Fifthwheel slack between hitch and king pin.
I have owned several 5th wheels and a few hitches over the years. I currently have a curt e16 pulling a 32 ft Jayco that weighs 12-13 k. Hitch weight about 2500. Been a couple years since the hitch...
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Workmanship, design and quality materials are what creates the picking order of hitches. My experience with 5th wheels began in 1976 when I start driving a 8550 gallon tanker semi. Trailer did not have landing gear, so we jacked it up on 55 gal drums when uncoupling for servicing the Titan 90 Class 8 tracker. Hooking back up and doing a tug test was always nerve racking. And the first loaded trip coming out of the loading rack was bu-tt tighening.
Fast forward to 1997 and we got our first 5th wheel RV and the dealer provided and installed a Hijacker Ultra 16K sliding bar style hitch. I love that hitch and had it is two trucks and with two trailers. Never worried about tug test or dropping the trailer. When the handle/bar was in, the trailer was not going anywhere. Due to the design, it was be almost impossible to high hitch it.
That hitch went down the road with old blue recently and I installed a B&W RVK3270 manual slider in the new RAM SB. The B&W hitches all seem to use the same head. Its latching mechanism is difference than most others I have seen. I do not believe that one could high hitch it! When you back into the jams they open little more and then get push closed and the release handle that is connected to a dual cam setup springs closed between the front extensions of the jaws. Pin the release handle and there is no way for the jaws to then open, as the dual cam is now cross ways to the jaws preventing there movement to open.
Here are three of the bullet points on the hitch.
>>Cam-action latching handle for easy release, even when parked on unlevel sites
>>1" thick, wrap-around jaws fit kingpin perfectly, eliminating sloppy starts and stops.
>>Polyurethane bushings provide a quiet, rattle free towing experience
So when people trout the BW hitch they are talking about an American made, high quality, very well engineered and manufactured hitch.
Will I still miss the simplicity of my Hijacker? You bet, however time changes and we move on. And as we aged together the hitch parts were getting heavier and heaver to handle!
I like the fact that I can pick the whole RVK3270 hitch and Demco 6099 picture frame together out of the truck with a HF 880 lb electric hoist in just a few minutes.
Chris
Fast forward to 1997 and we got our first 5th wheel RV and the dealer provided and installed a Hijacker Ultra 16K sliding bar style hitch. I love that hitch and had it is two trucks and with two trailers. Never worried about tug test or dropping the trailer. When the handle/bar was in, the trailer was not going anywhere. Due to the design, it was be almost impossible to high hitch it.
That hitch went down the road with old blue recently and I installed a B&W RVK3270 manual slider in the new RAM SB. The B&W hitches all seem to use the same head. Its latching mechanism is difference than most others I have seen. I do not believe that one could high hitch it! When you back into the jams they open little more and then get push closed and the release handle that is connected to a dual cam setup springs closed between the front extensions of the jaws. Pin the release handle and there is no way for the jaws to then open, as the dual cam is now cross ways to the jaws preventing there movement to open.
Here are three of the bullet points on the hitch.
>>Cam-action latching handle for easy release, even when parked on unlevel sites
>>1" thick, wrap-around jaws fit kingpin perfectly, eliminating sloppy starts and stops.
>>Polyurethane bushings provide a quiet, rattle free towing experience
So when people trout the BW hitch they are talking about an American made, high quality, very well engineered and manufactured hitch.
Will I still miss the simplicity of my Hijacker? You bet, however time changes and we move on. And as we aged together the hitch parts were getting heavier and heaver to handle!
I like the fact that I can pick the whole RVK3270 hitch and Demco 6099 picture frame together out of the truck with a HF 880 lb electric hoist in just a few minutes.
Chris
