Lippert Pin Box

HarleyRyder

Retired Gunslinger
I need some help here from you experienced 5th wheelers.

I bought a new Dodge 1 ton DRW with a long bed which required the purchase of a new hitch, B&W Companion. The old truck was a Dodge 3/4 ton short bed with a Pullrite SuperGlide 18K. (I was told by PullRite that the SuperGlide brackets were not engineered for a 1 ton long bed.)

I installed the new hitch today and removed the "capture plate" from the pin box on my 3612 Razor. When I attempted to hook up to the trailer this afternoon and I took the weight off of the jacks, I noticed that the pin box was not resting on the fifth wheel with a gap of about a quarter of an inch and it appeared that the weight of the pin was on the jaws.

I have tried without success to find a schematic of a Lippert pin box to see if I am missing a part that may have been taken off when the capture plate was installed.

Any advice on what to do or a direction to go will be appreciated.
 

nemo45

Well-known member
I know when they put the capture plate on my hitch all they did was bolt it on. Nothing was removed. Are you sure your not high hitched. You should know how easy it is to high hitch a pullrite. I would try and hitch to the B&W the same way you did on the pullrite. The first few times I tried to hitch to the pullrite, I high hitched it every time till I started touching the capture plate about 1/3 of the way up on the hitch plate and then let it ride up onto the hitch. If that's not the problem, I don't know what else it would be.
 

HarleyRyder

Retired Gunslinger
Don-

You may be right. I had not thought of that and I did have the trailer a little higher because it was my first time with the 1 ton. I'll try again in the morning.

Thanks
 

TXBobcat

Fulltime
I need to learn something here..

I have a B&W in my F250 LB. I have had a Forest River Wildcat and now the Bighorn. I have never seen or used a capture plate. What is it and what is it suppose to do?

On my Companion I use a teflon plate on the pinbox, which is a Trailair rather than grease the fifth wheel plate. From the beginning, I always raise my trailer where when I back up to connect it will raise the trailer just slightly. I open the lever and leave it loose and it will snap closed when I make the connection. I have never high hitched. In fact you can not close the lever your not connected properly. I always look at the jaws once I put the pin in the lever.

When I go to disconnect I raise the trailer a bit with wheel chocks in place and then open the lever and put the pin in to hold the jaw lever open then raise the trailer until the jaws open. I can then pull out with the pin box loose.

I find the B&W an excellent 5th wheel hitch. I have never had it hang up when disconnecting and have never high hitched. It comes out in two pieces which are about 50 or so pounds each. It is an 18k hitch and the Goose Neck is a 30k hitch.

Hope this is helpful to you.
BC
 

2010augusta

Well-known member
I need to learn something here..

I have never seen or used a capture plate. What is it and what is it suppose to do?

Bobcat:

A capture plate is a devise the is required for a Super Glide to function. It bolts on to the pinbox around the kin pin, and prevent the pinbox from moving relative to the head of the hitch, so all pivoting of the trailer moves the head of the super glide, causing it to "glide" and move.
capture-plate.jpg
 

porthole

Retired
Pics of a superglide
 

Attachments

  • Pull_Rite_hitch_01.jpg
    Pull_Rite_hitch_01.jpg
    16.8 KB · Views: 86
  • Pull_Rite_hitch_02.jpg
    Pull_Rite_hitch_02.jpg
    17.3 KB · Views: 80
  • Pull_Rite_hitch_03.jpg
    Pull_Rite_hitch_03.jpg
    18 KB · Views: 74
  • Pull_Rite_hitch_04.jpg
    Pull_Rite_hitch_04.jpg
    17.9 KB · Views: 75
  • Pull_Rite_hitch_05.jpg
    Pull_Rite_hitch_05.jpg
    25.2 KB · Views: 79

ncrebel8

Wesley and Niki Norwood
Im interested in what you come up with here. I am unsure how you could actually have a high hitch with the B&W, unless the whole pin is sitting on top of the closed jaws. What you are describing would seem to mean that you have a longer kingpin to work with the pullrite, I have never heard of this. Just wondering what you come up with.
And by the way, Once you get this figured out you will love the B&W hitch.
 

