For the History Buff- Reese Patent # 5,529,539

[jerem0621]

Hello,

During my routine parusal of my local Craigslist I came across an interesting Reese fifth wheel hitch. Its a 14k with the dual jaw that so many are familiar with. However, I noticed that it was a for and aft pivot only... no side to side pivot...

I started to search for an owners manual and came across the Reese Patent # 5,529,539 in PDF form.

Whats interesting is that this is the Reese patent for the four way pivoting head design. Lots of interesting statements, technical drawings, and design parameters in this document.

Anyhoo.. here is the link

Thanks!

Jeremiah

[JIMNLIN]

Dayle1 wrote:

JIMNLIN wrote:

Wedged pins in jaws or the slot in these type conditions were common. This is a condition that means jacking one side of the truck or trailer till the pin will come out. Or sometimes a big crow bar may work if lightly wedged.

Easier solution is to just pull the two pins and leave the head attached to the king pin, so the landing gear motor does all the hard work.

Tried that and it didn't work. A wedged pin has all the pins in a bind or locked which makes all of them impossible to pull out.

[RAS43]

rtz549 wrote:
If it makes any difference; the Reese you used to know; isn't the same Reese today. Familiar with Cequent Group?

Saw the video about the factory move to Mexico?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajrIPSL6ut0

Doesn't matter to me as my 18 year old Reese 20k hitch is still good and will probably outlast my towing days.:C

[Dayle1]

JIMNLIN wrote:

Wedged pins in jaws or the slot in these type conditions were common. This is a condition that means jacking one side of the truck or trailer till the pin will come out. Or sometimes a big crow bar may work if lightly wedged.

Easier solution is to just pull the two pins and leave the head attached to the king pin, so the landing gear motor does all the hard work.

[JIMNLIN]

Side tilt makes hooking up and unhooking much easier/safer for those of us the camp on a unleveled/off camber campsite where maybe the truck is at a different side to side angle than the trailer.

Wedged pins in jaws or the slot in these type conditions were common. This is a condition that means jacking one side of the truck or trailer till the pin will come out. Or sometimes a big crow bar may work if lightly wedged.

[schlep1967]

mileshuff wrote:
What is the advantage of the side tilt? I needed a slider and went with a Pullrite SuperGlide with is only 2 way tilt.

Your pullrite is also a 4 way. Left, right, front, & back. Which is really a 2 axis tilt. If you were to stand in your truck bed and place your hands on either side of the fifth wheel plate, you can rock it left to right. Some models of fifth wheel hitches and your 18 wheelers don't rock left to right. This is not a big deal for the big trucks because they travel on roads built to certain standards 99% of the time. For us campers we have to traverse some non level territory a little more often getting into campsites.

If the trailer tilts to the side while the truck is still on level ground (think backing into a campsite that is higher than the road) and the plate is rigidly mounted left to right you would either twist the frame of the camper or lift the tire of the towing vehicle off the road.

[mileshuff]

What is the advantage of the side tilt? I needed a slider and went with a Pullrite SuperGlide with is only 2 way tilt.

[Dayle1]

I'm still using a 14 yr old Reese hitch head that doesn't have side tilt. Also still using the original fixed legs. While a side tilt head would be nice, having a hitch that breaks down into 4 pieces is nice. However, just separating it into 2 pieces works really well since no tools are needed, just pull the 6 pins.

[rtz549]

If it makes any difference; the Reese you used to know; isn't the same Reese today. Familiar with Cequent Group?

Saw the video about the factory move to Mexico?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajrIPSL6ut0

[WyoTraveler]

When I had a 5ver I had the Reese top of their line 4 way 20K pivoting hitch. If I ever had another 5ver that is the only hitch I would have on my PU. Doesn't cost much more to go first class.

[Cool_Canuck]

Reese two way pivot are not that unusual, or at least didn't use to be. That drawing is for a four way pivot with a lock to prevent side to side pivoting. A nice feature I wish I had. I have not seen one.