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The Demco Recon is designed to handle serious towing with a 21,000-lb gross towing weight rating and 4,000-lb vertical load limit. The sturdy steel construction and black powder coat finish give it the strength and durability to stay solid under heavy loads. This fixed 5th-wheel hitch delivers the kind of dependable pull you want when hauling large trailers across long distances.
A full-contact connection makes all the difference when towing heavy rigs. The Recon’s wraparound, single-piece jaw completely surrounds the king pin for 360-degree contact. That design, combined with a 3/4" thick solid steel locking bar, keeps movement to a minimum and helps prevent accidental uncoupling. The jaw automatically locks when closed, giving you a secure hookup you can trust every time you hitch up.
Rough roads and sharp turns are easier to manage with the Recon’s double-pivot hitch head. It pivots front to back and side to side so the trailer stays in line while absorbing bumps through built-in polyurethane dampeners. Those dampeners cut down on noise and shock, making for a quieter, smoother ride mile after mile.
Getting the right height and level trailer setup is simple thanks to three hitch height options—15-1/2", 17-1/4", and 18". Just slide the head assembly into the base, choose your height, secure it with the included pin, and tighten it down to eliminate rattle. The lightweight, two-piece design makes installation straightforward and quick without heavy lifting equipment.
When it’s time to open up your truck bed, the Recon breaks down easily into two manageable pieces. Each section is light enough to remove without extra help or tools, so you can switch from towing mode to open bed space in minutes. It’s a practical setup for anyone who uses their truck for both hauling and everyday work.
Alternate Instructions
Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Hello neighbors, it's Brad here from Etrailer. And today I'm in Boyden, Iowa at the Demco headquarters and manufacturing facility where we got to see Demco products made. And these are all products that I handle on a daily basis when doing flat tows, fifth wheels, or even couplers. They cover so many different towing products and they have plenty of experts here to break down some of their products a little bit more to give you some understanding as well as allow me to ask those questions on products that I handle every day. So Verlin, when it comes to getting a fifth wheel installed into a truck. Nowadays there's the OEM prep package or the puck system.
Yep. But I have an older truck and I still want to tow a fifth wheel. What's the best way to do that Well, absolutely. So Demco offers the industry standard bed rail option. So as you can see here, we've got a set of the industry standard bed rails.
From there, we have frame bracket that fit specifically to any year make and model truck that you have, basically. We do go back quite a number of years and we also have a lot of no drill options. That makes it a lot easier. Yeah, a lot of those brackets being custom designed to a vehicle means it's gonna use factory holes to bolt up. You got it.
That's exactly right. So wherever we can, we're using factory holes in the frame to bolt up those brackets onto the frame of the truck. Of course, we do have just four holes that we need to drill at the end of the rails to drop the bolts in, but otherwise, yeah, very easy installs. Now you mentioned ISR standard, I know what that is, but what is ISR standard Okay, so I'll talk a little bit about industry standard rails. You'll see here that's the slots here in the rails that the hitches pin into.
