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This hitch is built from sturdy steel and rated at 21,000 lbs gross towing weight with a 4,000 lbs vertical load limit. That’s serious capacity for hauling large fifth-wheel campers or toy haulers with confidence. The rust-resistant black powder coat gives it long-term protection, while the solid build provides a secure base that feels tight and stable every mile down the road.
Backing into a campsite or making a tight turn is easier thanks to the manual slider that gives you 14" of travel front to back. It creates the clearance needed for short-bed setups to turn safely at slow speeds and prevents the trailer from contacting the cab. The sliding action is smooth and predictable, letting you focus on positioning the trailer instead of worrying about bumping your truck.
The wraparound, single-piece jaw design gives full 360-degree king pin contact for a solid hookup. A 3/4" thick, solid steel locking bar reinforces the connection once coupled, reducing rattle and movement compared to slide-bar jaws. That means less chucking, fewer jolts from the trailer, and a towing feel that stays steady and quiet mile after mile.
The double-pivot hitch head moves front to back and side to side, helping it absorb bumps and angles in the road so your ride feels controlled. Polyurethane dampeners cushion movement and help reduce noise while soaking up road shock. The result is smoother towing that keeps both truck and trailer tracking together without harsh feedback through the cab.
Coupling up is straightforward with the spring-loaded handle and comfort grip that make it easy to latch onto your trailer’s king pin. Once locked, the tethered safety pin secures the handle in either open or closed position—no fumbling or dropped parts. It’s a small detail that adds up to smooth, repeatable hookups every time you’re ready to roll.
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, if you have a short bed truck, you can tow with a fifth wheel all the same as a long bed, right Well. (laughs) Kind of It all depends on the trailer and how cab-friendly your corners are on the front of the trailer. But in most cases, if you've got a 6 1/2 foot bed or even a 5 1/2 foot bed, you're going to have to have on some type of sliding hitch to move that trailer back when you're making those tight corners.
So if I'm, you know, kind of in a situation where I see it getting close to my cab corner, how does the slider work Okay, so here we're standing in front of our manual slider. So in this particular instance, the driver would have to hop out, they're just gonna pull this lever here. And that disengages it from lock forward. They'd set the trailer brakes and then pull this truck forward and then it'll lock in its rear position. Now they can make any kind of maneuvers they want.
We went ahead and moved back 14 inches to give them extra cab clearance, is what we just did there. So that, with really any combo of fifth wheel trailer, that should give you the clearance. Yes. No damage should occur, right Correct. And then so after, you know, gas station or or the campsite where it's a tight turn, you make that turn, this needs to go back in its original position.
Yep, absolutely. Again, driver's gotta jump out and just kinda reversed what we just did. Flip the lever back this way, hold the trailer brakes again, and then just back up with the truck and it's gonna lock into the tow position is what we call this. Okay. And then as far as application, this is OEM prep Yeah, this happens to be OEM prep, but actually one of the key things that Demco does is, you know, people are trading trucks all the time.
So you'll notice these side plates are just bolted on. So we can actually go into a Demco rail mount, we can go into a Demco underbed mount, and then we can go into all the factory parts systems as well. It's just a matter of changing out these side plates. Okay, well say, you know, I don't want to get outta my truck, it's raining or whatever, to make that turn, there's ways to have, you can omit that. Absolutely. So then we hop into what we call our automatic sliding series hitch. So we'll move on over here. We actually have three different options there. We have a 13,000 pound tow capacity, and that one's really meant for your half ton pickups with the 5 1/2 foot bed. That's gonna move further faster. And then we have our 18,000 and 21,000 pound capacities. Those are more designed for your F-250, 350 and your 2500 series from Ram and GM. And okay, so how does it auto slide You know, that one has a handle obviously, but if I don't have to do anything, how does it mechanically work Alright, so you'll see on the top of the head of the hitch we have these, what we call capture plates. They're kind of built into the head of the hitch. And these are adjustable. So depending on the width of your pin box, when you hitch up, you're gonna adjust this to about 1/16 of an inch away from each side of the pin box. It's a one-time set unless you're pulling multiple trailers. But if you're pulling the same trailer, it's a one-time set, it allows you to be able to slide in and out. But what we do, then, is the pin box is captured here in the head of the hitch, and the head is actually gonna rotate with