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This hitch is made to handle big fifth wheels with a 20,000 lbs gross towing weight and a 5,000 lbs vertical load limit. The sturdy steel construction and durable carbide powder coat finish give it the strength and protection needed for long hauling. You get a solid towing setup that feels stable and secure mile after mile.
The rounded, interlocking two-piece jaw wraps completely around the king pin to create full 360-degree contact. That tight grip helps cut down on rattle and movement you’d get from slide-bar models, keeping things quiet and steady while you drive. It’s a design that makes hitching easier and gives you a safer, more controlled ride.
You can see exactly what the jaws are doing thanks to Curt’s three-point indicator system. Red means uncoupled, yellow means ready to couple, and green means you’re locked in for towing. The indicator is visible right from the cab, so you always know your connection status before pulling away.
For those slow turns where clearance gets tight, the non-binding S20 slider provides 12" of front-to-back travel. It automatically latches in both directions so you only have to step out once when setting up. That extra movement helps keep your truck and trailer from making contact during sharp maneuvers at low speeds and makes backing into tight spots easier.
When it’s time to clear out the truck bed, the fast one-pin head removal lets one person lift off the hitch without tools. Built-in zerk fittings make lubrication simple, and the included plastic lube plate helps the king pin glide smoothly into position each time you hook up. It’s a smart setup for anyone switching between towing duty and everyday 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
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.
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
Matt
7/9/2026
One year and zero issues after many trips pulling our 43ft toy hauler.
Ronald B.
3/2/2022
Great
Jonathon
2/8/2020
Was easy to install
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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!