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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
The Autoslide hitch is designed to attach to the included above-bed base rails. 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 above-bed 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" + 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.
Alternate Instructions
California residents: click here
Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Hello everybody. This is Jeff at etrailer.com. Today, we'll take a look at this replacement head and base assembly for the Demco Hijacker Autoslide 5th Wheel Trailer Hitches. This has an 18,000 pound gross towing weight capacity. This part will replace the head and the base assembly on your Demco Hijacker Autoslide 5th Wheel Trailer Hitches. It is designed to fit the Demco 5th Wheel Hitches part number DM8550022, part number DM8550024, and part number DM8550034.
All three of those hitches, we do sell separately on our website.This part is just for the head and the base assembly. It does also require side plates to install this into your truck bed, and those side plates bolt onto the side of the base right here. The side plates are what will allow you to drop this hitch into either a universal above-bed base rails, or into the Demco or Ford factory under-bed mounting systems. Those side plates, we do sell separately on our website. Just to show you, you can see these multiple holes here on the side of the base.
This is where the side plates will bolt to. When you go to install them, they will allow you to get you the correct hitch height, and also for what application you need for whatever connection points you have in your truck bed.This is an automatic slider, so it will provide clearance required for your short bed truck to turn safely at slow speeds. No more having to get in and out of your truck to operate a manual slider. This will automatically slide far to get you the clearance. It has this rotating hitch head here that'll turn up to 90 degrees with your trailer.
The re-rotation creates the force that'll activate the automatic slider. Once you have your trailer hooked up here and there's weight on it. Right now, I can't really show you how it rotates because there's not any weight on it. If you get enough weight on it, what'll happen is this head will slide towards the tailgate when you start to turn with your truck. As you keep turning, this'll rotate to get you the clearance and then slide back to get you more clearance.
Then, it'll come back towards the cab when you straighten out your vehicle and your 5th wheel.Basically, what it'll do is it'll give you 14 inches front to back amount of travel for clearance. It does use a nice roller and guide assembly here to create smooth and controlled movement. This is designed to fit standard pin boxes from 12 inches wide to 14 inches wide. The built-in brackets right here is what will stabilize that pin box, so it won't rotate in your hitch. There's no need for a separate capture plate for your standard nine cushion pin boxes. On the cushion pin boxes, they do require locking plates, which we do sell separately. The cushion pin boxes that they're required on is the Glide Ride, the MORryde, the Trailair Tri Glide, the Trailair Flex Air, Rota-Flex, and the Fifth Airborne.The head on this uses a nice wraparound single piece jaw, provides a secure connection, gives you a 360 degree jaw to kingpin contact, and that will give you less rattle and more security than slide bar jaws. Also, if noticed on this one, it gives you a nice three quarter inch thick solid steel locking bar in front here. This will reinforce the connection of your coupled trailer, and that will automatically lock into place when the jaw closes. I am going to show you how this jaw operates at the end of the video. I'm going to show sliding a kingpin in and how it all works.The head itself is a double pivot hitch head, eases hook-up, helps limit chucking. It'll pivot front to back and side to side, and they do use cushioning polyurethane dampeners underneath to help reduce noise and absorb road shock. The handle on it is a nice spring loaded handle. It has a nice comfort grip, allows for simple coupling, has the tethered safety pin right here to let you secure the handle when it's either closed or open. Right now, it's closed. If you need to open it, you just remove that pin, pull your handle out, and that'll lock in the open position, and you're ready to couple. Once it couples, it'll slide in and lock. To finalize it, all you have to do is drop your pin through, clip it, and that'll secure it.This is a sturdy, steel construction. Has a nice rust resistant black powder coat finish on it. It is made in the USA. The specs, it is designed for use on six and a half inch truck bed lengths, gross towing weight capacity is 18,000 pounds, and the vertical load limit is 4,500 pounds. As I mentioned, I do want to show you. Here's an example of what the kingpin would be like on your fifth wheel. When you're ready to hook up, what you want to do is remove your pin and clip. As I mentioned, pull your handle all the way out. Once you get it out far enough, it'll lock in the open position. You can see the jaws ready to accept the kingpin. When you go to back up and hook up, as that kingpin slides in on the hitch head, once it gets in there far enough, it'll let that jaw wrap around it 360 degrees. Then that locking bar, you can see, slides across and keeps it in there.It's very secure. It won't move at all. To finalize it, all you have to do is take your pin and clip, drop it through the hole that lines up, clip it, and then that holds the handle. To unlock it or unhook it, you just remove your pin and clip, pull your handle out, and that'll allow the kingpin to side right out. That should do it for the review on this replacement head and base assembly for the Demco Hijacker Autoslide Fifth Wheel Trailer Hitches, and this has an 18,000 pound gross towing weight capacity.
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