What Does Jaw of Reese Elite Fifth Wheel Hitch Look Like When Locked Open and Closed

Question:

What does the head of this hitch look like when the jaws are fully locked “open”? Can you send a picture with the jaws locked open? When I lock mine open, the jaws still protrude into the throat area quite a bit. Also, when I park to unhitch, if my truck is not aligned with the fifth wheel similar tilt as the trailer, one side of the head assembly drags on the trailer hitch assembly pin box such that I cannot lock the jaws open. It is a pain to have to literally level the truck with the fifth wheel in order to release the trailer from the truck. I have a 2017 Ford F-250 factory equipped with the aforementioned Reese 18 K hitch. Is my Reese head assembly faulty. Is this head assembly fully articulating, that is, at least 4-way tilt?

asked by: Howard W

Expert Reply:

When the Reese Elite hitches like what the head part # 58292 fits is locked open the hook that grabs the king pin slide totally out of the way of the head of the hitch. In the attached picture you can see the open and closed position that I took from the demo video I attached below.

The head of the hitch does pivot to help with terrain that isn't perfectly level, but in general it does help quite a bit if your truck is perfectly level to the trailer when you go to connect and disconnect. The head does have a 4-way pivot and can pivot 4 degrees side to side as well as front to back.

expert reply by: Jameson C