Pullrite Super Glide
Pullrite Super Glide
Having just pulled my brand new 30' Cougar 5th wheel home from Mesa, AZ to Las Vegas with the Pullrite Super Glide 16K, I am compelled to chime in on this subject.
I've bumper pulled for a few years, but 5th-wheeling is new to me. I was extremely concerned, literally losing sleep, over fitting a 5th wheel to my short box 4x4. With 265 tires, the top of my tailgate stands 4' 10'' tall. I researched this board and many others searching for ideas and answers about my situation. I found that the owners of Pullrite automatic sliding hitches are unanimous in their positive support of this product. To a man, not one regret.
My trailer dealer, on the other hand, was not so keen on selling me this item. The part cost and the installation cost are considerably higher than standard non-slider and manual slider hitches. No trailer salesman wants to threaten a sale over the increased cost of a superior hitch. The line on manual sliders is, "all you have to do is get out and slide it when you might be (backing) into a tight turn situation. " Theoretically, that's great. Practically, that's a pain in the posterior. What if you misjudge that situation or just plain forget because you're busy trying to keep a handle on the situation? What if you're already in a bind and the thing won't slide?
I did not want to deal with any of this at the risk of damaging truck and trailer. The only downside to the Pullrite Super Glide is the price. My solution was to pay now for the insurance of avoiding those risks rather than possibly pay later for the damage, inconvenience and embarassment of the potential problem. Another plus with this hitch is that it mounts under the bed. If you and two of your best buddies decide to remove it, you'll have 4 silver-dollar sized holes in your bed, no rails or brackets.
There are a couple of limitations unique to this hitch that didn't come to light for me until I was commited, neither of which would have changed my mind.
1. A keyed king pin slider plate is mounted (could be screwed, they welded mine) on the king pin (trailer side). This locks the king pin to the hitch head which is critical to the automatic cam sliding action - hard to explain, not hard to understand when you see it. The point is, you'll never need any lube on your hitch head because the pin doesn't rotate like every other hitch. In other words, a trailer with the Super Glide keyed mounting plate is NOT compatable with any standard 5th wheel hitch! The king pin assembly can be replaced if it ever comes to that.
2. The other limitation is hook-up angle. It's a little more restrictive than standard hitches. Pullrite rates maximum angle for hitching/unhitching at 16-degrees. Again, manipulaing the hitch makes this easily understandable.
I am very happy with my decision. As a complete 5th-wheeler novice, after one technician supervised practice hitch/unhitch, I was able to hitch and unhitch all by my lonesome (wife supervised of course). Watching the thing in action on slow, tight turns and never seeing the trailer close enough to the cab to make me sweat is well worth it.
Good luck with your choice.
Neil
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