This hitch slides automatically as you drive to give you 14" of additional clearance for tight turns. A wraparound jaw provides a smooth ride and a locking bar offers added security. Pivoting head allows easy hook up and helps to limit chucking.
Features:
Specs:
Note: This fifth-wheel trailer hitch is not compatible with Sidewinder or Revolution king pins. Do not use any device that changes the pivot point of your trailer's king pin with this hitch.
Most often used on trucks with 6-1/2' beds, a slider helps to eliminate clearance problems during slow-speed turns. When you are towing a fifth-wheel trailer, your hitch must be situated on the cab side of your truck's rear axle. However, at slow speeds you can use a slider to slide the fifth-wheel hitch (and the trailer) toward your truck's tailgate and past the rear axle, creating enough space between the cab of your truck and the trailer to permit less-restricted turning.
Normally, you'd have to get out of your truck and pull a lever to release the slider before every turn, but what if there was an automatic system? Imagine having 14" of extra clearance while towing your fifth-wheel trailer. Now imagine having this without needing get out of the truck to move your slider. The Demco Autoslide makes this fantasy a reality. The Autoslide automatically glides back smoothly when you make a sharp turn so you can maneuver effortlessly around tight corners within campsites and parking lots.
The base of the Autoslide has a built-in rack-and-pinion gear system that operates automatically. As your truck turns, the pinion in the base also turns. This activates the rack gear, which causes the rotational force of the truck to be converted into the linear sliding action of the hitch. So, when your truck makes a sharp, slow-speed turn, the gears inside the Autoslide force the hitch head to slide down toward your truck's tailgate in a smooth, controlled motion. This way, any time that your truck turns more than 10 to 15 degrees, the Autoslide will ensure that there is enough clearance for your trailer to complete the turn as well, and it will do so without any jerking or binding.
In order for the rack-and-pinion assembly to function as designed, the pin box must be stabilized on the hitch head. Normally in a fifth-wheel hitch, the king pin moves inside of the hitch head so that the trailer can turn. With the Autoslide, the king pin remains fixed inside of the jaws of the hitch and it is the hitch head itself that turns. This is thanks to the capture brackets on the sides of the head that brace the pin box from both sides to hold it in place on top of the hitch head. This is done to ensure that there is enough resistance within the hitch when your truck turns to properly activate the rack-and-pinion gear mechanism.
To stabilize your pin box on the hitch head, simply push the capture brackets up against your pin box once the trailer is coupled and tighten the outer bolts and the inner jam nuts. The Autoslide head and brackets will fit standard pin boxes that are between 12" and 14" wide. If you have a Glide Ride, Mor Ryde, Trailair Tri Glide, Rota Flex, Lippert Road Armor, or 5th Airborne pin box, you must install a special locking plate (sold separately) as well.
When you straighten your rig out again and your trailer moves back in line, the hitch head will rotate back to center and slide back toward the cab into the straight towing position.
The single-piece, strong wraparound jaw completely surrounds your trailer's king pin for 360 degrees of contact. This wraparound jaw provides a more secure connection than standard 2-piece jaws that close in on the king pin from the sides. The increased jaw-to-king-pin contact on the Autoslide offers tighter tolerances around the king pin, which minimizes both rattle and chucking, for a smooth, quiet ride.
A 3/4" solid steel locking bar spans the area in front of the jaw. This bar provides an added barrier of protection against accidental disconnection so you can have peace of mind that your trailer is secure. The locking bar is attached to the jaw and to the spring-loaded handle. The bar automatically locks when the jaw closes around your king pin.
The double pivoting, cushioned head improves your towing experience dramatically by helping to reduce jarring and unwanted noise. Built-in pins allow the hitch head to pivot back and forth and side to side. And hooking up is easy because the hitch head will automatically pivot to the proper angle when it comes into contact with your pin box.
Three polyurethane dampeners help to cushion the movement from the pivoting head and to reduce towing noise. Two of these dampeners are built into the head assembly to cushion the head's side-to-side pivoting. The third dampener cushions the back-and-forth motion and must be installed in the hitch prior to use. Installation of this third dampener is easy - simply press the dampener up into the pre-drilled hole underneath the hitch head.
Easy Installation
Included with the Autoslide hitch is a rail adapter that's specific to the Chevy/GMC factory prep package. Just drop the adapter into the puck receivers built into your truck bed and lock them in place. Then you can position the pre-assembled hitch base in your bed and easily pin it to the rails. Just bolt on the side plates and attach the head to the hitch base, and you'll be ready to tow.
The side plates have 2 functions. They contain the feet that fit into the rails, and they allow you to raise or lower the hitch head to better match your pin box height. After you choose your desired height setting, simply bolt the side plates to the hitch base with the included hardware. Then attach the base to the rails with the included safety pins.
Clearance Formula for Short Bed Trucks
Use the formula below to ensure there will be enough space between your truck cab and trailer when executing a 90-degree turn.
(A+B) - C = Clearance
A = Distance from the center of fifth-wheel hitch jaw to truck cab
B = Length of Travel (14")
C = Width of trailer divided by 2 (to get half)
For example: If the distance from the center of the hitch to the cab is 36", 36" + 14" = 50". If your fifth-wheel trailer is 84" wide, take half (42"), then plug in: 50" - 42" = 8" of clearance.