And so you'll find most manufacturers, not all but a majority of us have what we call industry standard rails. And that means the spacing here with the slots where the hitch actually pins in are all standard. And so you can take a Demco hitch and put it into another manufacturer's bed rails or you can take another manufacturer's hitch and put it into our bed rails. That makes sense. And I have done quite a few rail installation kits. It does help to have a fifth wheel base at least to do that, correct Absolutely, so yeah, you'll wanna put your fifth wheel in as you're doing the install and get the fifth wheel pinned in and that way you'll get the exact alignment for the rails in the bed of the truck. Yeah, and there's little tolerances between them all. So yeah, having the proper one that you're gonna be using makes a lot of sense. Absolutely, yep. And in fact, we have the recon here. Yeah, so we'll talk a little bit about our recon. So this is a little bit different than what most people are used to with the fifth wheel, it's more of a pyramid designed base. And what we did there is instead of using the outer slots of the rails, we use the middle set of slots on the industry standard rails. Gives the user a little more room in the bed of their truck, also makes this hitch real lightweight. So we're looking at just under 100 pounds for this hitch. And that's nice too because you know if you use your truck as a full on truck, a lot of times those fifth wheels take up a ton of space. And I'm telling you the footprint on this compared to some of the other ones out there, you're right, you could still use your truck bed. But if you do have to take it out 100 pounds, it's a one person job, Right, absolutely. So what we can do is we can pop the head off of this hitch and I'll just give, kinda give you a real little example here. We'll pull this pin. The head of the hitch weighs 35 pounds and that can be taken out by one individual set off to the side. Pull the four pins here and then the base can be lifted right out too. What I like to do is throw the pin back in that you just had the head attached with and here you've got your carry handle, the carry right outta the bed of your truck. Brad That's a feature right there, I like that. Now I see some blue in here. Is that urethane Verlin Yeah, there's a couple little urethane bumpers in here. What that does is as you're traveling down the road without the trailer on and the head will tip back and forth over the road, so you don't have that clunkiness of the head of the hitch. Also, on the bottom side of the hitch, you'll see we've got one of those blue rubber bumpers as well. And what that does is it keeps the head tilted back so you're always ready for hookup and it dampens that noise again when you're not towing. Got the wraparound jaw system as well with the lock bar that goes across the side there to keep everything nice and secure. Brad Why is that something that someone would want It's an extra added security for number one and number two, we go fully around 360 degrees around that kingpin. So we help eliminate some of the chucking. You're probably familiar with some competitors. They've got more of a clam shelf style and that just gives a little more opportunity for chucking to begin rather than a full wraparound. So with the ISR rails, a lot of times it's gonna be custom fit bracket to Ford, Chevy, and all the years in between. How do you guys even go about making those goods All right, well Demco has got relationships with local dealers around and as well customers. So what we do is we try to find the trucks as soon as they hit the lot and get 'em into our facility. We also use a software that we do get from SEMA and get some of the basic frame information on the auto manufacturers from SEMA and use that as well to help design 'em. But one thing we always do is we'll do our design work ahead of time and then we actually get the truck just to verify everything fits. And if you're unfamiliar with putting rails in your truck, those custom fit brackets they're talking about, it's gonna sandwich around the frame of the truck. I mean you're towing quite a bit of weight down the road. And it's gonna go directly to the frame and then go to the rails up top on that bed, allow you to drop in that fifth wheel. And after seeing your guys' manufacturing facility, I got to see these made in America. Verlin Made right here in the USA, right in Boyden, Iowa. Verlin, huge thanks for taking the time to show us Demco's ISR rails for fifth wheel as well as the recon. Absolutely, appreciate you guys stopping by. Thank you.
Ratings & Reviews
very good product although when unhitching rv it wants to trip the latch. I had to address that problem by drilling a hole in the trip bar for the pin to hold it open.
It was a SOB! getting it installed, welding process warped feet and did not just fit into place as expected. It took some coaxing with a nine pounder on the feet tabs to fit my rails, luckily mild carbon steel is workable, however it did upset the finish. A QA check needs to be done on final dimensions prior to powder coating!
Ed
10/12/2022
Worked great. However after being shocked by high fuel prices and a couple of trips we sold 5th wheel and down sized to a TT, You want to buy a slightly used Demco Hitch?
The hitch arrived in four days was easy to install in truck not too heavy for a 70 year old man hooks up easy and I really like the double locking jaw the only issue I had was the wedge for my sidewinder the bolt holes did not line up took me about an hour making holes longer to be able to bolt up
love the three piece set-up of these hitches...makes them light weight and easy to handle...also when not in use there is a topper on my truck and the covertability of the hitch allows me to use my bed platform without removing the hitch...just remove two pins and back off the lock bolt and its low enough to use the two tier stacking feature of most trucks
product delivered on time and as described. This hitch is easy to move in and out of the bed of my truck with it being able to come apart. Thanks.
Randy
3/21/2019
I really liked the hitch as it was light and easy to use. I have purchased a new truck and needed a slider as it is a short bed. I purchased the rail kit from etrailer and as always it a superior product.
