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This hitch manually slides to give you 14" of clearance for tight turns. Sturdy wraparound jaw has a locking bar for added security. Pivoting head allows easy hook up and helps limit chucking. Polyurethane bumpers ensure a smooth ride.
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Specs:
Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Hi there, I'm Michael with etrailer.com. Today we're gonna take a quick look at this Demco Recon manual slide 5th wheel trailer hitch. Now this is a 5th wheel hitch that's gonna mount into your short bed RAM twenty five hundred and thirty five hundred. So you can tow your 5th wheel trailer. This is going to have the manual slide on it. So oftentimes with your shorter bed pickup trucks, it's hard to tow your 5th wheel trailer, because if you get into a tight spot where you need to make a tight turn, you have limited clearance there before you have contact between your trailer and your cab.
So having a slider like this, is going to give you more clearance, so you can make those slow, tight turns. And the way this works, once you find yourself in that situation, you'll get outta your truck. We've got the handle here that will allow us to pull it out of the locked mode, put it into the slider mode, and then this will move back towards your tailgate up to 14 inches. So you can make that tighter turn, have that clearance that you need, and then when you get everything straightened back out, you can simply get back outta your truck again, move it into the locked position, and that's going to put the weight of your trailer exactly where it needs to be above your axle so that you can travel safely at highway speeds again and that sort of thing. Now, when you're looking at systems like this, you have your manual set up.
or you also have auto slides. So those are going to save you the hassle of having to get out of your truck, put it into your sliding position, and then put it back in when you're done. Those are gonna be a lot more convenient for you, but they're also a lot more expensive. So if you, it doesn't quite fit in your price range, this is gonna give you that same functionality, but it is going to require a little bit more effort for you. This model specifically does, is made here in the USA, of a very sturdy steel construction.
So it is gonna hold up really well for you. It's got a black powder coat finish to help resist rust and corrosion. That steel construction is going to give us the 21,000 pound gross towing weight. It also has a vertical load limit of 5,250 pounds. So keep that in mind.
Make sure that it's gonna work for your trailer set up. And this is designed specifically for your 2013 and newer RAM 2500 and 3500. Now with the factory, or OEM prep package. Now I've got these side rails loosely installed here, and that's why they're kind of hanging down. Obviously you'll want to tighten these bolts before you get it installed. But what this is gonna do for you, it's gonna allow you to use that factory prep package. So you'll just open up these feet here, to the open position. That will allow you to simply set this down into your factory pucks, and then you'll slide that arm back in place, and put your pin on to lock it in place. And that's gonna give you that solid connection to your factory puck system. So you've already got that installed on your ram. This will allow you to take advantage of it, and have that nice solid connection. Our head here does have the wraparound single piece jaw that's gonna provide that nice secure connection, between the hitch and your kingpin on your trailer. Having that 360 degree contact between your jaw and the kingpin, is going to create less rattling, and more security than your slide bar jaws. We'll open it up here, so you can kind of see how this operates. So we've got it in the open locked position. So you'll put it in that position, then you'll start backing up your truck to your trailer. I've got a screwdriver here to kind of simulate your kingpin on your trailer. So that's gonna slide in place. Make contact with this back plate here. And that will allow it to close. When we have it closed there, you can see we've got that three quarter inch thick solid steel locking bar. That's going to reinforce your connection with your coupled trailer. It's gonna automatically lock in place when the jaw closes, give you extra reassurance that it's not going to go anywhere. We're operating that with the spring loaded handle here, with the comfort grip. It's going to allow you to very simply get coupled up. This also has the tethered safety pin, so you can lock the arm in the open or closed position, and it's tethered, sp make sure you don't lose it. This system does use a double pivot hitch head. And that's going to help ease your hook-up, and help to limit chucking while you're traveling. We'll pivot front and back, as well as side to side. If I can turn this a little bit to the side, you can see that inside here, we do have those cushioning polyurethane dampeners that help to reduce your noise and absorb road shock, to give you a nice smooth ride. Moving our way down, we've got our pin down here that's going to pass through one of three different height adjustment holes. Now you have those three different height settings to accommodate your setup. Make sure that your trailer is going to clear your side bed rails. So at our tallest setting, we're sitting at about 20 and seven eighths of an inch. Down at the middle setting, we're about 19 and five eighths of an inch. And then at the lowest setting, it's about 18 and three eighths of an inch. So again, make sure that it's gonna work for your setup. So overall, I think this is gonna be a a great way to go. Like I said, if the auto slide is just simply too expensive for you, this is still going to give you that functionality so that you can make those tight turns, and it's going to take advantage of your Rams OEM prep package, to make that connection very simple for you. And that completes our look for today. Again, I'm Michael with etrailer.com. Thanks for watching.
