Reese R20 - struggling to unhitch
I went from a sliding Reese 16k to the R20 this year. I like the R20, but on my old 16k, when I lowered the front landing gear on the trailer, I could see when the pin box raised off the hitch head, ...
Forum Discussion
With these Reese hitches, the main reason they will be difficult to open is because the pin is pushing rearward against the jaws. The design of the jaws is such that they won't open with any pressure on them. You might have to use the truck in reverse gear to put rearward force on the pin, while someone else does the release handle operation.
Raising the pinbox off the hitch head allows it to swivel a little bit, which can be effective in relieving contact between the jaws and pin, but that is not supposed to be necessary, and if you can't do that due to the lube plate thickness, your only option may be as I suggested above. You will have to decide whether that full face lube plate is worth the hassle of a 2 person disconnect.
Personally, I would be worried if there was zero clearance between the bottom side of the jaws and the bottom hub on the pin. Too much chance that the jaws won't close properly in the groove. I can think of a couple of ways to fix that, but not simple to do. Removing the lube plate is the only simple thing.
Raising the pinbox off the hitch head allows it to swivel a little bit, which can be effective in relieving contact between the jaws and pin, but that is not supposed to be necessary, and if you can't do that due to the lube plate thickness, your only option may be as I suggested above. You will have to decide whether that full face lube plate is worth the hassle of a 2 person disconnect.
Personally, I would be worried if there was zero clearance between the bottom side of the jaws and the bottom hub on the pin. Too much chance that the jaws won't close properly in the groove. I can think of a couple of ways to fix that, but not simple to do. Removing the lube plate is the only simple thing.