Seems to be a well built hitch and the 3 piece design is VERY nice in the load/unload space. Why this received 3 stars is that it was missing parts and the base was beat up badly (cosmetic) when received. Missing parts included the pins to connect the base to the rails and the pin to connect the neck to the base. Not usable at this point. Etrailer is sending out the parts, and I'll contact Demco for new stickers. Will update review and photos once I have used it.
Hitch came in two boxes UPS. The head was stapled and secured in one box. The base and upright piece came, not in a box, but rolled up in cardboard and taped up with clear packing tape. I put it together so I could hook up and set the height and there is no hitch pin and lynch pin. I don’t know if it was rolled up in the cardboard and lost in shipping or wasn’t packed at all. I also didn’t get the instruction manual and had to go to Demcos website for it. The base and upright being rolled up together banged up the base or it was used and returned and that is why it was rolled up and not in a box. Now I have a hitch that I can’t use because I didn’t get all the parts. Called etrailer for the hitch pin and lynch pin and don’t know when it’ll arrive because it’s not an etrailer part. I can’t review the hitch because as of yet I can’t use it.
Well it came in two pieces the head and the base not a big deal but they came A WEEK apart when I paid for expedited shipping. They tried to blame it on ups but I looked at the second tracking order after the first boxes arrived and it says the label had been made but not at ups so it shipped far after the other boxes. Then when I took the 5th wheel had out of the box the bolt that holds the handle on had a smaller size nut so you can’t even assemble the head. I went here hoping to get the stuff I needed for my 5th in a timely matter but got the opposite… not saying I will not order from here again but I will definitely think twice before I do.
Excellent product and customer service was outstanding. I just bought the product so I haven’t towed with it yet but after many many years of towing with other fifth wheel hitches, I can tell this is going to be an huge improvement!
First shipment had a problem, the box with the base was ok. The box with the hitch head was empty except the release handle. Etrailer promptly sent out a second box with the hitch head that arrived intact. Etrailer had me send some pictures of the damaged first box and then handled the problem with UPS completely on their own. Prompt service to resolve the problem is highly commendable.
Product arrived on time, correct and in perfect condition.
The only issue I am having with the fifth wheel hitch is latch handle will not stay open (out) when hooking up or disconnecting from king Pin sometimes (and yes, I know how to work a fifth wheel hitch). If it wasn't for that I would give it 5 stars.
Haven't used it yet but it's unlikely to be anything but 5 stars. I'll update review if so. The hitch came in 2 boxes. The head was packages in a HD box. The box that the base came in was battered pretty bad. But, no marks in the base. All hardware arrived. Took about 15 minutes to assemble and get set up.
Robert
3/1/2020
I am very happy with this hitch. Easy to hitch. Rock solid connection. Easy to disassemble to be removed. Great buy.
This was an upgrade from the dealer installed hitch. Best purchase since I didn't know how much longer the old hitch would last. After purchase, I was at the dealership and saw they were now selling the same hitch. Solid and rattle free.
Jane S.
4/9/2021
Excellent
The product arrived as scheduled and all the parts and pieces were in the two boxes. It installed quickly in my pickup and I hooked it to the fifth wheel and moved it forward and back. Seems to work well, takes all the slop out of the hitch. The hitch seems to be well constructed and the double latch is what I was looking for.
Jess A.
7/20/2018
I love the hitch it is possitive locking and there is no movement when it is latched around the pin
works every time has never failed, replaced a curt 20k that i used for 10 years,lots of times it wouldnt click and lock .easy to use no chucking.very happy with this hitch.3 years ago i installed air lift air bags ,love them too!!etrailer is a great place to buy from
Robert K.
11/12/2020
real well,hooks up easily,the bolt that snugs up hitch head broke in half,called denco and had a new one in 4 days.very satisfied with hitch
Looks great nice workmanship. Easy to install.
Packaging on large components should be changed??? Need custom molded styrofoam to slide on two sieds and hold product in shipping box. Will include pictures of delivered packages
This is a really nice hitch for the money. Extremely easy to installl for one person. I can’t wait to pull my camper with it. The only problem I had was how badly damaged the package was when delivered. Fortunately the hitch was not damaged. The picture shows how it was when I got it.