the trailer. And as the head rotates, it drops into a rack and pinion gear system. You'll see we've got three bolt heads on each side here, and there's a rack gear here, and then there's a big main gear here. And as that turns, the gear engages, and the more you turn, the more it slides, and it'll do that in forward or reverse. So as you're backing up, you're going, "How's my head gonna go forward when I'm backing up" But we're just gonna go right walking back down that gear track, and the head will return right back to the home position when you're straight. Now, these capture plates, obviously adjustability, are there limitations as far as what kingpin you can attach to We do have a few limitations. We try to mitigate that as much as possible, but some of our suspension style pin boxes, we do need a separate capture plate. And the reason for that is a suspension style pin box, your kingpin plate usually moves separately from the rest of the pin box. And so sometimes these will interfere with that movement action. So then we put a wedge behind the kingpin. But any of your standard non-suspension pin box, good to go right here. Nothing else needed. Okay. Now, the 13K you mentioned is for the half ton, and it it operates in a slightly different way. It does. So we'll talk a little bit about the 13K. You'll notice the head of the hitch is identical to the 18 and 21 K, but the base of the hitch is quite different. So what we learned, a lot of your half ton campers that are designed to be half ton tow built behind your pickup, they've got an extended pin box on them already. So as the head of the hitch turns, sometimes you can get the back of that pin box into the side of the pickup, especially if you've got like Tonneau cover rails, or you got the decorative rails on top of the bed. So what this hitch does is as you turn, it's going to select the correct track, and it'll move over 2 3/4 inches. And what it does is it pulls the back of that pin box away from your Tonneau cover rails or your decorative bed rails so you don't have a collision there. And this one's gonna slide back a little bit more. This one's 21 1/2 inches in slide. So it's gonna move back further faster than our 18 and 21 K hitch. Got the wraparound jaw system as well with a lock bar that goes across the side there to keep everything nice and secure. Brad Why is that something that someone want Verlin 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 shell style, and that just gives a little more opportunity for chucking to begin rather than a full wraparound. Well, and we actually got the chance to see this manufactured today at their facility, and it's really cool the technology that goes into it. Great company, family owned. Lot of love put into this. Verlin Absolutely. Demco stands behind all their hitches, made right here in Boyden, Iowa. And that's another thing too. I mean you get people that have been in the industry for as long as they have, you know, again, family owned, American-made. It's really hard to beat. And the fact that it's an auto-slide, again, if you're gonna be towing a flat, a fifth wheel quite often, and you do have to make those sharp turns, everyone says, "Oh, I'll be fine." Well, you get yourself into one or two pickles and you don't want to get it out of the truck, you can solve that problem with the Autoslide. Absolutely. So huge thanks Verlin for taking the time to show us the Demco Autoslide as well as their sliding Recon.
Ratings & Reviews
Gwendolyn Y.
5/21/2025
5th wheel looks great in your truck, Paul! What kind of trailer are you hauling?
Victoria H.
3/18/2025
Thanks Patrick! I appreciate you taking the time to share your valuable insight. It looks like you're ready to roll. Do you have any trips planned yet?
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!
Kevin
11/20/2023
Pretty good. Still rotating a little. I tightened the main bolt to the ball more than the 30lbs. It’s not rotating as much as it has been. Still haven’t figured out if or where I would drill a hole for a bolt to go in. I’m not really wanting to do that yet.
Mike L.
11/22/2023
Jeremiah
9/9/2025
Looks good works good, pull a triple axle Roy hauler rv. No complaints
Gwendolyn Y.
5/19/2025
I totally agree needing a second person to help get the hitch in the bed, it is a very heavy hitch for sure. Have you taken it out for a trip yet with your 5th wheel?
Do you have a question about this 5th Wheel Hitch?
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Heather A.
5/26/2026
Thanks for the feedback, we’d like to take a closer look with you to make sure everything is set up correctly. On a 2026 Silverado, the truck height can vary depending on configuration, so a few details will really help us narrow this down. When you have a moment, could you let us know what trailer make and model you’re towing, and whether it’s sitting nose-high or nose-low when connected? Also, do you know which hitch height position you’re currently using on the Demco Recon 5th Wheel Hitch w/ Slider (top, middle, or bottom setting), and whether you’re using the factory puck system on your Silverado? Once we have that information, we can help confirm whether this is an adjustment issue or if another setup change is needed to get everything sitting level.