Evaluations
Registered: August 2007
Posts: 41
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Review Date: Thu June 5, 2008
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: None indicated
| Rating: 10
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DEMCO Glide-Ride Pin Box Extension
Installation and Evaluation
General – Our 2004 DoubleTree Mobile Suites 36RE3 5th wheel was originally supplied with an extended pin box manufactured by Leland Engineering. It has 2 each leaf sprung Dexter 7,000 pound axles equipped with MorRyde rubber-cushioned equalizers. It is towed by a 2002 Dodge Ram 3500 dually equipped with a modified Cummins HO diesel, 6 speed manual transmission and 4.10 rear axle. The truck is equipped with a fully-pivoting (i.e., fore/aft and left/right) B&W Companion 5th wheel hitch rated for 18,000 pounds towed weight. The original Leland extended pin box was a rigid design without horizontal or vertical articulation. Although it provided generally satisfactory service, this arrangement was prone to jerking and chucking (i.e., an uncomfortable back-and-forth motion) upon takeoff from a stop as well as when passing over uneven surfaces such as raised highway expansion joints or bridge decks when in motion. We were asked to install and evaluate a DEMCO Glide Ride pin box extension that would be a bolt-on replacement for the Leland Engineering pin box extension.
Installation – The carton containing the DEMCO Glide-Ride pin box extension arrived, and the delivery person advised that it weighed 144 pounds. This immediately led us to consider how the extension would be supported and installed in the pinbox. Among a number of options we considered were using a transmission jack as well as supporting the extension on the front end loader portion of a backhoe. Ultimately, we realized that, by using the electric front jacks on the 5th wheel (30 amp service is available in our covered storage bay), we could support the pin box extension at an appropriate elevation on a pair of adjustable-height sawhorses and then raise and lower the 5th wheel to remove the Leland pinbox extension and then to install the DEMCO Glide Ride pin box extension. This is the method illustrated in the photographs documenting the removal/installation process. Using a straightedge held against the bottom surface of the 5th wheel overhang, we determined that the distance from the straightedge to the load plate of the Leland pin box extension was 7½” – this would be the reference distance we would use to install the DEMCO pin box extension.
We used a DeWalt battery-powered impact wrench capable of generating 300 ft-lb of torque along with an impact socket with a box end wrench backing up the nuts inside the pinbox to loosen the pinbox-to-pinbox-extension bolts and nuts. This was accomplished with no significant difficulty. The most challenging part of the process was removing the Leland pin box extension as surface rust had developed on the mating surfaces between the pin box and pin box extension. With appropriate application of our makeshift sledgehammers (large wood blocks), the Leland pin box extension was ultimately removed.
We used general purpose grease on the pin box mating surface to ease the installation of the DEMCO pin box extension. We placed the DEMCO pin box extension on the plywood work surface and began lowering the 5th wheel onto it. Minor “trim” adjustments to locate the DEMCO pin box extension during the installation process were made using a 2-ton hydraulic bottle jack. The point at which the bolt holes lined up produced a reference distance from the straightedge to the load plate of 7⅝”. Once we had enough bolts in place to locate and support the pin box extension, we removed the sawhorses and tightened the bolts and nuts.
The only unanticipated part of the installation was that DoubleTree had installed a junction box for the 5th wheel’s umbilical and breakaway switch wiring to the back of the original Leland pin box extension using 2 each self-tapping screws. This required removing the junction box from the Leland pin box extension, drilling 2 each pilot holes in the DEMCO pin box extension and reinstalling the screws to mount the junction box to the DEMCO pin box extension.
From start to finish, the installation process took 2 individuals approximately 1¾ hours.
Results – On the weekend following the installation, we hitched up the 5th wheel for a trip from Cypress, TX to Corsicana, TX for a Texas Boomers rally. This approximate 400 mile round trip covered all types of road surfaces ranging from concrete and asphalt side streets to concrete and asphalt sections of Interstate 45, including a number of construction zones. The benefits of the fore-and-aft articulation provided by the DEMCO Glide-Ride pin box extension were apparent before we left the RV storage lot as the jerking and chucking that oftentimes occurred when easing the 5th wheel out of its storage bay were eliminated. As the trip progressed, we noted that the jerking and fore-and-aft tugging previously felt on concrete expansion joints and during braking on rough surfaces were all but eliminated as well. All in all, the ride for occupants in the truck was significantly more comfortable than before even though vertical ride motions were not affected to any notable degree.
Conclusion – The DEMCO Glide Ride 5th wheel pin box extension provided notable benefits in driver and passenger comfort through a reduction in fore and aft motion and should reduce the stresses on the truck, the 5th wheel hitch and the pin box and frame of the 5th wheel due to its controlled articulation. Based on our experience, it is worthy of consideration, especially if one is towing a heavier 5th wheel RV.
By Rusty C.
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