Extend or not to Extend

[JBMANN52]

Greetings from a sunny Friday afternoon in Georgia.
Extend or not to extend....Well, we just upgraded from the tag along trailers to 2002 Montana 3670RL towed with a 2002 Ford F250 PSD with the short bed. Following the recommendations or Steve Reigle and Ozz, I had the Reece sliding hitch and airbags installed. The Monty tows great but I got to tell you that the front cap gets awful close to the rear cab. Long story short I called Keystone and ask them about replacing the Lippert LIPP0719 pinbox with something with a little more reach (as this pin in up under the cap). Keystone referred me direct to Lippert. I chatted with an engineer at Lippert and he said that I could replace the 719 with a 1621 and get another 9" extension but I should keep an eye on the upper deck and be aware that some additional flexing may happen due to the extension. He also cautioned that the 9" should be the max extension I should consider. I would like to hear from others who might have the same set up as I do who may have kept the short pin or extended it. I believe I have read on here that some of you may have reached out ever further with other type of pinboxes or cushioned pins.
I look forward to hearing your experiences and advice.
Thank You
Barry

[skypilot]

Given the flex issue (and that you are out of warranty) my suggestion is to replace your hitch in your TV with the automatic one (my mind just went on senior moment time but the cost of the automatic slider will be much less (in the long run) than having to beef up the upper deck if the welds break!.

On Edit -- The hitch I'm thinking about is the 'Superglide'. Everything I've read says it works as advertised and is well worth the money. Only takes one time popping that back window / cab to make the money up .

[Mudchief]

I agree with skypilot. I would not change out the pin. They made it shorter for a reason.

[Glenn and Lorraine]

I am a firm believer in the Superglide and here is a post I copied from another thread...

If you look at my signature you will see my Montana is hooked to my short bed GMC using a PullRite 16K SuperGlide Automatic Sliding hitch.
I am firmly convinced that the PullRite SuperGlide automatic sliding hitch is the only hitch for shortbed trucks. Although an automatic sliding hitch may cost a little more up front, it has some decided advantages. First, it rules out the possibility of forgetting to slide the hitch rearward before turning. To me this peace of mind of never having to remember to get out of the truck and manually push or pull some lever to activate the slide mechanism is worth every penny of the difference in price. Not to mention the temptation of leaving a manual slider in the potentially unsafe rearward position during highway driving. Also, there are times when manually operating the hitch is virtually impossible, such as during emergency U-turns or when the trailer jackknifes on icy roads. Under these conditions, the extra cost of an automatic sliding hitch could easily be recouped in damages prevented.
Just forget to pull that manual lever one time and take out the rear window, like this guy did, or do body damage to either or both the truck and trailer and I promise you will wish you had that automatic slider. The SuperGlide has an automatic rearward travel of up to 14" while making a turn, going forward or in reverse, that's 50% farther than the manually adjusted "slider" designs. In some cases, turns as tight as 90 degrees are possible.
The SuperGlide also features the unique, gear driven, automatically locking, latching mechanisms. You won't be dropping the trailer accidentally because there is no safety lever, pin, or locking handle to mess with. They way it works is the SuperSlide wraps 140 degrees around the king pin totally enclosing it into the latch. There is no "clam shell" closure that might open if you forget to lock the release handle in place. The reason the clam shell hitches have potential of dropping the trailer is all the force is pulling against the opening of the latch. When you back into the SuperGlide you can watch the release handle slide closed. You can also get out and look directly into the opening where the king pin slides into place and see the silver latch totally wrapped around the king pin. This positive locking mechanism is as close to foolproof as you can get. If the release handle is all the way in, the hitch is locked, period.
Another plus is when the hitch is out of the truck "everything" is out of the truck. Absolutely nothing, no rails, no nothing left in the bed to interfere with whatever you want to haul.
You almost have to see it to believe it, either go to your RV dealership and take a look at the display model or contact PullRite and request their FREE video showing the hitch in action. In the mean time read this PullRite Article in RV Lifestyle.
When you consider the total overall cost of the your 5er, your tow vehicle and a manual slider what is another few hundred bucks for the safety, security and peace of mind of a PullRite SuperGlide hitch?

And I do believe the Superglide would be cheaper than switching out the pin box for a unknown possible problem with frame flex.

[illapah]

When we traded our 03 2955 and hitched up the 3295 I noted right away that I didn't have the clearances I was used to. I still check the rear of the truck to make sure I have enough clearance. I did get out once to insure that the superglide was operating correctly. Will rechech all when we next hitch up and go.