Slider Hitch

[sreigle]

Just an update to my earlier comments. In this park is a brand spanking new Montana. The owner told me he cannot open the tailgate when hitched. He had a long bed Ford SuperDuty. So either it's the longbeds have this problem or it's the new Montanas with the drop frame. I'm not sure which.

[Glenn and Lorraine]

I checked and I have no problem opening the tailgate while hooked up.

[bsmeaton]

Because my setup is so close - I run greater risk of damaging the tailgate than I do the back window. Without the slider back, my lowered tailgate pratically touches the front of the Monty. If I am at any angle or incline, it will hit the monty and damage both vehicles while trying to hook up. (I have the shortbed, but remember the Ford tailgate is several inches taller than GM).

Because of this, Its just habit for me to release the slider when backing into a site or storage and disconnecting. That way I know I can get the gate down and the front cabinet door open. The slider is always in the back position when I'm not towing anything, which means I don't have to be as precise when reconnecting. A Superglide would not enable me to do that and I would have to have the DW help me lift the tailgate whenever hooking up or disconnecting just to make sure it doesn't hit.

That new Z frame front cabinet door in front of the gen is huge - I was wondering if folks that are close now would actually have a problem with the new door. It has to be another 6" taller than mine.

[Joe-n-Doe]

We drive a Dodge SB and have a PullRite Super Glide. It has saved our bacon more times than I can count. I can open the tailgate and although lifting the front cabinet hatch is awkward I can lift and secure it.

One disadvantage of the Pullrite is you will experience difficulty hitching and unhitching is your hitch is at a 16 degree angle or greater from the trailer. This has happened to me once and I thought for sure I had created a real OH S*#! situation. I was able to disengage the hitches locking mechanism, but when lifting Monty I the pin got wedged inside the hitch and I blew the landing gear fuse. I manually lowered Monty, had Doris back up enough to take the pressure off, and then manually raised Monty off the hitch. The design of RV Park's "Pull Thru" spaces and that the guy in front of me in a Class A had not unhitched his Toad is what really caused the problem. He departed before us and we were able to back straight under the hitch when we left.

[Glenn and Lorraine]

Only happened once but, I have pulled the 2 pins that hold the head of the hitch and just raised the pin box. It is a very rare situation but it can happen. Knowing to pull those 2 pins makes life so much easier.

[Emmel]

Heh Glenn, is that anything like pulling a handle?
Guess there is pros and cons either way you go, huh! Course, that is my "no brainer" opinion!

[richfaa]

I have the long bed Ford.Had both the 05 and 08 and the 06 3400. The truck has to be perfectly straight and in line with the 3400 in order to get the front hatch open. The slightest of an angle and the door will hit the tailgate. Also there is not much room between the tailgate and the front hatch when hooked up. I can not open the hatch while standing in front of it.I need to approach it from the side. and I am not THAT wide.... On the subject of the pullrite hitch.. I have the LB truck so do not need the slider..however if I had a short bed I would have the auto slider as there is no doubt that I would make a mistake.... no doubt at all..

Also in our travels and many campground stays.. we have seen MANY
bent tailgates (no v tailgate) V dents in the truck bed(no bedsaver) and broken rear windows and dented rear cabs, ( no slider hitch in a SB truck) These are common occurrences and steps should be taken to prevent them. Excluding all those who have never and will never make a mistake..

[nghelwer]

We drive a 2005 Chevy 2500HD SB, have the Reese 16k Slider, and have used it many, many times.

So far have remebered to slide it back before backing into a tight space.

Howerver, Glenn makes some excellent points about unexpexted U-turns.

If I ever do it again I will most likely get an automatic slider, for convience sake.

You must look at what you can afford, as others have stated, and make your own choice.

Good Luck.