Pullrite pros and cons

[BandBmalin]

The Demco autoslide allows you to be off by a bit and you can still hook up - something like 10 degrees. I've never had an issue hooking up to it. I also like that it has height adjustments to help me get my complete set up level.

[Lcwl]

Bought a 4400 series in 2008. It’s been great. Came to the 2018 rally last year and went to pullrite to get a pin for the rail. Said something to them about my latch seemed loose and they pulled my hitch went thru it. They replaced the gear on top head, replaced decals and said it good for another 11 years. The best part was they didn’t charge me anything.

The only con is when unlatching sometimes I have to back up to get it to unlatch. But never had a turn I couldn’t make.

[DebNJim B]

I looked at Pullrite but decided against it when a friend that has one told me I had to be right inline with the trailer to hook and unhook so I went with the B&W Companion. I am very happy with that although it is very heavy and I cannot remove it myself without a chain fall. If doing it again I would likely get the Anderson. In two years I have not had a turn so sharp I needed to use the slide. The front cap of the Montana's allow a pretty sharp turn.

[margerush]

We have a pull rite slider & love it. Pulls the Monty with no chucking or swaying. You don't know it's back there. The only drawback is, the hitch takes up all the space in the bed of the truck. If we did it again, I'd look at a removable hitch.

[Buckfisher]

I have been using a pullrite super glide for a few years. The hitch works great except for slack between the roller and slots. If I brake or accelerate while turning, I get a big jerking when the roller hits the other side of the slot. The slack is less than a quarter inch, but when it slides straight forward or back, the distance is much greater. In addition, there is a sixteenth inch side to side slack between the receiver and the capture plate. First the hitch slides until the roller hits the other side and then the momentum takes up the slack at the capture plate.

I am presently trying to work with pullrite to get the problem fixed. The jerk is so bad that it feels like someone ran into the 5th wheel. I can't accept this as being a common problem with pullrite.

I'll let you know how pullrite treats me.

[mlh]

I’m not trying to defend Pulrite. I know nothing about them but I do know about manufacturing. This sounds like the problem with threads. You haft to have play in them to work and then and the less play they have in them the more expensive they get. I suspect if Pulrite just half the play out of their hitch those parts would double in cost.
Every engineer would like to have zero tolerance in every thing and every marketing department wonts it cheap. So there is always a conflict, near perfect or cheap. There is usually a middle ground.
Lynwood

[Buckfisher]

I appreciate your position on tolerance and price.

If anyone experienced the big jerk that I experienced, I'm absolutely sure they would have a problem with it. I understand about tolerance and manufacturing. I owned a manufacturing business. Too much tolerance can make a product undesirable and tolerance in 2 places adds up. There's a difference between acceptable tolerance and no where near acceptable.

My intent was not to bad mouth pullrite before they have the opportunity to respond. I was hoping to help others who may be having the same problem. I absolutely love everything about the operation of the hitch except the big jerk when turning. Like I said, it feels like someone ran into the 5th wheel. From what I have read on this site, pullrite takes care of its customers. I'm hoping this is the result in my case. I can't even imagine pullrite considering this normal.

And my pullrite hitch was by no means a cheap purchase.

[Buckfisher]

Pullrite hitch height is adjustable. I have 3 sets of feet with mine, 3 different heights. It's very simple to change the height. I'm sure you can get them from pullrite.

[DQDick]

Originally Posted by Buckfisher

I appreciate your position on tolerance and price.

If anyone experienced the big jerk that I experienced, I'm absolutely sure they would have a problem with it. I understand about tolerance and manufacturing. I owned a manufacturing business. Too much tolerance can make a product undesirable and tolerance in 2 places adds up. There's a difference between acceptable tolerance and no where near acceptable.

My intent was not to bad mouth pullrite before they have the opportunity to respond. I was hoping to help others who may be having the same problem. I absolutely love everything about the operation of the hitch except the big jerk when turning. Like I said, it feels like someone ran into the 5th wheel. From what I have read on this site, pullrite takes care of its customers. I'm hoping this is the result in my case. I can't even imagine pullrite considering this normal.

And my pullrite hitch was by no means a cheap purchase.

Have never had that problem with two different Pullrite hitches and two different Monty's. My guess is you have something that isn't adjusted correctly. If you're coming to the fall Rally the Pullrite rep can look at your hitch and advise you.

[Buckfisher]

I can't make the rally this year. Maybe next year. I'm pretty sure that I'll hear back from pullrite in the next few days. I'm hoping for a positive response. They requested pictures, which I've already sent, and they clearly show the problem.

[Mroe]

We had the dealer service manager look at ours and agrees that there is a problem. He took a video of the movement as I moved the unit forward and back slightly. He said he would send the video to Pull-rite, but I haven't heard anything back for over 2 months. He put in a rubber (hose) piece, as a shim to see if it would help. Granted it will wear out eventually. But will have to see how it goes. He still stated that the hitch is not "broke in" as we have don't have a lot of miles on it and it seems that the adjustment bolt needs to be adjusted a lot after each trip. We're going on a trip next week, so we'll see if it clunks then. Yes, please let me know if Pull-Rite does something for you.

[Buckfisher]

The only thing that hitch break in may fix is frequently having to adjust the stop for play when driving or backing straight. The stop adjuster does not have any effect when turning since the mechanism moves away from the stop adjuster when turning.

