Time for a new hitch - broken back window

[grampscamper]

We were on our way to New Hampshire when we had a little mishap. Our 5th wheel came in contact with the rear window of our truck. I was driving forward and turning around in a parking lot. The lot had a slight downhill grade. I didn't turn any tighter than in the past but I guess the slope was enough for the front of the trailer to hit the truck. I didn't think it was possible for this to happen.
Off to get a new window installed today. I guess I will be shopping for a new hitch also.

[LCBoyer]

Ow! Those angles can cause problems. Do you think a slider will help?

[G-Dad47]

What hitch were you using?

[TucsonJim]

I'm so surprised there is no apparent damage to the surrounding metal. On mine, if I would turn at too sharp of an angle, it would "kiss" the metal and leave a little dent. Fortunately, yours looks like it will be pretty simple to fix. Time for a Pullrite automatic slider??

Jim

[Canyonlight]

Our Superglide starts to automatically begin sliding back when turning radius reaches about 15 degrees. At a 45 degree turn (close to a maximum forward turn I imagine) the hitch head (thus the fiver pin) has moved back about 6". At a 90 degree turn the hitch head has slid back about 14". This gives 58" from the pin to the rear window of our P/U. Any road undulations that bring the cab closer to the front of the fiver will negatively affect these distances, of course, as noted in the Superglide manual page 3 as well (which I posted in the Library section of the forum sometime ago.)

Bottom line is that an autoslider (at least Superglide anyway) will automatically gain more (and most likely more than enough) distance when driving forward (or backing) between most short bed P/Us and fiver but care is still needed.

Dan

[LCBoyer]

I am curious, does the hitch slide forward automatically when you straighten out, or how does it get back to normal?

[Canyonlight]

LC--yes it does. Here is a youtube video posted by an owner in 2014. About 1 minute 45 seconds in there is a good section showing the forward and back movement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhXMxqZOJXA

Dan

[Second Chance]

Gramps,

How long is the bed in your Ford and what kind of hitch were you using? With a 3/4 ton, the reason we didn't go with the PullRite is because the extra 200 lbs. would have put us over the rear axle capacity of the truck axle and rear tires with when added to the loaded pin weight of the 337 (and we had over 3,000# of payload left for the pin after loading and scaling the truck). Those Superglides - and other auto-sliders - are great hitches... but they are heavy!

Rob

[grampscamper]

I have a Husky with a fixed base on a picture frame adapter (no offset). I do have the manual slider base for it but swapped it out for the fixed base because I found it difficult to use. I didn't like the chucking I got with it either. I'm very careful backing up so I thought I could get by without a slider. 5 years no issues until 2 days ago. I guess my luck ran out. A manual slider would not have prevented this anyway. What surprises me is it happened while going forward.
Rob, my truck has the 6.75' bed. I hear what you're saying about the weight. I'm sure I'm over the payload for my truck and very close to the axle ratings. I have the camper package with the 350 springs and stabilizer. I would prefer not to go with an auto slider because of the weight. I do remove my hitch from time to time.
Jim, at first I didn't see a mark on the 5th wheel but when I looked very closely yesterday I could see a slight mark on the front corner of the 5th wheel. I have a similar truck and trailer as you lost in the fire. I'm very surprised only the window broke.
This will be our last trip of the season. I will shop for a new hitch over the winter.
Bob

[DWagner]

The Pullrite Hitch Head slides through a kind of "W" shaped groove as you turn the vehicle and then back as you straighten out to return it to the original spot. It works great. The only headache I have with it is you have to be within 16 degrees of the centerline to hitch or unhitch. Kind of sucks when you get the trailer in just the right spot but have to keep shimmying back and force to straighten out and unhitch.
Damon