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This Curt A20 hitch is all about solid, steady performance when you’re pulling serious weight. With a 20,000-lb gross towing weight rating and a 5,000-lb vertical load limit, it’s built to handle large 5th wheels with ease. The sturdy steel construction and carbide powder coat finish give it long-lasting strength that feels rock-solid mile after mile. It’s the kind of setup that lets you tow heavy and still feel in control on long runs or uneven roads.
Nothing beats a smooth hook-up and a quiet ride. The A20’s fully articulating torsion head moves with the trailer to suppress road shock and reduce towing noise. Its rounded, interlocking two-piece jaw wraps completely around the king pin for 360-degree contact—less rattle and a more secure connection than slide-bar models. Together they cut down on chucking so your trailer tracks steady and calm wherever you go.
Tight turns at slow speeds are no problem thanks to the S20 slider base. It provides 12 inches of front-to-back travel and automatically latches in both directions, giving your trailer the room it needs to clear the cab during sharp turns. The non-binding design makes sliding easy even on uneven ground, and it self-resets so it’s ready for the next move without extra fuss.
Before you roll out, one quick look tells you everything you need to know. The three-point color system shows red when uncoupled, yellow when ready to couple, and green when locked for towing. The indicators are visible from the cab, so you can confirm your hitch status without climbing into the bed. It’s simple peace of mind built right into the hitch head.
When it’s time to clear the bed, the A20 makes it quick work. A fast one-pin head removal system lets one person lift off the head without tools, while the included plastic lube plate helps keep things smooth during hookup and disconnects. Modular pieces mean easier handling without sacrificing strength—the perfect setup for anyone who swaps between towing duty and everyday truck use.
Alternate Instructions
Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Hi everyone, Aidan here at etrailer. Today we're gonna be taking a look at and showing you how to install this replacement fifth wheel head for the Curt A20. This is going to be just the head assembly here today. So if you already have a sliding base or the legs for it, and you're looking to replace a broken or damaged head, or maybe you're just adding it to a sliding base, like the S20 we're using today, then this is gonna be the one for you. If you need the full kit, be sure to check out one of those full kits on our website. But as for this replacement head, let's check it out.
This is gonna operate just like your standard A20 fifth wheel head with the 360-degree dual jaw design. It's gonna get full contact around the kingpin here and those jaws are controlled by this lever on the outside of the fifth wheel hitch. We can unpin this handle right here. The pin could be swapped out for a padlock, if we wanna keep it secured when you're not around. Pull the handle out and back to open up those spring loaded jaws, and then we can back up to our fifth wheel.
That will drop into place. The kingpin will slide in. And it'll snap into place and you can see that 360-degree contact. Repin that handle or relock it back up to secure it, and then we're ready to hit the road. Now as we're hooking up, you probably saw a lot of movement in the fifth wheel head here.
Now it's by design. It's got a torsion system built into it, which gives us front to back, side to side, and even diagonal movement, really all around in a 360-degree motion. It can move around and adapt. So what it's gonna do is a number of things. It's gonna help guide the kingpin in so if we're not perfectly backed up to our trailer, this can kind of move and meet the kingpin where it's at to make hookup a lot easier.
But then when we're driving too, that's gonna act as a shock absorber, helping to reduce the hitching and just any of that road shock we're experiencing going down the road, but also limiting noise. To keep things operating smoothly, we've got our Zerk fittings located on the jaws here, so you can apply grease and keep them operating smoothly for a long time. The indicator at the back, visible from the cab of the truck will let us know if we're properly latched and coupled ready to tow. So we right now, we've got it locked in ready to tow. I'm gonna pull the handle out and back. And you can see right now we're in the coupling mode. And as I bring that dummy king pin back in, it's not fully coupled yet. And when it finally snaps in, (wheel head snaps) you can see it's got that green indicator. We can pin it in place and then we're ready to tow. So it's nice that you have that built-in and then it's visible from the cab of the truck. As for your weight capacity here, the fifth wheel itself can handle 20,000 pounds of gross towing weight and 5,000 pounds of your vertical load limit. Be sure to check on if you're using a sliding base like this one that it can handle that weight as well as your truck and go by the lowest rating component in your whole system. All around, you got a very durable steel construction with a carbide powder coat finish on top to help it resist rust and corrosion over time. Now that doesn't make it immune to things like scratches because that can scratch away the finish and cause it to rust and corrode quicker. But your kit does come included with a grease plate here that will slide in between the head of the fifth wheel with your kingpin in the middle here and help reduce that metal and metal contact. Keeping the head of this hopefully looking new for a lot longer and keeping those scratches and scuffs away. If you don't wanna leave this in your truck bed all the time, getting it removed can be a bit of a pain because of how heavy it is, But the head will separate from the main body here with this pin and a very large pin running through the center of everything. That is completely removable so that we can take the head on its own and lift it from the main body. So it's a lot easier to get in and out of the truck bed on your own like this. And if we look a little closer there where the pin runs through, you can see those rubber isolators that help dampen that impact and act as shock absorbers when we're going down the road. Now whether you're upgrading or replacing your existing head, it is going to be a very straightforward installation process. You will need a torque wrench for it, but aside from that everything's pretty straightforward and easy to do straight out of the box. So let's check out that process now. It comes pretty much fully assembled in the box. You will only need to attach the handle to the head, but I chose to also separate the head from the main body here, just to lighten the load a little bit and make it easier to attach. For our application today, we're attaching it to our sliding base here, the S20. So I'm just gonna get it dropped in place. And then, loosely get these bolts installed, line them up through the outer holes at whatever height setting we want, (metal clanging) and then attaching the nuts on the inside. (metal clanging) And at this point, once you've got it set to your proper height, you can tighten it down and torque it to the specifications found in your instructions. (metal clanging) (wrench rattling) If you don't have a torque wrench at home, they are pretty easy to rent, or you can find them here at etrailer. And repeat that process for all your other hardware. And then the head simply drops in place in the center and secures with the large pin feeding in through the back to the front. And then secures in there with this pin and retaining clip at the front. Now you're ready to hook up. And as far as the replacement head for the Curt A20 goes, that's really all there is to it. It's a very simple installation process. It comes with all the hardware you need. So if you already had an A20 fifth wheel hitch and you're just looking to replace a broken or damaged head, this is gonna drop right into place and do that for you. Or maybe you've got the S20 slider like we do here and you've got one of the kits maybe with the A16 and you're looking to upgrade the head to really max out the weight capacity potential of the slider itself. You can do that too. Like you see it is dropped in place Bolt it in with the included hardware and you're good to go. But that'll do it for our look at an installation of this Curt A20 fifth wheel head replacement. Thanks for watching.
Ratings & Reviews
This is the fourth time I've installed a 5th wheel kit on any of my trucks,i have done this many time. This time I went with three Curt 16443 5th wheel brackets. Poor instructions, I could have bought a different kit with better instructions for significantly less. Buy the universal 5th wheel kit from your local autoparts store.
Also, this kit only uses TWO grade 5 bolts to secure each bracket to the frame whereas the universal kit uses two bolts per bracket (four brackets total), nor can I seem to find an install video. Overall, I am not happy.
Product came without any hardware. Box was undamaged ,just no hardware with it.
I called customer service .They were very helpful and had the appropriate hardware sent out.
A week later the hardware package showed up and installation was straight forward. I started on the passenger side as that is the easiest because the drivers side has brake cables that must be disconnected .My truck is a dually so I jacked it up ,used jack stands,wheel chocks, and removed the wheels. This proved to make the installation much easier. Installation time 4 hours . Took my time. Had to drill a couple of holes for the front bolts to the frame but I am very satisfied . Took off one star for the bolts being missed. Etrailer is great .
I ordered this for my 2004 Ford F250 Super Duty. Shipping was fast and arrived in good condition. Installation was straight forward and works perfect for the multiple 5th wheel hitches I’ve used it for. Would buy here again if I ever need anything else. Also, the price was the same or cheaper than elsewhere and the detailed and helpful website was the deciding factor why I purchased here.
Amazing product fit perfect with no issues whats so ever being that this kit is for a none fifth wheel truck option and was able to easily install with no problems, We have owned it over a year and still looks new and works perfect we tow a 44 feet RV very often with no issue and really recommend this product hands down !!!!!
Bought these rails for my 5th wheel trail hitch and they out performed my expectations, they lined up with the factory holes in the truck frame and bolted right in and plus they held up to the few time I had to lock up my brakes when I was cut off. For sure i thought I would lose my rig with with the hitch breaking away or the rails giving out but they performed like they're supposed to do. I highly recommend them and more so cause of the great price. Can't be beat!!
One year removed from installation at this point. Installation went as well as could be expected, as my truck had 350,000 miles and 23 years in service at the time of installation. Compounding the situation was a very thick spray-in bedliner and a pretty severe bow in the bed from a dropped load. I had to leave out a few of the rail spacers on account of the aforementioned handicaps. I'll report that with some careful, coordinated bolt tightening, after all items were in place, I have 2 heavy, high quality 5th-wheel rails that work well. I'm in the salt belt, (the truck is from Phoenix), so I re-painted everything that was exposed and it's held up well so far. I'd recommend for other customers, both the product and the store. etrailer is great and so is Curt - this is my second Curt product from etrailer and both were great experiences all-around.
Easy to install, rebuilt the truck bed the 5th wheel camper was rear ended and destroyed the old hitch.
Great price for a decent product. I would have given 5 stars but the instructions are crapy. If your thinking of getting this kit and your a do it your self-kind of person. The 60 minutes install won't work. I spent 4 hours on mine. I was missing one lock washer I think even though it's not called out in the picture. Lay out all your fasteners first! There are two spacer/washers that are thinner than the rest. Make sure you get them in the proper location. The brake fasteners go between the plate and frame. From the instruction, it looks like they pass through the frame. They don't so I will need to remove the left plate to get that right. Other than that it's a great product that could use a better instruction sheet.
