Draw-Tite 18K Signature Series Fifth Wheel Review

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Products Featured in this Video

Signature Series Pre-Assembled 18K Fifth Wheel Trailer Hitch by Draw-Tite and Reese

40847

$799.95

Review of the Draw-Tite 18K Signature Series Fifth Wheel Trailer Hitch

Today we are going to talk about the signature series, it comes in an 18K and 24K. It actually comes pre-assembled so obviously it is going to lower the install time. Some of the features are obvious here, we are going to see where the wideness of the stance is going to give you more stability within the truck itself. You are going to look at the very top, you will see the feature is something quite unique, the head is centered. Everything comes with a benefit, this right here is only 116 pounds. The reason is a lot of people are worried about being able to get stuff out of the bed of the truck because it is so heavy. What happens is this can come apart really easy. What you want to do is you want to pull your pins out here and here. And this head is only 39 pounds, so actually you can remove this head fairly easy. Which definitely gives you the advantage when you are trying to move it out of the truck. Obviously the base of this is 77 pounds.

While I have this out I want to show you the feature and why you need side to side and front to back movement. This collar right here will pivot back and forth about 4 degrees as well as side to side. The reason behind that is a lot of the times people are traveling their trailer is going to be moving back and forth and there will be some torque given. In the past manufacturers tailored on the fact is was a front to back situation, when it is obviously side to side giving the illusion there will be less binding. What happens here is, if you will take a look a little bit closer here, you will see how the ears come apart. You can actually move this when you go to assemble. You can actually have these ears a little bit forward or behind as far as within the truck bed or the trailer itself. You can see the stance here on this fifth wheel, you see it is a lot wider. We talked about the up and down part as far as the adjustments with the beds how they are higher. Some trucks are much different. You are going to see a Ford will be higher than a Chevy and vice versa. One thing that we definitely want to count on is the fact that every great monument has a great base. I want to show you how that works. First off what you are going to do, you will pull these collar pins out. These things actually slide right out very easy. Obviously it is going to be a little bit rougher on this particular stand. When it sits on the bed of your truck it will actually work out a lot better.

Now we will move this down. You should always take a look at this. Cosmetics are everything when it comes to putting this in the truck. You see how when this is sitting underneath the bed of the truck itself you notice the power puck system itself and how it is unique to this particular model. You will see how it goes it kind of an oval shape, what happens is those legs that actually fit in here very snug whenever you go to adjust these things, you will adjust them to where there is no movement, they are snug very tightly. The benefit to this is there is not any movement this is more set it and it will stay in. It is maintenance free to some degree. Sometimes you may have to put some grease in here in order to keep the elements out. Over all this is a really nice feature within the vehicle itself. One thing that I do want to point out is how this is actually designed. This solid steel, you can see the cosmetic ring that comes around here. The foot goes inside there and when you go to lock it into place you are only going to turn it a quarter of a turn. When you do a quarter of a turn it is literally going to suck the fifth wheel down a bit to where it gives that added stability. One great feature about this is not only can you use this for a fifth wheel, you can also use this for a gooseneck, there is also a gooseneck adapter compatible with this particular system. When it is not in use there are some protective caps in here to keep any debris out of this receptor. As I told you with the power puck system, if it helps you remember the oval part, you can see how this will slide right in there. With just a quarter of a turn, this actually locks into place. These are somewhat grooved where it pulls down it will not move. For any reason if you have a little movement there are adjustments on the back side of this, once you adjust it you are good to go. Keep one thing in mind, when your installer is adjusting it, it is pretty much just a one step adjustment and you should not have to do it again. If you look underneath here, you can obviously see how the collar is. We talked a while ago as far as the height adjustment, this may give you a little better perspective as far as 14 to 18 inches of adjustment for various sizes of trucks. As I mentioned before we know this is 39 pounds, the base being 77 pounds.

One of the wonderful feature about this particular head is it only has three moving parts. Obviously less is more. We are going to take a look right quick at this jaw mechanism, it is a one and a half to two inch jaw. The best part about is when the king pin comes in, it actually holds the kingpin up to about 75 percent. We do not want it to hold at 100 percent because what happens is eventually the king pin or something is going to give and it is designed to hold a maximum amount of about 75 percent. One thing I want to show you is you will see this actually come across is it has a positive lock system. Whenever the king pin comes in, this will actually come into place. One of the great features about this particular head here is if you look down here there is actually an indicator if you will. As the king pin approaches, this actually locks into place you will hear it. Very simple when this goes in to show added value that the fact this king pin is securely fastened within the head itself. What happens here is, as you will see, is this comes across it locks into place. If you look over here, just as the king pin comes in, it moves this security flag and gives the user the visual assurance that the king pin is securely fastened within the head itself.

Once again, as I mentioned, there are three moving parts. Also, if you look right here the grease cert, grease that maybe once a month and you are good to go. One other thing that is obvious with this particular head is the funnel here. Generally the head assembly will have a six inch funnel, this one actually has a nine inch funnel which gives it a little more added value as far as being able to back up and hook them securely. As I mentioned a while ago, whenever that king pin comes in and hits that actuator, you can see this flag that comes out. What happening is before that indicator is hit, you will not be able to put anything in. Once the king pin is secured within the system, this comes in and locks into place. Now obviously, you can upgrade and get a lock for your system itself. You can see the value that it will not come out and it is securely fastened. Just to total up what we talked about today, this particular model is an 18K signature series. It is available also in 24K. There is also an 18K slider available. We are going to go from the top to the bottom. We talked about the unit being 116 pounds, very easy to be removed by one person. We actually made it easier where we removed this head which is 39 pounds leaving the base about 77 pounds. We can see the jaw mechanism is unique by holding the king pin up to 75 percent. We talked about the benefits inside here, three moving parts, meaning not a lot of moving parts can go wrong. We talked about the added security whenever the king pin comes in the actuator gives the visual assurance that this king pin is securely fastened in this system. Once again the added value of the funnel is it is nine inches wide while others are six inches. Easy maintenance, one grease a month, you will do pretty well. We talked about the height adjustment, 14 to 18 inches to accommodate various vehicles. Also the puck system itself, we talked about how unique it is with the under the bed rail system. All you will see is these four pucks definitely comes handy when being able to use it for both gooseneck and fifth wheel. This is our premier product of the signature series.