The superior towing and safety of 5th wheels has been proven for many years, however the stumbling block for the average Kiwi is the relatively short decks and lower towing capacity on NZ utes compared to their larger American cousins. Not everyone wants to spend over $100,000 on an American tow vehicle! While you can make lightweight 5th wheels (such as our units at between 1800kg and 2500kg), the really major hurdle is the short deck length of utes available in New Zealand. For example - while a full sized double cab Ford F-250 has a deck over 2.4m long (even a "short box" is over 2m!), a Nissan Navara double cab deck is less than 1.4m. Because the optimum towing point is above or within 200mm of the rear axle, even if you turn a easy corner at traffic lights the trailer can contact the cab of the ute.

Because of this, towing a 5th wheel with a short deck ute usually means you have to position the tow-hitch near the end of the deck. This defeats the very purpose of owning a 5th wheel in the first place! The reason a 5th wheel tows so well is that having the towing point as close as possible to over the rear axle effectively removes the extra pivot point that is present when towing a caravan, as shown below. By placing the hitch at the rear of the deck you are only gaining a small part of the superior 5th wheel handling.

However, in 2003 we discovered the Pullrite auto-slide hitches that we now supply with all of our 5th wheels. These auto-slide hitches move the hitch-head down the deck automatically as you turn corners. Depending on the model of your ute (eg Double cab Hilux, Navara, Ranger etc), you could even get the trailer to a full 90 degrees offset! The Super Glide hitch is also unique in that it has probably the only fully automatic sliding hitch that is universal in the sense it can tow most pin boxes.  Some automatics can only tow a specific pin box or you must spend a lot of time adjusting the hitch head to suit your trailer. The Super Glide has an attachment which takes one bolt to fit to most pin boxes. But most importantly you know it will slide when you turn, not just when you turn in such a way as to make the hitch slide like some auto sliding hitches require.

Note on the pictures below (Nissan Navara) the excellent positioning almost above the rear axle for safe and stable towing, and yet how tight the rig can turn without contacting the cab! This is thanks to the auto-slide hitch, that moves the trailer away from the cab as you turn progressively tighter. This rig is not even to full turn in these photos, as dropping the tailgate will allow a full "jack-knife", excellent for tight maneuvering in campgrounds or storage areas.

These photographs are of a model 273 hitched to a new Toyota Hilux SR5 automatic. With our auto-slide hitches, the new model Hilux can achieve a full 90 degree turn with all of our fifth wheel models.

If you have any questions regarding these superb hitches or would like more information on tow vehicles, please feel free to email or call us.