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Quickly and easily convert your recessed gooseneck hitch to a sturdy 5th-wheel trailer hitch. 2 Lightweight pieces for fast installation. Wraparound jaw has a locking bar for added security. Pivoting head allows easy hookup and helps limit chucking.
Features:
Specs:
Notes:
There are a variety of adapters on the market that let you tow a fifth-wheel trailer with a gooseneck hitch. You can use a coupler adapter that replaces the pin box on your fifth-wheel trailer and then attaches to the gooseneck hitch in your truck bed. But these adapters often require modifications to your trailer that can void the warranty. Another option would be using fifth-wheel rails that mount directly to your gooseneck hitch, usually by dropping into the hitch's ball hole. But to do this you have to make 2 separate purchases - the adapter plate that has the rails and a standard fifth-wheel hitch. With the Demco Recon, you get a heavy-duty fifth-wheel trailer hitch that mounts in your truck bed by connecting directly to your gooseneck hitch with the included components. No modifications are required to your truck or trailer. And no additional parts are required for the system to work.
The single-piece, strong wraparound jaw completely surrounds your trailer's king pin for 360 degrees of contact. This wraparound jaw provides a more secure connection than standard 2-piece jaws that close in on the king pin from the sides. The increased jaw-to-king-pin contact on the Recon hitch offers tighter tolerances around the king pin, which minimizes both rattle and chucking, for a smooth, quiet ride.
A 3/4" thick solid steel locking bar spans the area in front of the jaw. This bar provides an added barrier of protection against accidental disconnection so you can have peace of mind that your trailer is secure. The locking bar is attached to the jaw and to the spring-loaded handle. The bar automatically locks when the jaw closes around your king pin.
The double pivoting, cushioned head improves your towing experience dramatically by helping to reduce jarring and unwanted noise. Built-in pins allow the hitch head to pivot back and forth and side to side. And hookup is easy because the hitch head will automatically pivot to the proper angle when it comes into contact with your pin box.
Polyurethane dampeners help to cushion the movement from the pivoting head and to reduce towing noise. These dampeners are built into the head assembly to cushion the head's side-to-side pivoting.
This hitch is designed to attach to the 2-5/16" ball on your gooseneck hitch.
Assembling the hitch is quick and easy because of its lightweight, 2-piece design. First, attach the base to your gooseneck ball. A coupler pin is installed underneath the ball and the coupler is tightened to keep the Recon secure. Then simply slide the head assembly into the opening in the base. There are 3 different height settings to choose from - just slide the head up or down to find your desired height.
Once you have chosen your desired height, use the included pin to secure the head to the base. Finally, tighten the bolt to eliminate any movement and rattle.
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars (329 Customer Reviews)
Quickly and easily convert your recessed gooseneck hitch to a sturdy 5th-wheel trailer hitch. 2 Lightweight pieces for fast installation. Wraparound jaw has a locking bar for added security. Pivoting head allows easy hookup and helps limit chucking.
I got a email to review this so here I am. The attachment to the bed in fantastic. I rate it at 5 stars and an it’s very easy to remove quickly. The king pin lock does not work very well after about 6 months of use. I typically have to reach into the locking mechanism to get it to release properly. Other than that is has not cracked, rusted or bent since I’ve owned it. I live is the high desert so it does not see much rain or snow.
We have about 20000 miles towing with the hitch so far and have had one problem with our set up. The hitch assembly rotates or slips around, I drilled a hole in the outer frame of the hitch and my truck bed and installed a nut and bolt to keep it from rotating.The base was rotating on the flat bed of truck.
Heather A.
4/7/2022
The base should not rotate on the flat bed when towing. I recommend to make sure you have a good connection between the coupler of the Demco Recon ball coupler and the gooseneck ball of your flat bed. There is a pin that goes under the gooseneck ball. Then the coupler bolt needs to be torqued down to the torque rating in the instructions.
William
3/6/2023
It has been working well. the only thing i have noticed is the need to retorque hard ware. this time I put blue loc tite on all fasteners. I will see how this hold up.
Best investment for a gooseneck to 5th wheel adapter. Takes 2 minutes to take out when you need your gooseneck hitch back. Easy to install. I did modify mine right out of the box. Apparently, the hitch base can turn and not stay square with the bed. I welded tabs underneath on mine to keep it so it can not turn on the bed. I would recommend everyone do the same. See Pics. Excellent hitch!
Works as intended for it use. Biggest complaint would be the moving pieces of the hitch seem to have some slack and have since it was new.
Jenny N.
5/22/2023
I was curious if you could explain in more detail what parts in the hitch have slack? Are they in the hitch head itself?
Chase
6/12/2023
Attached is a picture. It is more in the yoke assembly.
Jenny N.
6/12/2023
I heard back from the manufacturer. They advised that per the email and photo, everything looks good with the hitch. There is not much movement that can happen in the yoke. It pivots side to side but really has very little if any front to back movement. The movement may be coming from just below the yoke in the upright area. What they suggested is tighten it up after determining the proper hitch height. It would be step 5 in the install instructions. In that step you would be adjusting the #4 bolt and the #1 jam nut. I hope that this helps.
Item shipped fast and was exactly as described. I will buy from etrailer again in the future. Very pleased.
The Demco Recon Gooseneck-to-5th Wheel is a heavy built adapter and works great with a recessed ball. etrailer was best price I could find for the item.
Dustin
12/14/2023
The product is great. The hitch is holding up well and is of high quality. We are very happy with this purchase.
Was not that difficult to install. Just that I did not have the right size of socket to tighten down to specs. Right now my 5th wheel RV is in the shop for repairs, so I am not using the hitch at this time.
Hitch fit great. Bradford built mustang flatbed. I did see people having issues with the hitch rotating. I added a 7/16 x 2"bolt to prevent that from happening.
