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I have an issue with mine that led to me selling the truck and now looking for a long bed. The wedge made for the Curt A20 does not fit all the way tight into the plate which causes side movement at the pin which in turn moves the trailer nose right and left as the wind blows, or making turns. Has anyone else encountered this and found a fix? There were other reasons to sell the truck, not just the short bed, but if for some reason find a really good deal on a really good truck that happens to be a short bed, I would want the sidewinder to do it's job properly. Has not since the day I got it. If I take the head off the hitch and lock it to the pinbox, I can move it at least 1/4" against the wedge and it is as far as it can go.
I have an issue with mine that led to me selling the truck and now looking for a long bed. The wedge made for the Curt A20 does not fit all the way tight into the plate which causes side movement at the pin which in turn moves the trailer nose right and left as the wind blows, or making turns. Has anyone else encountered this and found a fix? There were other reasons to sell the truck, not just the short bed, but if for some reason find a really good deal on a really good truck that happens to be a short bed, I would want the sidewinder to do it's job properly. Has not since the day I got it. If I take the head off the hitch and lock it to the pinbox, I can move it at least 1/4" against the wedge and it is as far as it can go.
I don't have the Reese, my fiver came with a Lippert Turning Point which works on the same principal. For what it's worth, I don't have any problems like you're describing. I did not use the Lippert universal wedge though, I bought a Reese SWW-06 wedge to work specifically with my B&W Companion, 20K puck mount hitch. Have you checked with someone like etrailer to see if you have the right puck?
As I've been thinking about this I had two more thoughts. First, my Lippert turning point gives me zero clearance issues on my short (6'-9") bed. Second, if the only thing wrong with your truck is the bed length, it would be way cheaper to switch out your hitch. I know, thanks Captain Obvious.
Last edited by kshoop1958; Aug 9, 2022 at 08:29 AM.
Reason: Added thoughts.
I've been using a Reese Sidewinder for the last 6 years in my short bed. The universal wedge that came with the Sidewinder is a very god fit in the Reese 18k hitch that is made to fit the Ford factory fifth wheel prep. The minor issue that I have run into is that there is enough slop around the pin in the Reese hitch that it allows about 1/4" front to back movement of the pin when the jaw is locked, which in turn pushes the wedge back on the Sidewinder by about 1/4", which allows a small amount of play between the wedge and the hitch. I re-adjust the fit of my wedge into the hitch every couple of outings and it keeps the double-jointed movement to a minimum. It is a bit of a shame that Reese couldn't get better tolerances than they do between the pin and the hitch jaw to prevent this inconvenience.
I've been using a Reese Sidewinder for the last 6 years in my short bed. The universal wedge that came with the Sidewinder is a very god fit in the Reese 18k hitch that is made to fit the Ford factory fifth wheel prep. The minor issue that I have run into is that there is enough slop around the pin in the Reese hitch that it allows about 1/4" front to back movement of the pin when the jaw is locked, which in turn pushes the wedge back on the Sidewinder by about 1/4", which allows a small amount of play between the wedge and the hitch. I re-adjust the fit of my wedge into the hitch every couple of outings and it keeps the double-jointed movement to a minimum. It is a bit of a shame that Reese couldn't get better tolerances than they do between the pin and the hitch jaw to prevent this inconvenience.
Interesting. There's no slop at all between the Lippert pin and B&W hitch in my setup. At least none that I've noticed.
I took a bunch of pictures of the wedge that is supposed to be the one for the Curt A20, installed both ways, sent them to Reese support and have not heard a thing back from them. Doesn't matter at this point, I sold the truck last Friday, more than just the short bed, it was deleted when I bought it from the dealer, and that left me feeling a little concerned with the EPA now starting to target private owners, so sold it back to the dealer I got it from. I was planning to replace the truck anyway back in February when I ordered one, but I wound up finding a nice F-450 instead, so going to put the original pinbox back on and toss the Sidewinder on Ebay. It is tight on the pin, no slop in it at all, but can move it side to side quite a bit.
Interesting. There's no slop at all between the Lippert pin and B&W hitch in my setup. At least none that I've noticed.
Yeah, I think that it's a poor design on the locking jaw of the Reese Elite 18k hitch that allows the slop between the pin and the locking jaw. I haven't taken the time to see if there is a way to tighten things up, but may look into that over the winter so I can have less slop for next year's camping season. The B&W hitches seem to have a much better jaw design that eliminates the slop found on other brands.
The Curt A20 has a bit of slop as well as it clunks moving forward and back when the trailer is locked in place. I have a Curt Q20 sitting in the barn that I may pull the head off and see how much, if any, slop it has between jaws and pin, and also the original pinbox, try that out on the A20 as well. If I find the pin is tighter on the BAL box, I will pull the Sidewinder off and sell it.
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