Question For SuperGlide Owners

[bobsals]

I am all but convinced that the Superglide hitch will be my hitch of choice. I do have one question that has been nagging at me. :question: Imagine backing your rig into a fairly tight site in a campground, getting the 5er just where you want it, tow vehicle at a 45 deg. angle. With the lug twisting the hitch to move back, how do you unhitch without fooling around trying to get the tow vehicle lined up with the trailer again? How could you re-hitch at an angle? If there is answers to this question, I will probably order my hitch.
The only thing that comes to my way of thinking, is the temporary removal of the pin box lug Thanks

 

[hertig]

Question For SuperGlide Owners

From the IRV2 forum:

posted Tue April 01 2003 09:06 AM
The manual states that the maximum hookup angle needs to be =< 18 degrees. How do you measure that when you are backing up. You would need to carry a BIG protractor. JumboJet


posted Tue April 01 2003 05:43 PM
Yes you can back in at an angle, but the problem comes in when you have to line up the latch tounge with the latch notch>

Here is a copy of a note I sent to PullRite. I hope it makes sense.

"It's me again. I received the owners manual today and thought I'd give you a little tip about hooking up the truck to the 5th. wheel. Since day one I always hooked up the way you show in the instructions, but in many cases had a problem if I didn't line up the latch tongue into the latch notch in the king pin plate (see figure 10B of the instructions). The problem is that many of the campsites are either too narrow or they have obstacles in the way to make it impossible to turn your truck the direction you have to.

There were some nights I would fret about trying to back in straight enough so as not to have this problem. Well to my surprise one day when I was hooking and I missed, by just a little, getting the notch into the latch tongue. I had no room to turn the truck, so I was going to pull forward and re-align. As I was standing there pondering the situation I took hold of the latch handle (why I don’t know) I was able to turn the hitch and line the latch notch perfectly. Of course this is done before you put any weight on the truck. Check it out it works great and I now sleep much better when I’m in one of these predicaments." JimT


So could be doable, possibly limited to 18 degrees. I'd say your best bet would be to find a dealer with one set up, or find someone locally who has one. Or see if the dealer will give you a one week exchange privilege and try it out yourself.

Hopefully there is an easy way to either defeat the automatic sliding feature, or block the slide at the proper place before unhitching, which theoretically should ease rehitching at the same angle.

The Pullrite would be my first consideration if I needed a sliding hitch (or even a new non-slider). But I would have to see one first to ensure it is really my best choice. If I could not hitch/unhitch at an angle by rotating the hitch or at worse removing/inserting a pin or an adjustable rod, I would have to reconsider it...

Now you have me curious as well. I'll check out the local dealers and see if I can get any insights.

 

[hertig]

Question For SuperGlide Owners

OK, I've looked at one (and it does appear nice). The way it works, is the head rotates, with a cam following a slot in a plate on the bottom. The sliding movement is completely controlled by the cam, and thus by the angle of the head. There is no movement for shallow turns and then the slide movement begins agressively. The shallow turn is probably where the 10 degree hookup angle (written on the hitch) or the 18 degree hookup angle (claimed in the previous append) come from.

Since King pins are round, I can't imagine how the head of the SuperSlide is rotated unless there is another part installed on the pin box which rides in the slot in the head to cause the head to rotate as the trailer rotates. Otherwise, the round King pin would rotate in the round hitch just like every other 5th wheel pin/hitch combination does. True, it does not take too much force to rotate the head, but surely friction between the bottom of the pin box and the top plate of the hitch would not be reliable enough.

Therefore, it is my opinion that it would be difficult and probably risky to
unhook and especially hook up at a significant angle. If the slot in the hitch is not pretty much in line with the movement of the truck, you risk applying the forces to the side of the slot rather than the front which is designed to handle it. If the slot is not in line with the kingpin and additional pin, you risk damage either to that second pin or the hitch when the second pin contacts the hitch rather than fitting into the slot.

If that second pin or lug or whatever it is added to the pin box to make the hitch head rotate can be easily removed or allowed to rotate, then hookup at an angle should not be much of a problem. It is also possible that a 2 person operation, 1 person backing the truck and the other rotating the head could work, but the opportunities to screw things up would seem to be high.

 

[mikea]

Question For SuperGlide Owners

I have a 20K SuperGlide with a SB, F-250. Learned the hard way that the main thing with this hitch is to make sure the latch tongue has slipped into the hitch plate gove and the latch is locked before you move! I have a very difficult driveway to get into, curved, sloped and on a hill. While still new, I though the hitch plate would move a few degrees and catch the latch tongue. It didn't. The slide didn't work, the trailer weight on the hitch forced the hitch plate and tongue to slide one under the other and I thought I was in deep pupu. Fortunately, only damage that has shown up so far was having to take the tongue latch apart to get them unstuck, brused ribs from trying to pull it apart, scratched bed liner, and dented tail gate! NEVER move a PullRite without moving the hitch plate around and getting the tongue latch in the grove and locked!!!!! As has been said, you can move the hitch plate and slider around after locking the king pin in, before you put weight on the hitch. Do this. If the latch tongue won't go into the hitch plate grove, don't try to pull the trailer. Take my word.

I would buy a PullRite again. Haven't made a turn that caused trouble yet and no sweat about hitting the crew cab with the trailer. One downer with the 20K is the weight. You aren't going to lift the hitch out of the truck without a winch. Supposed to weight several hundred pounds. And the price. But look around. I got mine from a guy who had it about 1 year, used it about 5 times and sold it for $1000.

Mike Adams
2003 Fleetwood Triumph 31G5
2001 F-250, V-10, SB

 

[bobsals]

Question For SuperGlide Owners

Mikea, interesting scenario you had with your Superglide. Thanks for sharing your story. I got a response from Pullrite about this question. The tech that replied said that if you back your rig in at an angle more than 16 deg. which I often need to do, the only way to unhitch is to unpin the whole hitch and lift it with the trailer . Sorry Pullrite, maybe someday when the bugs are worked out I will buy one but for now I will get a manual slider. At least I will be able to unhitch at any angle I need to. :approve: