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  1. 5th Wheel Hitch
  2. Demco
  3. 21000 lbs GTW
  4. OEM - GM
  5. Sliding Fifth Wheel
  6. Premium - Single-Hook Jaw
Demco Recon 5th Wheel Hitch w/ Slider - Single Jaw - Chevrolet/GMC Prep Package - 21K
Demco

Demco Recon 5th Wheel Hitch w/ Slider - Single Jaw - Chevrolet/GMC Prep Package - 21K

Part Number: DM97YV
$1,295.00
Retail:$1,558.00
You Save: $263.00
5th Wheel Hitch

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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. 1-800-940-8924 to order Demco 5th wheel hitch part number DM97YV or order online at etrailer.com. Free expert support on all Demco products. Great prices and Fastest Shipping for Demco Recon 5th Wheel Hitch w/ Slider - Single Jaw - Chevrolet/GMC Prep Package - 21K. 5th Wheel Hitch reviews from real customers.
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  • Reviews (77)
  • Q & A (0)
  • Videos (1)
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Demco 5th Wheel Hitch - DM97YV

  • 21000 lbs GTW
  • OEM - GM
  • Demco
  • Sliding Fifth Wheel
  • Premium - Single-Hook Jaw
  • Double Pivot
  • 5250 lbs Vertical Load
  • 19-5/8 - 22-1/8 Tall
  • 14 Inch Fore/Aft Travel

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.


Features:

  • 5th-Wheel hitch mounts in your short-bed truck so you can tow your 5th-wheel trailer
  • Manual slider provides clearance required for your short-bed pickup to turn safely at slow speeds
  • 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
  • Slider provides clearance required for short-bed pickups to turn safely at slow speeds
    • Prevents trailer from hitting the cab of your pickup during sharp, slow-speed turns
    • Designed for use on trucks with beds shorter than 8'
      • Not recommended for use on truck beds shorter than 6'
  • 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
  • Fast, easy installation
    • Drops into the 4 receiver pucks that are built into your factory underbed rails
  • Made in the USA


Specs:

  • Application: 2020 and newer Chevrolet and GMC trucks with factory-installed towing prep package
    • Designed for use on 6-1/2' truck beds
  • Fits standard pin boxes 12" - 14" wide
  • Gross towing weight: 21,000 lbs
  • Vertical load limit: 5,250 lbs
  • Travel: 14" front to back
  • Hitch height settings: 19-5/8", 20-7/8", and 22-1/8"
  • 5-Year limited warranty


8550064 Demco Recon Manual Slide 5th-Wheel Trailer Hitch - 21,000 lbs

6439 Demco Under Bed Mount Adapter Plates for Recon Manual Slide 5th Wheel Trailer Hitch for Chevrolet/GMC OEM



This Product Fits The Following Vehicles




Video of Demco Recon 5th Wheel Hitch w/ Slider - Single Jaw - Chevrolet/GMC Prep Package - 21K

Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.




Video Transcript for Demco Recon 5th Wheel Hitch w/ Slider Spec Review

Hi there, I'm Michael with etrailer.com. Today, we're gonna take a quick look at this Demco Recon Manual Slide fifth wheel trailer hitch. This is a brick wheel hitch that will mount in your short bed, GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado 2500 and 3500. So you can tow your fifth wheel trailer. This does have the manual slide on it, so it is going to make sure that your short bed truck can pull your fifth wheel trailer and still make those tight turns when you need to, by moving your hitch back up to 14 inches. So basically when you find yourself in a situation where you need to make one of those slow, tight turns, you'll get out, you'll move the slide into the slide position here and that will allow you to very easily slide that back up to 14 inches so that you have that greater clearance.

You're not gonna have to worry about making contact with your cab and your trailer. And then when you get straightened back out you can slide that back into the lock position there where it will sit above your axle so it'll distribute the weight appropriately for your highway speeds and make sure that everything's gonna be safe again for you. Now, this is going to fit with your standard 12 to 14 inch wide pin boxes. Keep in mind this is not gonna be compatible with your rotating pin box. So if you've installed a rotating pin box on your trailer so that you can kind of accommodate your shorter bed this isn't gonna work with that to give you more.

It would create two pivot points which could cause safety issues and that sort of thing. So you wanna make sure you've got a static pin box in order to operate this properly. This is made here in the USA of a sturdy steel construction. You can see it's got nice black powder coat finish on it. It's gonna help resist rust and corrosion.

That steel construction is gonna give us the gross towing weight capacity of 21,000 pounds. It also has the vertical load limit of 5,250 pounds. So keep that in mind. make sure that that's gonna work for your setup. This is designed specifically for your 2020 and newer GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado 2500 and 3500 with the OEM prep package.