I'm wondering if a roller can be made to fit the slot. Or maybe use angle iron to fill the slot and weld it in place. This should work good if it's the right thickness. Only need a few thousands clearance, but any reduction will help.

[Buckfisher]

It doesn't fix the problem, but it helps if the 5th wheel brakes are set a little tighter.

[Howard49]

Concerns using the Pullrite Puck Series Superlite for 2013-2023 Ram Trucks.

In January 2024 we purchased a 36ft Blackthorn RV brand new. Very soon thereafter, we purchased the Pullrite Ultralite Hitch for our 3500 Ram short bed pickup truck with the factory installed puck system. Installation was quite easy and attaching the trailer to the truck was also quite easy as described elsewhere. I checked torque values on the truck and hitch regularly to make sure they stayed up to specifications. We travelled across the country from Maryland to Montana stopping at several sites that we greatly enjoyed.

On our return we were travelling through Kansas on route I70 and a wind storm kicked up unexpectedly.The truck stayed stable and did not move but the ball of the hitch pulled out of the cup that held it and the trailer went over on its side and was totaled. The damage was so significant that we could not get almost any of our personal belongings out of the trailer and more than $18,000 damage was done to the truck as well.

Not only did a metal portion of the ball chip off in this circumstance but the pin that goes across the neck of the ball to restrain it dislodged and allowed the ball to slip out easily. From a physical standpoint as the trailer fought the wind only a very small portion of the ball and hitch cup would react to counter this motion which ws inadequate to keep the trailer upright.

Now I do not know if the trailer would have remained upright with a standard sliding hitch but the amount of contact to withstand this wind would have been much much greater as the standard sliding hitch has a flat plate for contact and a locked kingpin. The kingpin in most is captured 360 degrees where the Pullrite Hitch allows for maybe a linear inch of contact keeping the ball in place and in our case the pin completely gave way.

There are three ancillary pieces to this terrible disaster.

1)Pullrite, who I contacted and shared the police report and insurance information, takes no responsibility whatsoever.
2)Although Pullrite assured me twice that safety chains were unnecessary with their hitch. I put them on anyway and if they weren’t present the RV would have rolled down the hill or much worse spread out across the road.
3)Pullrite stated in addition to telling me they had no responsibility, told me that their engineering team would look at the hitch if I returned it to them at my expense.

[firestation12]

Sunday March 22, 2009, a day that will live in infamy. On the way back from the Imperial Dunes in California, we stopped at the Flying J truck stop on I10 on the east side of the Colorado River, for fuel. All the accessible fuel pumps for diesel were occupied by unattended cars (owners inside eating?). After 10 minutes of waiting for someone to come move their car, I decided to do a 180 degree turn to exit. As I started to straighten out, the Pullrite hitch came apart and released the pin. As you can see from some of the provided photos, the capture plate was compromised, the hitch’s jaws were wrenched apart, and the 5er dropped from the truck. The slider had moved toward the rear initially as it should, but with the truck centerline at a 80+ degree angle, the slider failed to return towards the cab. We’ll never know the true cause, but all of the sliding parts were severely bent. One of the retaining jaws was jammed onto the pin. To make matters worse, the 4 threaded retaining studs that attach the capture plate to the pin box, refused to budge. Using an angle grinder, I was able to cut the capture plate off of the pin box, so the trailer could be moved. That experience plus the problems others have mentioned of difficulty to hitch/unhitch when off center or canted of level, adjusting for bed clearance, clunking, and overall weight, ended the love affair for the beast I trusted. The only break was the bed rails of the truck suffered cosmetic damage to the bed rail caps. The tailgate had to be replaced. It was tempting to leave a calling card on those cars parked at the pumps.

[Foldbak]

But I will chime in since I've officially broken the 2 cardinal rules (Check the pin lock and make sure the tail gate is down!)

1. Trip to Yosemite 2 weeks ago. Backed in, gear down, pin unlocked, disconnected, pulled forward and heard a VERY loud scream, DW just as I made contact with the tailgate. No real damage.
2. Last week, Bodega bay, I backed into my spot like a boss! Got out and pulled the pin lock. Realized I was low on the drivers side and needed blocks under the tires, jumped in the truck and pulled forward.....didn't hear DW this time. BOOM! 5're sitting on the bed rails. Again no real damage.

Needless to say, DW will make sure I don't do that again!

[prndl]

I had one but went to a sidewinder. The pull rite would cause the back end of the pin box to hit the side rails of the truck where the roller cover tracks were. It also took up a considerable amount of space in the truck bed. After towing with the fifth airborne sidewinder it eventually developed cracks in the bottom welds. I now have a regular hitch (Husky) and just installed a Gen-y executive pinbox on the trailer. I have not had any issues with the 6.5 foot bed and clearance to the trailer and I have made some tight turns into some back-in's.

[bshgto]

Anyone that`s still using a plate style hitch should have one of these from day one. I had one but never needed it on my pullrite slider before I moved up to a better method. Read the stories they would have been saved if they had one. It just bolts on. The Blue Ox bed saver.

[rohrmann]

I don't believe Blue Ox is making the bed saver anymore. On the Blue Ox web site, they no longer show it as available.