Average Customer Rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars (70 Customer Reviews)
This hitch manually slides to give you 14" of clearance for tight turns. Sturdy wraparound jaw has a locking bar for added security. Pivoting head allows easy hook up and helps limit chucking. Polyurethane bumpers ensure a smooth ride.
I like it’s design and how it sits in the bed. It seems to want to rotate some while pulling. I see some reviews that other people are having this problem also. Some have put a bolt down through the base into the truck bed. I haven’t wanted to do that as of yet. Otherwise I like the hitch.
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.
Excellent product and customer service was outstanding. I just bought the product so I haven’t towed with it yet but after many many years of towing with other fifth wheel hitches, I can tell this is going to be an huge improvement!
very good product although when unhitching rv it wants to trip the latch. I had to address that problem by drilling a hole in the trip bar for the pin to hold it open.
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 only issue I am having with the fifth wheel hitch is latch handle will not stay open (out) when hooking up or disconnecting from king Pin sometimes (and yes, I know how to work a fifth wheel hitch). If it wasn't for that I would give it 5 stars.
Easy to set up and use I borrowed a buddies cause I bought a camper and didn’t have a hitch set up in the bed of my truck just had the goose neck ball pulled real nice so I order o e just like it
Rugged product, easy to install, quick latch system. easy to remove. Purchased the Reese adapter with this hitch, and installation was easy. Some minor adjustments with the cam over lugs, and setting the hitch posts into the adapter. Overall very easy set up. Looks good, and can be taken apart in pieces, for ease of removal and installation, after set up. Ordering was simple and all parts came in about a week.
This hitch with the Airbourne Sidewinder worked great with the 2018 Ram 2500 Mega cab short bed with Ram boxes. Can maneuver a 90 degree turn without issue. Still have to get trailer lifted higher to get the trailer nose lowered, but for the complicated research we had on the right combo, this is tested and verified
Hitch works great and delivery from etrailer was fast.
I bought this to replace a Demco Autoslide hitch. The Autoslide was great but too heavy for me. Because of my bad back, this was a great choice! The hitch is awesome, easy to put in and out. Quiet and smooth towing. Thx E-Trailer!
Ordered hitch late Wednesday evening and received early afternoon on Friday, that is super fast delivery. Two cartons received with no damage and all parts were there as expected. It looks exactly as advertised online and it was at a great price. AND FREE SHIPPING.
Also made in the USA.
I am replacing my Demco Hi Jacker Auto Slider that weighs approximately 300 lbs with the Demco Recon that according to the shipping labels weighs 91 lbs. It will be installed on a Ford F150 with 5 1/2 ft bed and fiver with a Lippert Turning Point Pin box.
This is a really nice hitch for the money. Extremely easy to installl for one person. I can’t wait to pull my camper with it. The only problem I had was how badly damaged the package was when delivered. Fortunately the hitch was not damaged. The picture shows how it was when I got it.
Hitch came in two boxes UPS. The head was stapled and secured in one box. The base and upright piece came, not in a box, but rolled up in cardboard and taped up with clear packing tape. I put it together so I could hook up and set the height and there is no hitch pin and lynch pin. I don’t know if it was rolled up in the cardboard and lost in shipping or wasn’t packed at all. I also didn’t get the instruction manual and had to go to Demcos website for it. The base and upright being rolled up together banged up the base or it was used and returned and that is why it was rolled up and not in a box. Now I have a hitch that I can’t use because I didn’t get all the parts. Called etrailer for the hitch pin and lynch pin and don’t know when it’ll arrive because it’s not an etrailer part. I can’t review the hitch because as of yet I can’t use it.
Part was delivered vey damaged. Looks like a couple thousand miles has already been put on it and it’s not even installed yet! Missing Lynch pin .313 is missing! Not happy at all.
