Problems with Demco Autoslider not hitching

maximus216 wrote:
Hello,
I am currently having an issue with a new demco autoslider. Its mounted in a 2018 F250. Long story short, it will not hitch to a pin box. The jaws will close around the pin, but the locking bar will not lock into place completely, it hits the other side. I have tried 3 different 5th wheels, one with the same pin box and the other with a roto flex pin box and the locking bar does the same thing. When we picked up the 5th wheel from the dealer, one of the techs had to jump into the bed of the pickup and hold the head steady before it would lock completely. If i take the head off of the hitch and push it onto the pin it locks and the locking bar goes into place. So the problem only happens when i back up and try to hitch to a 5th wheel. Demco has sent me another head and it does the same thing. I've adjusted the hitch from high setting to low, and lowered and raised the 5th wheel to different settings to no avail.
Please help.

I have this hitch, and when new, I had this problem too. Very Frustrating! What I believe happens is the jaws of the hitch hang up on the pin a bit. I put a light coat of grease on surface area of the pin that the jaws close around, and the problem went away.

Also, like many others, I set the pin box height for hitching an inch or so lower than the hitch, so that when I back under it, the pin has to "ride up" the hitch head a bit to ensure I'm not high-hitching.

One last item that ALMOST bit me....TWICE. I have had two instances where hitching up, I back into the hitch, the latch snaps shut, like it does when you are hooked up. I have always done a "pull-test" with the front landing gear just an inch off the ground. Those two times, what happened is that the 5ver pin must have come in at an angle tripping the release of the hitch latch BEFORE the pin was in place. Pull test failed, as the pin wasnt latched into the hitch. Now, I always visually doublecheck from the back side of the hitch that the pin is indeed in the hitch, and then still do the pull test.

It almost made me sick to the stomach the first time this happened, and thanked my luck stars that I had left the landing gear mostly down avoiding a really costly mistake....

Not sure if this will help because you may have tried this. If I hook up and the pin is high, the bar will not close all the way. I have found if I lower the fiver just a bit, it closes.