Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
Hello All;
Just thought I'd post my experiences with my new towing setup. I'm new to the RV world and the truck / trailer combination in my sig is the first time I've towed any kind of RV. Before deciding on a towing setup I tried to do as much research as possible. The majority of which was spent on this forum.
With the short box I knew a sliding hitch was needed and an automatic one just seemed like a smart thing to do. Figured all it would take is forgetting to slide the thing back once with the resulting damage and the extra expense was covered. I bought my hitch through Big Discount RV online (www.bigdiscountrv.com). They wouldn't ship to Canada so I had it sent to Shelby, Montana and I drove down to get it. Even with the cost of the drive down and the taxes when I crossed back into Canada, I still saved about $1000 CDN ($850 USD) versus buying it locally.
I am somewhat mechanically inclined so I decided to install the hitch myself. Local dealers quoted me 8 hours in the shop at $105 CDN an hour for the install. Even with the tools I had to buy I saved some money. Now, I will admit it took me longer than 8 hours to put it in. Lets just say the time it took me was a multiple of the 8 hours quoted. You can decide if it 2, 3 or 4 times! :-laf
I had to adjust the measurements in the instructions somewhat as I have a pretty thick spray in bed liner. This is where drilling the 1/16" pilot holes is a real life saver. I drilled several pilot holes to make sure everything was lined up perfect before drilling the big holes for the post. Installing the rear brackets was not too bad. I had the truck up on stands with the wheels off and the fender liners out, I also took the spare down. The worst part was cleaning off the frame rails. When I boought the truck I paid extra for the undercoating to protect the truck as road salt in the winter here can do some real damage. Problem is, the brackets were designed to be put on a clean rail. The undercoating is some kind of tar that they spray on and it took forever to clean it all off. #@$%! I still have a stain on my driveway from all solvents I had to use.
The front brackets were not so bad to get into place but an extra pair of hands to hold bolts in place while you screw on nuts is a bonus. My 6 year old son was more than happy to help out. My biggest peeve is with the instructions. In the first few pages they have a chart that lists various torque value for different size bolts. So when I was torqueing bolts up I used thier list as a reference. On the rear brackets this did not present a problem as all fasteners go into locations that will not allow the truck frame to crush or the brackets themselves to bend. Not so on the front. When I torqued the bolts on the front brackets to the value specified, it bent the brackets. I called the SuperGlide tech support guys and he said the torques in the chart are for reference only. You're only supposed to torque the nut down until the split washer is flat. He said they get lots of calls about bent brackets. I asked him how long it would take to send me replacement brackets because thier instructions are not clear and he said the wouldn't. He said to torque the remaining bolts the same and everything would be fine.
I now have about 7500 km (4660 miles) with the rv in tow and I love the whole setup. Bottom line, would I buy from Big Discount RV again? Absolutely. Would I buy the same 5th wheel reciever? For sure. Would I do the install myself again? Yes, but only in a heated garage. My driveway in early March was a little cool for my liking. Would I help someone else install one? Yep, as long as they have a garage!
Just thought I'd post my experiences with my new towing setup. I'm new to the RV world and the truck / trailer combination in my sig is the first time I've towed any kind of RV. Before deciding on a towing setup I tried to do as much research as possible. The majority of which was spent on this forum.
With the short box I knew a sliding hitch was needed and an automatic one just seemed like a smart thing to do. Figured all it would take is forgetting to slide the thing back once with the resulting damage and the extra expense was covered. I bought my hitch through Big Discount RV online (www.bigdiscountrv.com). They wouldn't ship to Canada so I had it sent to Shelby, Montana and I drove down to get it. Even with the cost of the drive down and the taxes when I crossed back into Canada, I still saved about $1000 CDN ($850 USD) versus buying it locally.
I am somewhat mechanically inclined so I decided to install the hitch myself. Local dealers quoted me 8 hours in the shop at $105 CDN an hour for the install. Even with the tools I had to buy I saved some money. Now, I will admit it took me longer than 8 hours to put it in. Lets just say the time it took me was a multiple of the 8 hours quoted. You can decide if it 2, 3 or 4 times! :-laf
I had to adjust the measurements in the instructions somewhat as I have a pretty thick spray in bed liner. This is where drilling the 1/16" pilot holes is a real life saver. I drilled several pilot holes to make sure everything was lined up perfect before drilling the big holes for the post. Installing the rear brackets was not too bad. I had the truck up on stands with the wheels off and the fender liners out, I also took the spare down. The worst part was cleaning off the frame rails. When I boought the truck I paid extra for the undercoating to protect the truck as road salt in the winter here can do some real damage. Problem is, the brackets were designed to be put on a clean rail. The undercoating is some kind of tar that they spray on and it took forever to clean it all off. #@$%! I still have a stain on my driveway from all solvents I had to use.
The front brackets were not so bad to get into place but an extra pair of hands to hold bolts in place while you screw on nuts is a bonus. My 6 year old son was more than happy to help out. My biggest peeve is with the instructions. In the first few pages they have a chart that lists various torque value for different size bolts. So when I was torqueing bolts up I used thier list as a reference. On the rear brackets this did not present a problem as all fasteners go into locations that will not allow the truck frame to crush or the brackets themselves to bend. Not so on the front. When I torqued the bolts on the front brackets to the value specified, it bent the brackets. I called the SuperGlide tech support guys and he said the torques in the chart are for reference only. You're only supposed to torque the nut down until the split washer is flat. He said they get lots of calls about bent brackets. I asked him how long it would take to send me replacement brackets because thier instructions are not clear and he said the wouldn't. He said to torque the remaining bolts the same and everything would be fine.
I now have about 7500 km (4660 miles) with the rv in tow and I love the whole setup. Bottom line, would I buy from Big Discount RV again? Absolutely. Would I buy the same 5th wheel reciever? For sure. Would I do the install myself again? Yes, but only in a heated garage. My driveway in early March was a little cool for my liking. Would I help someone else install one? Yep, as long as they have a garage!
