Can The Head Of The Demco Hijacker Autoslide Be Turned Manually

Published 11/02/2023

Products Featured in This Question

Replacement Head and Base Assembly for Demco Autoslide 5th Wheel Trailer Hitches - 18K

(9)

$1502.26

Demco Autoslide 5th Wheel Trailer Hitch w/ Slider - Single Jaw - Underbed - 18,000 lbs

(740)

$1995.00

Question:

How tight should the auto slide be? If I try To adjust the alignment of the auto slide manually It is too tight. I will normally need a breaker bar to get it to move.. How tight should this Be?

asked by: Chris W

Expert Reply:

The issue you are describing sounds completely normal. The head of the Demco Hijacker Autoslide 5th Wheel Trailer Hitch # DM8550022 should be very "stiff". An average human should not be able to move it manually. I know I sure couldn't do it without some help. You would need to attach something to the head with a significant amount of leverage in order to manually reposition the head. Usually this would take 1-2 people in the truck bed pulling on it - far from convenient.

For this reason, Demco recommends hooking and unhooking from the Hijacker hitch when the truck and trailer are totally straight. Otherwise the head of the hitch will be left at an angle, and when you go to hook up you will have to hit that exact same angle. That is one of the few/only downsides of the Hijacker Autoslide hitch.

expert reply by: Jesse M