Plastic disc on fifth wheel hitch

[maxmorrow]

I bought the plastic disc for my fifth wheel hitch and thought it would help on the mess of grease. It worked fine and when I tried to hookup the other day the jaws would not close completely. I took off the disc and it worked perfect. Just wanted to let anyone that has same problem of what it could be.

[banjo]

Pullrite Superfifth can use a disk.

Pullrite Superglide does not need a disk as pinbox does not
rotate on the hitch.

[bbaker2001]

so my Pullright does not need a disk.?????
why is that

[mileshuff]

One advantage to the SuperGlide hitch is no need for disc or grease. If you have a need for a slider that is!

[FlatBroke]

Just found this 1/8"
Icon plate

[Cummins12V98]

maxmorrow wrote:
I have a B&W companion hitch and only thing we could see was that the jaws are thicker than on most other hitches. I hated to take it off because it really worked great when towing.

Your hitch must one of the older ones that has 1 1/8" thick jaws. Contact Hensley, they sell a 1/8" thick slip plate. It also makes it easier to see what the weight is off the hitch for unhooking.

[azjeffh]

RustyJC wrote:
Actually, e-trailer lists the material of the Reese disc as being nylon.

Noticed that as well, however the Reese site specifies white polyethylene.

Click the Technical Specs tab on this page: Lube Plate

[mach8274]

B&W Companion here as well. I use the Reese disc and have no issues. I was unaware of different thicknesses, I did however get the larger diameter disc.

[RustyJC]

Actually, e-trailer lists the material of the Reese disc as being nylon.

It really doesn't matter to me if they're recycled milk jugs. I've used them with no problems since 1996 on both Reese and B&W Companion 5th wheel hitches.

Rusty

[Old-Biscuit]

greende wrote:

Old-Biscuit wrote:
They are not 'plastic'

They are Teflon hence the lubricating properties
*Allows the hitch head plate and the pin box plate to slide up over each other when hitching up (pin box plate lower than hitch head plate------eliminates high hitching)
*Allows the pin box and hitch to rotate on each other when making turns

Teflon plate replaces the need for greasing the plates.
They come in different thicknesses and dimensions

Greasing of king pin/hitch jaws still a good idea due to metal/metal contact.

OB, the type of plastic doesn't really matter, but I think you will find that the disks are made of High Density Poly. Same thing the machine slides and snowmobile slides are made of. Does the same function that you so expertly outlined, however.

Correct .......they are a plastic (just not the type of plastic one normally thinks of)
PTFE----PolyTetraFluoroEthylene
Teflon is the brand name by DuPont

:B

[Dennis_M_M]

As noted there are thinner ones available. You could also use a belt sander to make the one you have thinner - just watch your fingers!

[greende]

Old-Biscuit wrote:
They are not 'plastic'

They are Teflon hence the lubricating properties
*Allows the hitch head plate and the pin box plate to slide up over each other when hitching up (pin box plate lower than hitch head plate------eliminates high hitching)
*Allows the pin box and hitch to rotate on each other when making turns

Teflon plate replaces the need for greasing the plates.
They come in different thicknesses and dimensions

Greasing of king pin/hitch jaws still a good idea due to metal/metal contact.

OB, the type of plastic doesn't really matter, but I think you will find that the disks are made of High Density Poly. Same thing the machine slides and snowmobile slides are made of. Does the same function that you so expertly outlined, however.

[Old-Biscuit]

They are not 'plastic'

They are Teflon hence the lubricating properties
*Allows the hitch head plate and the pin box plate to slide up over each other when hitching up (pin box plate lower than hitch head plate------eliminates high hitching)
*Allows the pin box and hitch to rotate on each other when making turns

Teflon plate replaces the need for greasing the plates.
They come in different thicknesses and dimensions

Greasing of king pin/hitch jaws still a good idea due to metal/metal contact.

[Goostoff]

I had this problem when I bought my B&W. My crappy Curt hitch had beat the disk to death and the jaws on the B&W were too thick for the beat up disk. I got a new one and all was good in the 5th wheel world.

[FlatBroke]

Get a Hensly or make one out of the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket. My home made one just split after 5+ years and two trailers. But, I probably don't tow as much as some do here.

[Halmfamily]

I've had this same issue with my B&W while unhitching. I could not get the jaws to release. Once released, I noticed the plate had been pinched and slightly buckled in the center. I purchased a new one that is thinner and haven't had any issues.