TXBobcat

Fulltime
Thanks guys for the pics. I think I get the idea of the capture plate.

Like ncrebel8 I never had a problem with high hitching. Bob if you would like some pictures of my hitch and how I connect let me know.

BC

Hay JimB. Is it possible to attach a camcorder file of something we would like to show??
 

HarleyRyder

Retired Gunslinger
BC

Thanks for the offer on the pictures. I am going to try what Don said to do and see if that solves my problem. If not, I will post a picture so everyone can see what I am talking about.
I never had a problem with the SuperGlide and it served me well. The B&W has to be the easiest to install and has the nicest powder coat finish I have seen on any hitch. By reading all of the posts on this forum from B&W owners/users is what made me decide to buy the B&W.
 

HarleyRyder

Retired Gunslinger
Lippert Pin box

I tried hooking up with the trailer set a llittle lower. Everything looked good until I tried to lock the jaws. They wouldn't lock. Raised the trailer until I was able to lock the jaws. The end result is what I experienced yesterday with the gap between the pin box and the fifth wheel.

Sorry for the first five images, it was my first time trying to post an image. They are not of my PullRite. Image six is what I am talking about with my B&W.
 

Attachments

  • B&W Hitch 001.JPG
    B&W Hitch 001.JPG
    356.8 KB · Views: 136
Last edited:

jbeletti

Well-known member
Hay JimB. Is it possible to attach a camcorder file of something we would like to show??

Bob,

Yes but. Due to the file size of digital video, you will need to upload the file to your own host, then add the link to a post on the forum. Similar to the way folks do with image hosting sites like PhotoBucket, Webshots etc. Find one that allows video hosting. Like Youtube etc.

Jim
 

nemo45

Well-known member
After looking at your picture, I'm thinking that there may be some way to adjust the jaws up and down so they don't push the pin up. If there isn't there should be.
 

nemo45

Well-known member
Just thought of something else you might be able to do. If you can keep your capture plate, grind the weld off the part that goes down in the hitch to keep it from turning, then grind the plate itself flat and maybe repaint it and bolt it back on the hitch pin plate. Also, use a lube plate and that should take care of your problem if you can't adjust the jaws up and down.
 

HarleyRyder

Retired Gunslinger
Don and Alan=

Just picked up a lube plate and it just might cure the problem. If that doesn't work I will be grinding off the part that causes the SuperGlide head to turn and I'm sure that will fix it. PITA, but you do what you have to do to get back on the road. Leaving for Wenatchee, WA in about two weeks.

I'll post my results when I am done.
 

porthole

Retired
That just doesn't sound right. All the plate does is change the way the hitch pin box interfaces with the hitch.

Unless for some reason you have a pin box with an extended pin.

I just measured the lippert pin box that was removed from my Cyclone for a Mor/Ryde box.

The overall pin length is 3 3/8"

The "fat" upper part is 1 3/8"
The thin part (gap-height) is 1 7/16"

Help any?
 

HarleyRyder

Retired Gunslinger
Here is the latest on my hitch issue. Spoke to a service rep at a local RV dealership and he had no idea how to correct my pin box issue other than to put in a lube plate.
Emailed B&W with my question and about 10 minutes later a customer service rep called and told me that there was no problem with the pin resting on the jaws as they were rated for far more than the 18K the hitch is rated at. He also said that the jaws on the companion hitch were thicker than other hitches.
He suggested that a lube plate would fill in the gap if I still had concerns.
 

porthole

Retired
I would think if you rest the pin on the jaws it won't be a problem for long. It will self level :cool:

The jaws do look much thicker then most, but I'm sure the saddle is designed to support the vertical weight and distribute that weight, across it's entire surface area, not just a few square inches of the jaws..
 
Top