealership and saw they were now selling the same hitch. Solid and rattle free.
Very noisy!! Makes you think something broke. It’s good if you don’t want to break the bank. But when parking you’ll hear the loud noises coming from the hitch. Other than that it works fine.
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