Ordered hitch late Wednesday evening and received early afternoon on Friday, that is super fast delivery. Two cartons received with no damage and all parts were there as expected. It looks exactly as advertised online and it was at a great price. AND FREE SHIPPING.
Also made in the USA.
I am replacing my Demco Hi Jacker Auto Slider that weighs approximately 300 lbs with the Demco Recon that according to the shipping labels weighs 91 lbs. It will be installed on a Ford F150 with 5 1/2 ft bed and fiver with a Lippert Turning Point Pin box.
Rugged product, easy to install, quick latch system. easy to remove. Purchased the Reese adapter with this hitch, and installation was easy. Some minor adjustments with the cam over lugs, and setting the hitch posts into the adapter. Overall very easy set up. Looks good, and can be taken apart in pieces, for ease of removal and installation, after set up. Ordering was simple and all parts came in about a week.
Parts arrived for the DM 8550043, received only the hitch base plate and adjustable shaft for the hitch head. Have been told that the hitch head is shipped separately. Now have a problem with the hitch plate fitting the bed rails. The holes for the pin that secures the hitch plate to the rails are to close to the bottom of the hitch plate photos are given of the problem a pencil was used for reference. There is NO WAY the pin will go through the rail and hitch plate. Waiting on a solution from etrailer. The hole that you can barely see the pencil is tailgate rails pin fits fine.
This hitch with the Airbourne Sidewinder worked great with the 2018 Ram 2500 Mega cab short bed with Ram boxes. Can maneuver a 90 degree turn without issue. Still have to get trailer lifted higher to get the trailer nose lowered, but for the complicated research we had on the right combo, this is tested and verified
Already pulled the rv with it. I like the design. Literally ripped open the box and put it together in a matter of minutes. The three pieces come apart fast lightening it up to remove it from the bed
Jeremiah
9/9/2025
Looks good works good, pull a triple axle Roy hauler rv. No complaints
I had a Demco Recon 5th Wheel Hitch in the past I liked how easy it was to operate and the get in and out of the truck bed. I also like how compacted it is compared to most of the other brands. Go with what you know works for you.
The truck that got the install is a 2002 Ford F350 Super Duty 7.3 L Diesel dually. The Demco Recon 5th wheel hitch (DM8550043) looks like a well made, heavy duty hitch. All the welds are precise and well done. I like the single wrap around jaw with the real thick bar that backs that up. The handle that pulls out to unlock the jaw moves with ease and locks in the out position when the jaw opens. When the king pin comes in contact with the back of jaw, the jaw wraps around the king pin, the handle closes, you put in the safety pin and your ready to go RVing. I chose the Husky Custom Rails and installation kit (HT31405-686) for my install. The reason I chose these rails over the ones that etrailer had matched up for the hitch is, I had previously installed a set of Airlift Airbags and I didn't want the rail install to interfere with the airbags. It was a good choice, there was no interference at all. If I had not had the bags, I would have chose the rails and install kit that require no drilling. Drilling the holes went very fast and easy, it was torking the rear bolts down that was very difficult. There was not enough room to get a wrench of any kind around the nut. I wound up using a set of vise grips on the nut while a friend of mine torked the bolt slowly from above.
All and all I'm happy with the product and I'll give another review in a year.
Harvey
3/3/2020
This Demco 21K fifth wheel hitch is a great piece of equipment. I have pulled my 40 Heartland Bighorn fifth wheel as far north and west as Wisconsin and south and east as Florida. It has performed like I thought it should and beyond. I am sure glad that I chose the Recon over any of the more expensive brands. Its a real performer and it looks pretty cool too!
Do you have a question about this 5th Wheel Hitch?
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Jenny N.
10/19/2021
The Recon is designed to work with industry standard rails however we have seen rails that were not installed correctly in the bed or shifted so that it is throwing off the hole positioning as the rails are independent of each other. I would recommend measuring the rails to ensure that the front to back measurement is 29 inches and the side to side measurement is 22 inches.