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Old 03-10-2016, 07:28 PM   #1
hawkeyestoob
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Worried about cornering clearance

I am in the middle of trading in my 2003 cougar 285 that I had pulled with my 2003 F250 super cab short box for several years. During that time I never had to move my sliding hitch to the rear for extra clearance. This winter I traded up to a 2011 F350 crew cad short box. I have the same Husky slider I had in my old truck installed on universal rails in the 2011. When I hooked up to my cougar last week to bring it home to clean it out I noticed that it sits much closer to the cab on my new truck.

This got me thinking and has me a bit worried now. Does anyone know how the king pin position on a 2014 Raptor 297SE will compare to a 2003 cougar? Also what are your thoughts on the 'PULLRITE SUPERGLIDE - 16K HITCH - FITS INDSTRY STNDRD RAILS'?
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Old 03-10-2016, 08:42 PM   #2
chuckster57
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Since you already have a sliding hitch, why spend $$ on another one?

Changing hitches isn't going to move the king pin position in the "towing" position.
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Old 03-10-2016, 10:23 PM   #3
bobbecky
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We had a Reese manual slider, and due to the fact that it was so close in weight capacity with our new rig, we went with an 18K Pullrite Superglide. The best thing is, we don't have to stop, slide the hitch, then complete the maneuver, then go through the routine to put it back to the normal travel position like we had to do with the Reese. We are very pleased with the Pullrite.
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Old 03-11-2016, 03:02 AM   #4
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Hawkeye, we have more or less what you have. We have never had an opportunity to move the hitch in many thousands of miles and many, many nights of RV parks. I wouldn't put the cart before the horse so to speak unless you just have the hots for a new hitch for some reason.
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Old 03-11-2016, 07:35 AM   #5
hawkeyestoob
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Thanks for the thoughts everyone.

@ chuckster57: I agree there is no reason to spend $$$$ just for the sake of spending. I am just trying to be proactive and prevent possible future problems. My current hitch is rated at 15K so it is going to be right at it's limit towing my new toy hauler.

@ bobbecky: I am in the same boat as you were. I am at the very top of the rating for my hitch that is now 13 years old. I really like the idea that the hitch by design will help prevent problems for me down the road.

@ notanlines: It is comforting to hear that you are having good luck with a very similar set up. I am not going to do anything immediately. If there is adequate clearance without the slider there are always many good lightly used sliders on craigslist.
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Old 03-11-2016, 08:22 AM   #6
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So the pullright 4400 auto-sider:
If you look up the manual on this slider, there is some information on how to measure your RV-to-truck cap clearance. Might help you figure it out.

The more modern RVs tend to cut the corners (literally) at the cap which gives better turning radiuses. I bought an auto-slider, but that was based on having a short bed, I didn't have an existing hitch, and a buddy who did about 3k in damage to his truck forgetting to use a manual slider.
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Old 03-11-2016, 08:43 AM   #7
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Hawkeye, The 15K would bother me more than anything, but I am an over kill type guy I had a pull trailer and just got a new truck and a new 5th Wheel and put a 20K Pullrite hitch but a none slide because I have a long-bed. My son-in-law had a older big 5th wheel trailer and he had a Pullrite auto slider and liked it very much until he had to take it out when he needed to use his truck and it was heavy to lift. I just leave mine in for now.
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Old 03-11-2016, 11:01 PM   #8
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We have the 18K Pullrite 2900, and needed to remove the hitch recently for a several month period. Hitched the truck up to the trailer, un-pinned the hitch from the rails and raised the trailer until the hitch was high enough to pull the truck out from under the hitch. Lowered the trailer back to level, and that's the way it stayed until we were ready to travel again. Was pretty easy to re-install, just tied a rope around the pin box and the front of the hitch to bring it close to level, and just backed the truck up, with a couple of corrections, and lowered the trailer until the hitch was back in the slots.
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Old 03-12-2016, 05:16 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bobbecky View Post
We have the 18K Pullrite 2900, and needed to remove the hitch recently for a several month period. Hitched the truck up to the trailer, un-pinned the hitch from the rails and raised the trailer until the hitch was high enough to pull the truck out from under the hitch. Lowered the trailer back to level, and that's the way it stayed until we were ready to travel again. Was pretty easy to re-install, just tied a rope around the pin box and the front of the hitch to bring it close to level, and just backed the truck up, with a couple of corrections, and lowered the trailer until the hitch was back in the slots.
I have a some friends that do the same thing I just don't have a good feeling about the weight hanging in the jaw of the hitch and on the kingpin but people do it all the time. I think the Pullrite is heavier than some of the other hitches.
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Old 03-14-2016, 08:58 AM   #10
hawkeyestoob
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Thanks for all the thoughts. I am picking up the toy hauler this Saturday so I will be able to better assess what I will need to do then.
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Old 05-18-2016, 07:17 AM   #11
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After a couple of months, several weekend trips and a few hundred uneventful miles with the toyhauler using my existing manual sliding hitch I have had my first near miss between the cab and the corner of the front cap. This happened about a week ago while turning around in the circle by my home. The front cap just touched the cab above the window. I have made this turn before and knew that it there was not much clearance but this time I had to take a slightly different line and had the impact. Luckily there was no damage to either the truck or the camper but my ego was bruised. The wife was there with me and the first thing out of her mouth was that I should go ahead and order the new hitch.

The ISR 16K Superglide is being delivered today. I have to admit that I am really liking the idea that I will no longer need to worry about getting caught in a situation where I could end up damaging the truck or camper. You have to look long and hard to find people with much bad to say about the Superglides and it seems like most of the problems I have read about were really just user error.

The one thing I think I might look at doing after I get a couple of trips under my belt with the new hitch is switching out to the low profile feet for the hitch. As long as I have the clearance between the bed rails and the camper I think that lowering the camper 1.5 inches along with tucking it in to the truck a little more should help the mileage bit and make pulling in the wind a bit easier. If anyone has any experience with switching to these I would appreciate your thoughts.
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