I HAVEN'T HAD ONE PROBLEM WITH MY HITCH. I bought it about a year ago. I arrived sooner than I was told it would and it is still in the box. I never opened it or installed it. But I do plan to.
Customer service for product selection and order entry were excellent and focused on my interests and needs. The hitch, custom installation kit, and harness were shipped very quickly and arrived sooner than expected. Everything arrived in excellent condition. Assembly and installation instructions were very clear and specific, and I was able to assemble and install everything with no problems and in a very reasonable amount of time. Total cost was roughly half of what it would have been if I had purchased the products and had them installed by a dealer. I am very satisfied with my experience dealing with etrailer.com, and would highly recommend them to anyone shopping for towing products.
Amazing product. Perfect fit. Great pri ce.
Installation of the Curt C16443-204 custom rail kit was a snap on my 2000 F350 dually. The instructions were pretty generic but not to hard to figure out. Once in place it was easy to line line everything up to fit the hitch in and tighten everything down.
Arrived fast works well
The hitch has worked very well. It is very sturdy, and I have had no problems. I would recommend this to someone with a short bed for the ability to slide the hitch.
Only pulled camper for 20 miles so far, but hitch seemed to work great! Very easy to install and put together. Took about 3-4 hrs start to finish.
My wife and I installed this in 3 hrs. We are in our mid 70’s. We had access to a 2 post lift which made this much easier as we could raise and lower the truck as needed for access. Although some say the instructions were vague I had no problem, just read them through first and begin. As the instructions stated some vehicles may have some differences as we found that the hole for the front driver side bolt needed to be drilled into the frame. After the bracket was mounted we just used the existing hole in the bracket as a guide. We previously installed an AIR LIFT AL59393 kit and it works great with this rail kit. We did our research to be sure they worked together. If you want to be sure about compatibility call etrailer and talk to one of the experts.
Very solid and well built. Installation took me longer than advertised. The instructions were a little vague, but I figured it out. A few extra carriage bolts and flange nuts would have been nice. All in all, everything lined up perfectly when I measured carefully as outlined in the instructions. I towed with it yesterday for the first time, and it worked great!
Thanks Etrailer for great customer service and quick delivery. Received my rail kit in time to install for my weekend trip. Michelle s. Was very helpful in getting me the right part and at a great price.
Thanks"
Walter,r
First, the is a very heavy duty hitch. I watch the etrailer videos and the installation was simple. No issues at all. Second, I order from Matt who was very helpful an knowledgeable on the product. He said it would be delivered in two days. I laughed but low and be hold it was delivered in two days and the packing was incredible. I Thank you Matt for all you assistance.
Easy to install and works perfectly!
Super fast shipping! Many thanks!
This was an easy install. Very heavy and ready to pull my trailer!
An excellent experience with etrailer.com
Gwendolyn Y.
4/17/2025
The New hitch looks great in your truck, Frank! Have you taken it out for a spin yet?
Gwendolyn Y.
4/18/2025
Cammi, my customer support person was awesome. I told her what I needed and she recommended to perfect hitch. I was impressed with her knowledge of their products and how fast it was delivered. Installation was simple as long as you follow the very well written directions.
Brooke M.
2/5/2025
Cammi is going to love to see this review, Scott. Thanks for taking the time to write it! Ill be sure she gets to see it, and Im so happy to hear installation went off without a hitch! ;) Please let either me of Cammi know if we can help you out with anything else!
Scott
2/2/2026
My hitch is working great still. Easy to use no issues.
Normally I'm pleased with Curt hardware/equipment, but this time I'm not as impressed. This 5th wheel rail and mount kit was supposedly designed for my 2002 F250, however the mounts that bolt to the frame didn't fit properly. I had to ream out the factory holes in the frame to allow the front bolts to secure the mount to the frame, and I had to ream out two of the holes in the mount to allow the rear rail bolts to work. Also there is a hole in the center of the mount as well as a corresponding hole in the frame that could be used to provide a 3rd securing bolt for the mount to the frame, however the frame is designed with a concave portion the and the mount is flat. A spacer could be used to fill the gap, or the mount could have been designed to better forth the frame in this section. As it is, there are only 2 bolts per mount securing it to the frame. When I have time I'll find a spacer to fill this gap and add a 3rd bolt to better secure the mount and thus the rails to my pickup. The carbide finish looks great and the rails and mount are built strong, just they could have been designed to fit better and more secure than they were.
I previously owned the Curt A16. We needed a larger tow capacity so we purchased the A20 and decided to buy the S20 slider base as well. Too many sharp turning issues with our 6’8” Chevy standard bed HD3500 during maneuvering. The S20 slider should eliminate this issue. Also I love the design of both the A20 and S20.
Harvey
4/8/2026
This was a great purchase and it’s made backing into tight camping spots so much easier. 100 satisfied with this hitch and slider system!
Do you have a question about this 5th Wheel Hitch?
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Matt
7/9/2026
One year and zero issues after many trips pulling our 43ft toy hauler.