Sliding 5th Wheel Hitch With Most Clearance for 2012 Ram 3500 With Demco Underbed Rails

Question:

I have a demco hijacker auto-slide in a 2012 ram 3500 megacab with the ums mounting system and I thought it was supposed to allow me to turn without hitting my cab of my truck. Well it didnt now i have a nice crease in the cab of my truck. So my question is, is there anything I can adjust to prevent this or is this hitch not doing what it is supposed to do? I dont know what to do please advise me.

asked by: James E

Expert Reply:

I know it seems like the Hijacker # DM8550022 (assuming this was the autoslide you were referring to) may not have done its job but that isn't the case. This hitch offers 14 inches of travel, which is more than most. Here is the formula you can use to determine if any hitch will allow full 90 degrees of turning:

(A+B) - C = Clearance

A = Distance from the center of fifth-wheel hitch jaw to truck cab
B = Length of Sliding Hitch Travel
C = Width of trailer divided by 2 (to get half)

At least 4 inches of clearance is needed (C needs to at least equal 4) to safely execute a 90-degree turn.

So the only other hitch with more travel is the 22-1/2" provided by the Demco Hijacker Autoslide 5th Wheel Trailer Hitch with Slider # DM8550041.

This hitch is compatible with the underbed rails # DM8551005 for your 2012 Ram 3500, but does have just a 13,000 lb capacity. If you use the above formula you can know for certain if you can do a 90 degree turn.