Demco Glide-Ride question

[DL N K]

A couple of quick qestions for some of you with the Glide-Ride.
Does the motion in the pin box cause any difficulty when hooking-up unhooking? Are you happy with the improvement the Glide-Ride gave the ride quality? I really want to get rid of some of the "chucking" and eliminate undue stress on the upper deck area of the Montana.
I was just about ready to order a TrailAir when I discovered the Glide-Ride and am now trying to decide which one to get.
Thanks.

[Montana Sky]

DL N K,
Great question! I am very interested in the replies you get as I too am considering going to a Glide-Ride kingpin. Anybody use either the TrailAir or Glide-Ride with a Superglide?

[rickfox]

Good Evening All,

I have installed the Glide-Ride on my 2006 3400RL. Although I do not have a lot of miles on it, my current impression is that it does a very good job at reducing the back and forth jerking of the trailer with respect to the TV. By looking through the rear window of the TV you can actually see the pin box moving front and back on the king pin plate that rides on the hitch.

The weight of the trailer is actually suspended by two heavy short bars on each side of the pin box that are also connected to the king pin plate - much the same way that the old-time glider rocker/lounge chairs were constructed. It is the hitch pin weight of the trailer that causes the front to back movement to occur, and also that weight - which automatically seeks to be at its lowest position due to gravity - that causes the pin to always move back to its center position.

Until such time as there is significant weight on the pin box, the king pin stays in position and has no noticable movement during hitching and unhitching.

Construction wise, the Glide-Ryde is noticably superior to the OEM box installed on the Montanas, and also to the Mor/ryde pin box.

Depending on who you talk with, the Trailair and the Glide-Ride are designed to address two different problems. The Trailair cushions the up and down motion of the trailer with respect to the TV. Some say this motion translates to a front and back jerking motion - thus the Trailair can also reduce this effect.

The Mor/ryde and Glide-Ride pinboxes are designed to directly address the front to back jerking and may or may not have any effect on improving the up and down jerking.

My opinion is that - and there are many who disagree - the TV suspension of a properly loaded TV and trailer should reasonably address the up and down motions. The Mor/ryde and Glide-Ride pinboxes more efficiently address the front to back jerking - also call chucking - motions.

I am more impressed with the design and contruction of the Glide-Ride - that's why I chose it over the Mor/ryde.

[CRUZIN 2]

I have the Glide-Ride and can't tell any difference in hooking-up or unhooking. The chucking part so slight you don't even notice it, where before on some roads you couldn't keep your foot on the accelerator. Larry & LaVonne

[sreigle]

Rick, may I ask what is the price of the Glideride pinbox, installed?

Thanks.

[rickfox]

Steve,

I ordered the Glide-Ride on the Internet from the manufacturer. I was not able to find it available from anyone else. I price including shipping was $739.00

My son and I installed it one Saturday. Unfortunately for me, the job took about 4 hours but should have been more like 2. The trailer frame in the area where the pin box mounts was not manufacturered quite properly (supposed to be 12.5" wide between the mounting ears but was about .05" narrow).

The Lippert OEM pinbox is constructed with thinner material and just force fitted and bent into place. This could not be done with the must thicker metal construction of the Glide-Ride. But perseverance, a little filing, and by forcing the mounts apart using a small bottle jack, we were successful. The rest of the work was in remounting the power cable and the break away switch.

But the work was well worth it. We just returned from our first trip using the Glide-Ride. WOW what a Wonderful Difference!!!

I will never own another 5vr without putting one of these pin boxes on it. This is by far the best money for an add-on that I have ever spent!!

[CRUZIN 2]

rickfox

I will agree with you, it was the best spent money when we purchased the Glide-Ride pin box. Larry & LaVonne

[Montana Sky]

Well after reading all this great first hand experience I am going to be looking into it. Thanks for the reports Dave and Larry.

[RADHAZJOE]

After a good work out, we really like the glide ride. I concur with all the positive comments above.
We also had trouble installing the glide ride because the lippert pin boxes are NOT manufactured to a tight standard and are narrower than their spec sheet says. So when Keystone or whoever installs the lipperts, the famr get slightly narrower or must be made narrower. This makes it hard to install a unit manufacturerd to spec. I suggest installing the demco vertical in the back holes on the montana tightening them finger tight. Then use some help swinging the hitch into the horizontal position. A bottle or even a bumper jack on some blocks helps out. Insert all bolts loosely before tightening any.

Again we are glad we changed out the lippert.