This is perfect for converting my BradfordBuilt flatbed with recessed gooseneck to a 5th wheel. It’s easy to convert back and forth for people with both kinds of trailers and adjustable
Hitch gets used every weekend during the summer pulling a 40ft toy hauler with my flatbed dually I've had to tighten the height set bolts a couple timed so would recommend watching them otherwise great solid hitch. Rides much better than 5th wheel to goose adaptor
Maybe Excellent .. however all ways room to improve... I pulled a Cougar fifth wheel 8,000 lb from Michigan to Tucson Arizona and back last Feb to April 4000 mile trip... pulled nice with the Demco recon adapter hitch...
don't like it at all,,, turns on my flat bed with a trailer hooked up,, called company and they suggested to tighten it down tighter, and tried, it still turned. trying to find something different.
Great fit for my F-350 dually with Bedrock flatbed truck body with factory recessed gooseneck ball. Use it to haul our 42' Jayco Eagle fifth wheel which is pushing 18k when loaded. We did about 6200 miles since purchase. It's easy to install over the goose ball and has a secure and sturdy fit when mounted. I keep it lubed up and it has always worked perfectly when hooking up and detaching from pinbox on trailer.
Absolutely love this hitch. Works great with my flat bed. For my setup I needed to use ball with a taller shoulder but that was an easy swap. This is so easy to take in and out when not in use. I’ve used it for 8,000 plus miles with no issues.
Haven’t towed with it yet but the install was as easy as you can get for a multi piece hitch. I upped the torque values based on research prior to the install that includes recommendations from DEMCO. Highly impressed with build quality and ease of installation.
I bought this hitch about a year ago. I was looking for one that would work on my flatbed pickup with a recessed gooseneck ball. The hitch works amazing and has little to no chucking or noise when towing. It’s fairly easy to install and remove from the truck because the head detaches from the base for installation and removal. The built quality seems very good and the finish has been holding up very well over the past year. I highly recommend this hitch if you have a recessed gooseneck ball and need to tow a fifth wheel with your truck. There are two different models. One for a flat bed pickup and one without flatbed so keep that in mind and make sure you find the correct one for your needs. I would definitely buy again and etrailer is always awesome to deal with.
It works, it works pretty good. It’s just super bulky to store when not using cause it’s two pieces so it’s a bit of work because you have to undo all the pins and bolt. Always checking to make sure the nut is at torque. If you have pretty much any flatbed with a recessed 5th wheel hitch you’ll find that this works.
AFTER 1 YEAR OF USE ON MY CHEV 5500HD W/ FLATBED, WORKING PRETTY WELL. YOU HAVE TO WATCH THE TWO LOCKING BOLTS IN THE NECK THEY DO WORK LOOSE. WELL MADE OF GOOD STEEL, NOT [cheap metal]. RECOMMENDED SOLUTION IF YOU NEED TO MOVE AN RV AND HAVE A FLATBED.
Due to the offset from the ball, the center of the king pin sits about an inch behind the center of my axle. Good construction, good price. Mounted on a Bradford bed
Chris
7/16/2022
Update... grade 5 hardware that came with unit is junk. I have upgraded everything to grade 8 and increased torque on the vertical bolt to 75 ft lbs. No more spinning of the plate
We are currently on our trip to Yellowstone and the NW part of the US and I put this hitch on an F-550 with a gooseneck ball. I wasn't so sure it would work all that well but I have to say it's much better than I thought.
The ball height made the unit ride up above the bed so I bought a thick door mat, cut it to fit around the gooseneck dropdown and it not only leveled things but it is keeping it from spinning around like others have mentioned having problems with. I'm also using a teflon ring between the head and the hitch which is helping smooth out the ride and turning. No noise and a very sooth ride so far. Pulling a 45' Jayco Seismic toyhauler so there is a lot of weight on this hitch.
only shipped half of hitch said they would over night rest never got it had to purchase different brand else where as we were leaving on trip
Jenny N.
10/26/2023
I am sorry that it did not arrive in time. I will have our Customer Service team review and reach out to you.
Fit and finish was awsome, shipping was as advertised. Arrived just in time to go pick up my new trailer this afternoon!!!!
Raymond
11/18/2022
still works awesome, a little over 50K miles with trailer behind me, had some looseness develop in the pivots but one call to Demco and they sent me a new yoke and pins, tightened everything up and runs quiet now. Im in the process of modifying the original yoke to take bushings.
Good hitch. Easy to set up on my gooseneck ball. Connects and disconnects easily. It is a little hefty so I use my tractor to move it around when needed.
Holes on neck not drilled right pin will not go thru. Where is quality control
Jenny N.
11/17/2022
Thank you for reaching out. We can have this taken care of for you and Customer Service will be in touch.
This review is for etrailer, not the product i received, as I have not installed and used it yet. I ordered the hitch. One box arrived and then I was notified by ups that the other box was damaged. I contacted etrailer and they immediately shipped out a new part. No questions asked. I got it three days later. I couldn’t ask for better service. I will continue to order through etrailer! Thank you!
Ordered this hitch for a flat bed truck that I have. Ordered it on Thursday evening and it was at my door step Monday afternoon, I would say that is very timely for how bulky the hitch is. Put it on the truck in 10 minutes and it seems to be very sturdy compared to some of the other options that are out there. Very pleased so far and excited to try it out this weekend
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Richard
12/29/2023
It’s been good not great but it does the job. I would order it again due to the price and because it’s a very specific type to hitch I need. I would highly recommend that they work on the locking mechanism. I have greased and cleaned it twice and still have no luck with it locking all the time. I recently sold hitch and purchased a new truck about 3 month ago but like I said. I would order it again if I needed this type.