Type of hitch

[drknapp]

Now that we have ordered our 3150 I need to get a hitch installed in my short bed truck. I hear a lot about the super slide automatic hitch, but wonder if that is really necessary with the way the front end of the Montanas are designed. I've read on other sites that some Montana owners have had the slide hitch installed and have never had to use the slide. So I'm leaning towards putting a manual slide in and hoping to never have to use it. If it comes into play a lot, then I would probably go with an auto slide hitch.

I'm hoping I can find out what your experiences have been in order to help me make a decision.

[PapaBeav]

We have the Reese 16k slider. In the 4 1/2 years that we have had it we have used it twice, but without it we never would have gotten into the site. While backing I always watch the cap to see how close I am getting to the truck. With the new front end design on the Montana's you might not need the slider.

[dpam]

We have a 2010- 3150 RL with a 16K Reese slider in our standard box GMC. We used the slider with our previous 5th wheel, but so far with the Moryde hitch on the 3150RL I haven't required the slider. I have to consider raising the Reese hitch, because I did try to slide the hitch back once when I was connected to the Moryde, and the Moryde hit the top of the tailgate.

[H. John Kohl]

drknapp,
You will need to answer these questions.
1. Are you less than fully observant when turning tight corners.
2. Are you willing to play the lazy card and take a chance on not hitting
If yes to eight question then the slider.
Good question and best of luck.

[Capt Kidd]

Super Glide is the only way to go. It is fully automatic and you will be able to make more than 9o degree turns.

I have had mine for 3 years in a Dodge MegaCab and not having to even think about wether you might need it or not is well worth the price.

We say a short bed towing a Monty on the way home from the Spring Rally with a blown out rear window on the truck and he was a delivery driver delivering a new Monty. Oh well.

[JimF]

A friend of mine destroyed his cab, he had a manual slider but though he wouldn't need it and didn't want to get out to release it. That new design doesn't have THAT much clerance. Costly lesson.

As a thought, we went with the 8' bed, the cost of the longer truck was less than the differance between a fixed hitch and a slider.

[wward208]

With my previous 5th wheel I installed a manual sliding hitch when I purchased a shortbed Dodge. After 4 months of towing new 2010 model 3150 I removed slider unit from hitch and replaced with standard legs. After 5K miles of towing I still do not regret doing this.

[Farmhawk]

I have a Pull Rite Super Glide hitch. When my wife and I were deciding on which type of hitch to get, we asked the sales lady about the difference in price? She responded with "the difference in price will be about the average cost of your deductible". So I look at it as pay me now or pay me later and possibly even later. I love my Super Glide.

[emorris548]

I have a Dodge short bed truck. I started with a hitch with a manual slider. It seemed it had two problems, the first is that you have to have to have netural pressure on the hitch to use it ( being uphill or downhill, only flat), the second was my fault in that I would think I could make that turn. After getting jammed up at a service station and denting the rear of my cab, I bought the Pull Rite Super Glide hitch. Have used it for over 20K miles, and have never once felt bad about the price, it was worth it.

[drknapp]

Thanks everybody. Now I have to go shopping. :-)

[pbahlin]

I've got a long bed and no slider so I have no horse in this race but it does make me think of a related issue. I would suspect that the issue of sliding or not sliding is related to the tightness of the angle you are trying to make while backing up. If you are only making slight angles then you don't need a slider at all.

Here's the question... When I back it is my experience that long before I get to really tight angles I'm getting concerned about the stress I'm putting on my 5er's tires. Even backing into a 60 degree sight I can see my sidewalls taking a lot of twist so I wonder if you want to make really high angle turns even if you have no cab clearance issues at all.

Does anyone else have thoughts on this? I feel like I'm torquing my tires off the rims in tight turns.

[exav8tr]

Bahlinout, Sometimes a mans gotta do what a mans gotta do......In three years I have had to turn almost 90 degrees three times. No problem, just remember to straighten and relieve the pressure on the suspension....

[pbahlin]

Hi Phil:

Do you think the suspension stress is a bigger concern than the tires in a tight turn? I never even thought about that before. You're compressing one axle and stretching the other with loads that I have to guess are not part of the design criteria.

My rig has those big puffy Missions on it and they are probably more forgiving when it comes to this than a nice tight set of G614s, wouldn't you think? I'm doing my backing on loose stone and it makes me cringe. I can only imagine what happens on young concrete on a hot day!