Note: At least 4 inches of clearance is recommended to safely execute a 90-degree turn.
Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Jeff Hello, everybody. This is Jeff at etrailer.com. Today, we're gonna take a look at the replacement side plates for the Demco Hijacker Autoslide above bed mount fifth wheel trailer hitches. Now these will replace the side plates that came standard on your Demco Hijacker Autoslide above bed fifth wheel trailer hitches. It is designed to fit the Demco 13,000 pound, part number D-M-8-5-5-0-0-4-0 model. Fits the 18,000 model, part number D-M-8-5-5-0-0-3-4.
And it also fits the Demco 21,000 pound model, D-M-8-5-5-0-0-3-5. All three of those models we do sell separately on our website. Now when these side plates are attached to your Autoslide assembly it'll allow you to install your fifth wheel hitch in to your universal above bed base rails. These are a simple bolt on installation tier hitch base. You can see it does have multiple rows of bolt holes.
And the reason they do that is it let's you adjust your hitch height that you need for your application. It'll give you three different hitch height settings. Either 15 1/4 inches, 16 1/2 inches, or 18 inches. And the hitch height is critical because you wanna be able when you're towing your fifth wheel to be as level as possible. And the hitch height is always measured from the bottom of the truck bed to the top of the hitch head.
Now the finish on these, they have a nice rust resistant black powder coat finish on them. It is a steel construction. Does include everything shown here. Includes all the mounting hardware. All the pins and clips that'll attach it to your base rails.
And the nice set of instructions that'll describe how these install. And how it operates. But that should do it for your review on the replacement side plates for the Demco Hijacker Autoslide above bed mount fifth wheel trailer hitches..
I needed a little help moving the item. It weighs about 200lbs. Very easy installation. Took about 30 minutes. Put my 5th wheel hitch onto the product and pinned it down. Great item!!
I think that etrailer requires their employees to lie so as not to have any confrontations with customers on the phone. I placed two orders on 8/23 and immediately received followup emails that order received, order processed by (employee name) and then is in stock with associated time each step completed.
Then I noticed that shipping date kept getting 1 day later each day I checked order status. So, I contacted etrailer on day 5, 8/27 and find out my item was not in stock at all and would not be until mid Oct. Well,I then had them order me the same part by a different manufacturer and was told that it was in stock and would still be still be shipped 8/28 and delivered on 8/30, the same day my fifth wheel hitch is being delivered, so everything seemed rectified until I checked order status online the evening of 8/28 and find that the ship date again had been pushed back another day 8/29 with a delivery date of 9/1, (which is a Sunday). Seems that at this rate I may have it sometime in September. Going by their assurance of delivery on 8/30, I arranged to pickup my new camper on 9/5, that seems to be an impossibility at this time because Order #121389499 the installation kit with base rails is a very necessary part of the assembly. So, in closing I can only say that if you do not have the parts to ship, be honest and state the truth. This has made me feel very negative now toward etrailor as I already had become with Camping World. Is there any honesty in the RV parts aftermarket?
Gave my review elsewhere, but didn’t see a place to add pics. This is adapter was a perfect fit to my 2019 Chevy 2500HD 6-1/2’ bed truck, and allowed use of my Reese Pro Series 16K fixed hitch. It’ll work great towing my 10,000 lb. camper. The only thing to pay attention to is that the thumbscrew used to lock the lever in place after the adapter is installed, is ONLY a THUMB screw. I attempted to give it a final snug with a tool and it snapped right off.
This review is for the Demco Autoslide 21k and accompanying OEM rail adaptor I purchased for a 2020 Ram 3500 Megacab DRW. I've owned it one year. Overall, the hitch performs as I expected. It is high quality, very sturdy and seems like it will last for a long time. I had it installed at the dealer when I purchased the truck. It automatically slides to protect the cab in my 6'4" bed without any incidents. I tow a standard fifth wheel RV. There are a few negatives, which are not necessarily shortcoming of the product but, instead, necessary evils to allow me to have a short bed. First, it is BIG and BULKY. I believe this is just a function of the mechanism required to allow the autosliding feature and I am not really sure there are any other lighter alternatives with this feature. The fact it requires two parts (OEM Puck Rail and hitch), make it even more bulky. It takes up almost the entire bed and prevents most auxillary tank / tool box combos from fitting. Even standard size storage bins will not fit in my bed. I would prefer if they had a custom OEM all-in-one hitch for my truck like they do for the Ford. It adds significant weight, which decreases carrying capacity, which can be at a premium in hauling a heavy fifth wheel. I've never even tried to take it out of the bed due to the weight and difficulty. I also am not very happy with the adjustable catch plate design. It requires significant manipulation loosening and tightening 8 nuts when hitching and unhitching. This requires a step ladder to reach the nuts. I also found out after the fact that it does not come with the right size catch plate attachments for my hitch and I had to purchase a separate part, which added unexpected expense and delayed my taking the RV on its first trip. Overall, I am satisfied with the hitch.
