Demco Fifth Wheel Hitch
- DM8550041
- Sliding Fifth Wheel
- 13000 lbs GTW
- Demco
- Aftermarket Below Bed Rails
- Double Pivot
- Premium - Single-Hook Jaw
- 3250 lbs Vertical Load
- 15-1/4 - 18 Inch Tall
- 22-1/2 Inch Fore/Aft Travel
Hitch slides automatically as you drive to give you 22-1/2" 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:
- 5th-Wheel hitch mounts in your short-bed truck bed so you can tow your 5th-wheel trailer
- Automatic slider provides clearance required for your short-bed pickup to turn safety at slow speeds
- No more getting into and out of the truck to operate a manual slider
- Head slides toward the tailgate when you turn and back toward the cab when you straighten out
- Roller-and-guide assembly creates smooth and controlled movement
- Rotating hitch head turns up to 90 degrees with your trailer
- Rotation creates the force that propels the automatic slider
- Built-in brackets stabilize your pin box so the king pin won't rotate in the hitch - no need for a separate capture plate for standard, non-cushioned pin boxes
- Rail-free design allows for full access to truck bed when hitch is removed
- 2 Separate tracks allow for up to 2-3/4" of side-to-side clearance to keep pin box from hitting bed rails
- Wraparound, single-piece jaw provides a secure connection
- 360-Degree jaw-to-king-pin contact
- Less rattle and more security than slide-bar jaws
- 3/4" Thick, solid steel locking bar reinforces the connection of your coupled trailer
- Automatically locks into place when the jaw closes
- Double-pivot hitch head eases hookup and helps to limit chucking
- Pivots front to back and side to side
- 3 Height settings to fit your application
- Cushioning polyurethane dampeners help reduce noise and absorb road shock
- Spring-loaded handle with comfort grip allows for simple coupling
- Tethered safety pin lets you secure the handle in the open or the closed position
- Sturdy steel construction with rust-resistant black powder coat finish
- Custom underbed mounting kit (sold separately) required for installation
- Made in the USA
Specs:
- Designed for use on 5-1/2' and 6' truck beds
- Fits standard pin boxes 12" - 14" wide
- Locking plates (sold separately) are required for use with the following cushioned pin boxes: Glide Ride, Mor Ryde, Trailair Tri Glide, and 5th Airborne
- Gross towing weight: 13,000 lbs
- Vertical load limit: 3,250 lbs
- Travel: 22-1/2" front to back
- Hitch height settings: 15-1/4", 16-1/2", and 18"
- 5-Year limited warranty
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.
Automatic Slider Makes Cornering Easy
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 22-1/2" 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 Hijacker 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 Autoslide has a built-in roller-and-guide assembly that allows for smooth, controlled, and automatic movement. As your truck turns, this assembly also turns. When the assembly turns, an arm in the base of the hitch moves down 1 of 2 tracks in the interior of the base. This action causes the head to be pushed down one of the exterior tracks in the base. So, when your truck makes a sharp, slow-speed turn, the roller-and guide assembly inside the Autoslide forces 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 roller-and-guide assembly to function as designed, the pin box must be stabilized on the hitch head. Normally in a 5th-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.
![Demco Hijacker Autoslide capture bracket]()
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, 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.
Secure Wraparound Jaw with Locking Bar
![Demco Hijacker Autoslide wraparound jaw and locking bar]()
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.
Double-Pivot, Cushioned Hitch Head
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
The Autoslide hitch is specially designed to fit a Demco UMS custom underbed mounting kit (sold separately). The hitch comes pre-assembled for an easy installation. All you have to do is bolt on the side plates and attach the head to the hitch base.
The side plates have 2 functions. They contain the feet that fit into the receivers in your truck bed, 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 lower the hitch into the 4 UMS receivers in your truck bed. Turn the handles to lock the feet into the receivers and secure the handles with the included safety pins. The hitch can be removed to give you full truck bed access. Simply remove the safety pins, turn the handles to unlock the feet, and lift the hitch out of the receivers.
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 (22-1/2")
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" + 22" = 58". If your fifth-wheel trailer is 102" wide, take half (51"), then plug in: 58" - 51" = 7" of clearance.
Note: At least 4 inches of clearance is recommended to safely execute a 90-degree turn.
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Installation Details 
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