And the reason for that is our legs here are side rails. These are designed to fit into your factory puck system. So I've got these loosely installed right now so that's why they're kind of wiggling around. Once you get them firmly installed, you'll be able to pull up that pin and just pulling that lever, I don't know if you'll be able to see the way that's turning that foot so you can have it in the open position. Just set it down into your factory puck system and then push it in. That's gonna put it in the lock position. You'll pass your pin through and you'll have a nice solid connection to your factory prep system. So very simple to get installed. It's dropping right into those four pucks, and this is a little bit lighter weight than some other options. So it is going to be relatively quick and easy to get installed and to take out if you're needing to have a full bed access again. So a little bit lighter than some of your other options. I will say when you're comparing this to say like an auto slide, it is gonna be a little bit more work having to get out, unlatch and allow it to move into that slider position rather than your auto slides which will do that automatically for you. But auto slides are significantly heavier so it'll be harder to get in and out. They're also gonna be significantly more expensive. So if it just doesn't fit into your price range, this is still gonna give you that slide adjustability so that you can have that room that you need to make sure you can make those tight turns without denting your cab or making contact with your trailer. If we move into the specifics of our hitch, we do have the wrap around single piece jaw that's gonna provide a nice secure connection for you. Having that 360 degree jaw to kingpin contact is going to ensure less rattling and more security than your slide bar jaws. I'm gonna use a screwdriver here to kind of simulate your kingpin. So as you're backing your truck up to your trailer that king pin's gonna find its way back to this back plate here which is going to trigger it to close, snap shut. And then with it shut you can see we do have that three quarter inch thick solid steel locking bar that's gonna reinforce that connection with your coupled trailer. And that's going to automatically lock into place when the jaw closes. So you're gonna have a nice sturdy connection. We can operate that jaw with our spring loaded handle here that's got the comfort grip and that will allow for simple coupling. You can see we have the tethered safety pin that's going to allow you to secure the handle in the open or the closed position and it's tethered to make sure that you don't lose track of that. Our hitch head is a double pivot head so it's going to ease hookup and help to limit chucking while you're traveling. This will pivot front and the back as well as side to side. If I am able to turn this to the side a little bit, you can see that inside here we do have the cushioning polyurethane dampeners that help to reduce noise and absorb road shock to give you a nice smooth ride. Again, working our way down, we do have the adjustable height setting here. So we've got a big pin that we can pull out. There's three different adjustment holes here. So at our highest point it is going to give us a hitch height of 22 and one eighth of an inch. Our middle setting will be a height of 20 and seven eighths of an inch, and then at our lowest setting it'll be 19 and five eighths of an inch. So make sure that that's going to work for your setup, give you adequate clearance over your bedside rails. So overall, a really nice option here. If you don't want to pay for the convenience of an auto slide this is still going to allow you to have that clearance for a more reasonable price and it is gonna be fairly simple to take in and out. Of course, it does weigh over a hundred pounds so you'll definitely want to have a second set of hands helping you with that. It's not something you can do on your own but it is gonna be a little bit more, a little easier than some other systems. So that completes our look for today. Again, I'm Michael with etrailer.com. Thanks for watching.


Customer Reviews

Demco Recon 5th Wheel Hitch w/ Slider - Single Jaw - Chevrolet/GMC Prep Package - 21K - DM97YV

Average Customer Rating:  4.6 out of 5 stars   (77 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.

by:

This hitch met all my expectations and beyond. I have traveled over 10 thousand miles so far and it has worked very smoothly. Thanks JoAnn



by:

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.



by:

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.



by:

The hitch took about 45 minutes to put together. Including putting on the side plates. I wanted the extra two inches of travel that the Recon gives you over the competitors. I would have gone with the auto slide but there was not a adapter plate to fit my old nine inch wide pin box.



by:

Well it came in two pieces the head and the base not a big deal but they came A WEEK apart when I paid for expedited shipping. They tried to blame it on ups but I looked at the second tracking order after the first boxes arrived and it says the label had been made but not at ups so it shipped far after the other boxes. Then when I took the 5th wheel had out of the box the bolt that holds the handle on had a smaller size nut so you can’t even assemble the head. I went here hoping to get the stuff I needed for my 5th in a timely matter but got the opposite… not saying I will not order from here again but I will definitely think twice before I do.



by:

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.



by:

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!



by:

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.



by:

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



by:

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



by:

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.



by:

Already pulled the rv with it. I like the design. Literally ripped open the box and put it together in a matter of minutes. The three pieces come apart fast lightening it up to remove it from the bed



by:

Hitch works great and delivery from etrailer was fast.



by:

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.



by:

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!



by:

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.



by:

I was very impressed with the assistance I received with the purchase of our new 5th wheel hitch. The team at etrailer are very skilled in product knowledge. Made my decision much easier when choosing a hitch.



by:

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.



by:

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.



by:

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.



by:

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.



by:

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



by:

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



by:

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.



by:

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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See what our Experts say about this Demco 5th Wheel Hitch

  • Can Demco Recon Head Fit Recon Slider for Chevy/GM OEM Puck System
    While the head of the Demco Recon Gooseneck-to-5th Wheel Trailer Hitch Adapter # DM8550045 is the same thing as the head of the Demco Recon 5th Wheel Hitch w/ Slider Chevy/GMC Prep Package # DM97YV, I only recommend doing that if you'd like to have a replacement head on-hand. The new hitch isn't pieced out for you to do that so you'd be better off getting a whole new hitch with the slider and then selling off your old unit to help offset the cost.
    view full answer...

Info for this part was:

Employee Lindsey S
Edited by:
Lindsey S
Employee Wilson B
Updated by:
Wilson B
Employee Michael B
Installed by:
Michael B
Employee Justice A
Written by:
Justice A

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