I needed an adapter plate if i was going to utilize my old Reese sliding fifth wheel hitch.
It arrived in very short time . I was skeptical it would be able to securely be able to do the job. 1200 miles later i was home again. It worked great. I currently have it for sale as i have purchased a newer truck and the hitch or plate are compatible.
Great product though.
etrailer kept me informed as to the delivery status of my order and I was very please to receive the Demco adapter base for my 2018 GMC 2500HD a week early! The install was simple.
My only issue was the rear Demco product leveling studs that rest on the truck bed pucks were not the same thickness and that caused me some install delays. (See Photo.) etrailer, please let Demco know of this issue so they can improve.
Once I saw this I worked around the issue. Otherwise very well built product that saved me from having to buy a new 5th wheel hitch when I bought the new truck.
I have not received the Autoslide trailer hitch only the locking plate.
When will I get the hitch??
The demco hitch adapter arrived earlier than expected. Packaging was crap but it fit perfect and was real easy. I did sand & repaint the entire assembly. I also put on the new decals you sent me. (Thank you). When I need additional stuff you will be the company I contact
Fits perfect in my 2019 Silverado 3500hd. The bottom rear feet are not pins. They are flat that you adjust with a supplied Alan wrench. Pin the middle and adjust the feet to keep from rocking back and forth. Side to side. Fits my Reese 16k hitch nicely.
Dropped right in and fit great. Very easy to install. Installed to hold my 16k Pullrite Superglide in my factory 5th wheel prepped 2018 GMC Sierra 2500.
This is a quality piece of equipment. I can't wait to use it. The installation directions were complete and easy to follow. Looks fantastic.
Great product well built fit perfectly made my slider hitch install a breeze
Install was easy, product is as advertised and seems pretty beefy. Only Issue is the Wing Nut to lock it is a weak metal. There appears to be a bit of overspray or extra material making it difficult to get the screw in. My Wing nut sheared off when trying to get it locked down. Luckily I had a Steel Machine Screw with the same dimensions that I used in the second hole.
So far, So good, my adapter came two days after placing my order. Had it in in a few minutes, set my Huskey fifth wheel slider on it and was finished.
Thanks, for a great product.
Item arrived quicker than the back order stated surprisingly enough the thing was pretty heavy if I was a young kid would be easy. connection was simple and easy as well.
Great hitch. No capture plate to deal with, you can hook up to any 5th wheel. No more greasy pin box. No more watching the mirror wondering if your going to hit and damage the cab of your truck. Works perfectly. Built solid, though I did purchase the 21K for a 15K 5th wheel. Easy to lube. The only drawback I had was that it sat just a little bit high in the truck even on the lowest mounting holes. If you are thinking of purchasing this you may want to take some measurements first. I have an 08' F350 SD with air springs so it does set high. Before I bought it I called the factory (easy to reach and eager to help) and asked them, among other things," if the hitch broke, could I easily get parts for it?" They replied that if you need parts we will get them to you wherever you are. Overall I think this is the best hitch on the market.
Perfect fit packaging was fine arrived on time absolutely phenomenal system. Jesse M was a fantastic customer service representative explained a lot of stuff to me once it arrived installed within 15 minutes.
Was impossible to locate 5th wheel rail mount to fit fit my new 2019 GMC Denali built-in puck system until I called Donna P. at etrailer. The rail fits into all five holes pre-designed and built into my truck bed. Made a heavy-duty construction much heavier than the double rails normally used in truck beds it is certain to last a lifetime. The new Reese Hitch was just as impressive. Thank you Donna!
We just got it today, but it went in easy and can't wait to start pulling camper this summer! Shipping was fast! Thanks
The Demco rail adapter arrived at our house less than 48 hours after I placed the order. It fit perfectly in our 2018 Silverado 3500, and I was towing our fifth wheel the next day. Everything works as advertised. Thanks to Pat at e-trailer for answering my questions and helping me place our order.
I wish the place I bought my camper would have recommended this from the start. Makes owning a 5th wheel so much easier!
I had trouble with this hitch at first. I could not get it to close and latch properly when I backed into the king pin. I worked with tech services and ended up replacing the inner pivot parts and I have really not had any issues since. Because I have to have the locking plate for my pin box, you do have to line up the truck just right for it to latch properly, but once you figure that out, it is easy. The auto slide feature works really good. I have a short bed RAM truck and I have completely turned 90 degrees with my trailer attached and it slides back with no issues to miss my cab. I highly recommend this hitch. Also the Demco Tech Services guys are great to work with.
Best 5th wheel hitch ever for a RAM 3500 mega cab.
No issues with the RV coming close to the back of the cab or back glass.
I would recommend this hitch to anyone searching for a 5th wheel hitch for a Ram mega cab, I wish I knew about it when I first purchased my Ram mega cab, I learned the hard way, after busting out my back glass...and trying several hitches. This hitch is truly an autoslide. I have showed several short bed guys this hitch and told them the cost of the 5th wheel hitch is worth it.... It is top of the line. This will be the last 5th wheel hitch I will ever need to purchase.
Very easy to install and remove. Allows me to reuse the 5th wheel hitch that I already had.
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