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This hitch is designed for serious towing, rated for 16,000 lbs gross towing weight and a 4,000 lbs vertical load limit. The steel construction and carbide powder coat finish give it lasting strength and durability. It’s a solid setup that feels secure under load and stays that way over long hauls. The included base rails and mounting kit make for a straightforward installation so you can get towing with confidence.
The interlocking 2-jaw system wraps around the king pin for 360-degree contact, cutting down on rattle and movement compared to slide-bar models. You get a quieter, more stable ride with less chucking between the truck and trailer. The fully articulating torsion head helps control coupling and smooth out road shock, so every mile feels steady and controlled.
The color-coded lock indicator takes the guesswork out of hitching up. Red means uncoupled, yellow means ready to couple, and green means you’re locked in for towing. The indicators are visible from the cab so you can double-check your connection without climbing into the bed. When you unhook, the handle automatically resets to the ready-to-couple position, saving time for your next hookup.
The S20 slider provides 12 inches of front-to-back travel to create extra clearance when making slow turns with a short-bed truck. It automatically latches in both directions so you only have to step out once when setting up for tight turns. The non-binding design lets it move smoothly even on uneven ground, helping prevent contact between the cab and trailer during sharp maneuvers.
When it’s time to clear the bed, this design makes it easy for one person to remove. The head lifts off quickly with a single pin, breaking down into manageable pieces without tools. Two built-in zerk fittings keep everything lubricated for smooth operation, and the included plastic lube plate ensures the king pin glides in easily each time you hitch up.
Alternate Instructions
Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Hi everyone, Aidan here with etrailer. Today we're gonna be taking a look at this replacement fifth wheel head for your A16 or your Q16 fifth wheel hitches from Curt. So if you're getting this as a replacement head it's gonna function just like your old one. You can see right away It's got the same torsion system that's acting as a sort of cushioning system. When we're hooked up to our trailer it's gonna help us create a smoother ride going down the road with that side to side, front to back and even on the diagonal movement, all absorbing that shock but also helping us with the hookup process by moving and meeting the kingpin as we're guiding it back. The dual jaw system here, they overlap with each other to create really solid contact on the kingpin 360 degrees around.
And if we move over to the side here those jaws can be controlled by the handle secured in place by a pin and clip that can be swapped out for a padlock if you want that security aspect, pulling the handle out and back, we'll open up those jaws or in the coupling mode I've got a dummy king pin here that will slide back in. The open flare here will guide it into position and then as it backs up, we're hooking up to our trailer. The handle will snap back into place fully locked in and we can just resecure it with our pin and clip. Now a good way to know if we're fully coupled is the indicator on the back. You can see it's green right now which means we're positively coupled and good to go.
But if I undo that handle here, partially you'll see it switched to that red and in the fully open position it'll switch to yellow letting us know we're ready to back up to our trailer. And then as we back up that kingpin slides in, it'll swing past that red and when it's fully latched in, go back to green. With the positioning of this, it's easy to see from the cab of the truck so you don't have to get out to check on it. You can just look back there and see if you've got a good couple. With the fifth wheel head here we are gonna have a weight capacity.
It can handle 16,000 pounds of gross trailer weight rating. That's how much weight it can pull and has a vertical load limit, that downward pressure of 4,000 pounds. Be sure to check whether it be the leg kit, the slider base or your truck and go by the lowest rating component in the system but know that that's what the fifth wheel head can handle. You've got your three different points of height adjustment on the side. Again, depending on whether you're using the slider base like we are today or the just regular legs that are fixed, that height may change but you do have three different options for the adjustment.
What I can tell you though is that the whole spacing is 2" apart for each interval of that height adjustment. So just take that into account whenever you're setting this up for your truck and trailer combination. The whole fifth wheel head is gonna be a steel construction with a carbide black powder coat finish over top of it to help it resist rust and corrosion over time. Now with any sort of finished scratches and scuffs can be a danger to it because if you scratch away the finish it's way more susceptible to rust and corrosion over time. It does come included though with a lube plate which will sit between the head of the fifth wheel and your pin box with the kingpin right in the center here and reduce that metal on metal contact to make sure that the finish hopefully lasts a lot longer, keeping your whole fifth wheel looking like new. Speaking of keeping things operating like new you do have two zerk fittings on that dual jaw design here. So you can apply grease regularly to keep them operating smoothly. If you don't wanna leave this in your truck bed full-time and you want to take it out, it can be pretty heavy but you can separate the head into two pieces by taking out that first pin and clip and this large pin that runs through the center of the fifth wheel head. And that will allow us to actually separate the head from the body of the fifth wheel here. So it makes everything a lot lighter and easier to get in and out. And with it out you can see the rubber isolators that are located inside. That's part of the torsion system that we're talking about earlier. And what helps cushion the whole movement here and keep everything operating nice and smoothly as well as reducing noise. Being able to break it down really helps with the installation process because you can do it all on your own relatively easily. So let's go ahead and walk through that process with you now. Now since this is a replacement head you could be replacing it on a standard fifth wheel rather than this slider kit that we're doing this with in which case you'll be needing to use the hardware that came with your fifth wheel originally that bolt, lock washer and flat washer that threads into the legs on your A16 hitch. With that being said, if you are missing these, you will need to get new hardware because the hardware that comes with the replacement head is going to be that bolt and nut. Getting this installed, it might be a little easier to have a second set of hands, but if you can grab it by the center and get one of your bolts started just to help hold it in place on either end, that would be ideal and then we can get the nuts installed later after repeating this on both sides. Now at this point you wanna take your wrench and socket and actually start to tighten these down in all four corners and then we can torque it to the specifications found in our instructions. For the torque wrench, it's pretty easy to rent these out or borrow them but if you wanna get your own you can find those here at etrailer. Just make sure to find the proper torque spec and your instructions and repeat that for the other three bolts. With everything torqued down we can take the head unit and drop it down into place, securing it with the large pin going in through the back of the whole assembly and securing out front with our smaller pin and retaining clip. And that's really all there is to it for the installation process, it's gonna be a very basic easy to use replacement for your A16 or your Q16 fifth wheel hitches. Just deep in mind that if you're replacing one with the standard legs that you do have the appropriate hardware either reusing the old one or getting new hardware. And if you're gonna be dropping it in place in a situation like this with the S20 slider, know that the hardware it comes with is gonna be exactly what you need. But that'll do it for our look at this replacement fifth wheel head for your A16 or your Q16 hitches from Curt. Thanks for watching.
Ratings & Reviews
Don C.
8/26/2018
So far excellent!!!
Jerry C.
3/27/2014
This is a little confusing. Is the correct measurement 26 34 or 26 1/4 ??I installed a Curt rail kit a couple years ago. I do recall that if you use the instructiondimension...things line up better on a Dodge front rail if everything would have been about a 1/2 inch further rearward. Is there any way this can be clarified? I am starting on another install today. thanks.
Patrick B.
3/28/2014
Robert
3/16/2020
So far really good. Thankyou
Arron M.
2/19/2017
Another great item that has worked flawless. Would definitely buy it again!
Ed P.
9/2/2018
works just as it should, no problems
Ed S.
9/17/2018
After 1 year still working as when I installed it, nothing loosened up and solid the rails are a definite plus.
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Sequel
9/9/2015
I still have no complaints I have pulled my 35ft fifth wheel camper multiple times already and it did great. I have since recommended etrailer site to everybody I know that needs hitches. Thank you again for making it so easy to order and install!