So far so good pulling my fifth wheel around. I went this route so I could have dual purpose and not corner myself with just a drop in plate with my trucks factory fifth wheel package. No issues with this hitch, locks tight and no slop.
works every time has never failed, replaced a curt 20k that i used for 10 years,lots of times it wouldnt click and lock .easy to use no chucking.very happy with this hitch.3 years ago i installed air lift air bags ,love them too!!etrailer is a great place to buy from
Seems to be a well built hitch and the 3 piece design is VERY nice in the load/unload space. Why this received 3 stars is that it was missing parts and the base was beat up badly (cosmetic) when received. Missing parts included the pins to connect the base to the rails and the pin to connect the neck to the base. Not usable at this point. Etrailer is sending out the parts, and I'll contact Demco for new stickers. Will update review and photos once I have used it.
The hitch arrived in four days was easy to install in truck not too heavy for a 70 year old man hooks up easy and I really like the double locking jaw the only issue I had was the wedge for my sidewinder the bolt holes did not line up took me about an hour making holes longer to be able to bolt up
Haven't used it yet but it's unlikely to be anything but 5 stars. I'll update review if so. The hitch came in 2 boxes. The head was packages in a HD box. The box that the base came in was battered pretty bad. But, no marks in the base. All hardware arrived. Took about 15 minutes to assemble and get set up.
Looks great
The product arrived as scheduled and all the parts and pieces were in the two boxes. It installed quickly in my pickup and I hooked it to the fifth wheel and moved it forward and back. Seems to work well, takes all the slop out of the hitch. The hitch seems to be well constructed and the double latch is what I was looking for.
This was an upgrade from the dealer installed hitch. Best purchase since I didn't know how much longer the old hitch would last. After purchase, I was at the dealership and saw they were now selling the same hitch. Solid and rattle free.
Looks great nice workmanship. Easy to install.
Packaging on large components should be changed??? Need custom molded styrofoam to slide on two sieds and hold product in shipping box. Will include pictures of delivered packages
This was my first (and only, so far) fifth wheel hitch. I am towing a Jayco 25.5REOK Eagle HT, with a 2019 F150. (Before you all "go there", we ordered the truck especially for this purpose, with the max payload package, max tow package, FX4, etc. I've weighed the truck and trailer combination on certified scales, and actual payload, axle, and tow weights are under the rated capacities for t he truck. The truck sits perfectly level with the trailer loaded). Anyway, with a 6 1/2' bed, I wanted to use a rotating pin box, and the lightest hitch I could find that would satisfy that requirement. Enter the Demco Recon.
What I like: It is very light, as all steel construction hitches go - right at 100 lbs. And it breaks down easy into three primary component - the lower base, the head, and the thing in between. So not component is more than 40 lbs or so. Takes 5 minutes to break down and stow away, leaving the truck bed with only the standard hitch rails.
A few things I don't like (but have simple solutions for): The assembly has too much play, resulting in a very clunky operation and feel. The base assembly has too much play between the upper and lower parts of the base. There is a set bolt provided to take this play out, but the set bolt is located so that you can't access it with a socket, and it's tough to get to with an open end or box wrench as well. With some effort you can get it tight, but it loosens up after a couple hundred miles. My solution was to insert sheets of nylon (plastic) between the shaft of the upper part, and the tube of the lower part, so that the fit is tight, eliminating the play without use of the set bolt. Also the play between the lower base and the hitch rails are pretty generous. (I don't know how other hitches are, but this one has about 3/16" of play). My solution was to add leather pads as gaskets, between the base and the rails, which makes the J-pins a little tight, but eliminates the gap and play. Eliminating the play in these two areas makes the hitch much quieter and feel much better. The last complaint isn't an issue with the hitch per se, rather, the combination of the Sidewinder Pin Box and the hitch head. I am using the recommended locking wedge (SWW-05), but he hitch head has a rather steep ramp, and the wedge really doesn't "wedge" much of the head. That is, there isn't an abundance of contact between the wedge and the head. It's enough when the wedge is tight, but the the head will work the wedge back and out of the slot over time, even when tightened to the recommended 150 foot pounds. If the wedge moves more than a fraction of an inch, the trailer will start to handle poorly. You can feel it. And if you let this go, it will quickly become dangerous. So, I've leaned to recheck the wedge and retighten if necessary after every couple of trips, and I carry my torque wrench with the trailer.
Thanks for reading.
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