Most Popular 5250 lbs Vertical Load for 1996 Ford F-150

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.

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.

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?

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.

There is a very pronounced clunking and jolting at times when turning from a stopped or slowed position. Perhaps it’s more the angle (90 degrees) than the speed.

Love this hitch. While it is heavy it provides the stability and auto slide capability that I need to comfortably drive my 5th wheel thousands of miles. I have never had my 5th wheel contact my cab no matter how tight I turn.