Forum Discussion

skyking897's avatar
skyking897
Explorer
May 15, 2017

5th Wheel Makes Loud Clunking at Stops and Starts

New to towing a 5th wheel, in fact this was only the second time I've pulled our trailer ('05 Keystone 28FRLS). On the first trip (empty), which was from the dealer to our home I was quite impressed how smoothly it handled. This weekend we loaded up (fresh water tank too) and headed out. At every stop sign or traffic light just as we were about stopped it seemed the 5er moved forward with a loud clunk and backwards when I pulled away from the intersection. It was somewhat disturbing and I pulled into a parking lot to check that nothing was coming apart. Although I'm not sure what I should have been looking for everything seemed tight and not moving (when hitch was installed, paint dots were used to mark installation positions). The hitch is a Reese 30084 slider and vehicle specific brackets were used for mounting it. Only thing that changed between the two trips were the load in the trailer and the hitch height was raised 1" to get sufficient clearance between the box sides and trailer. Truck and trailer both were sitting level when hitched together. Anyone have any idea what I should look for or is this just something I will have to get used to?
  • skyking897's avatar
    skyking897
    Explorer
    May 15, 2017
    donn0128 wrote:
    Loose hitch head. Mine has an adjustment bolt that takes the slop oit of the connection between jaws and pin.


    This would make sense but don't remember reading anything about doing this in my manual. Where would I find that bolt?
  • skyking897's avatar
    skyking897
    Explorer
    May 15, 2017
    corvettekent wrote:
    Is the slider locked in place? Or is it sliding when you start and stop?


    slider is locked in position. No, trailer is not sliding back and forth on slider.
  • Halmfamily's avatar
    Halmfamily
    Explorer
    May 15, 2017
    Had the same issue with our Reese slider and it was caused by the hitch "winding" up when stopping and releasing it's energy when pulling off. I adjusted the trailers brakes and controller to provide more stopping power, less stress "winding" up of the hitch. Also, after stopping I would lightly let off the brake pedal allowing the pressure to slowly come off the hitch preventing the clunk when you first take off and accelerate from a stop.

    I did forget to lock the slider once, you will know if it's loose when it slams back or forward, will scare the **** out of you.

    Solved all of this with a new truck and a new hitch, B&W Companion and turnover.
  • rbrand's avatar
    rbrand
    Explorer
    May 15, 2017
    I experienced the same problem, but only when it was raining??
    Never did figure out why. Everything seemed tight and good.
  • morley's avatar
    morley
    Explorer
    May 15, 2017
    donn0128 wrote:
    Loose hitch head. Mine has an adjustment bolt that takes the slop oit of the connection between jaws and pin.


    X2
  • BB_TX's avatar
    BB_TX
    Nomad
    May 15, 2017
    With trailer unhooked, see if you can push/pull the hitch head forward and back. A small fraction off an inch movement can make a large "clank" when 12-15,000 lbs is pushing or pulling on it. Some hitches have a bolt/nut that you can tighten to take the slop out. My Reese Elite has a solid welded shaft. I bought a thin round plastic electric J box cover, drilled a hole in the center the size of the shaft, cut out one side slightly so it looked like a C, and pushed that down on the shaft to form a shim to fill the gap. No more clanking and clunking.
  • donn0128's avatar
    donn0128
    Explorer II
    May 15, 2017
    Loose hitch head. Mine has an adjustment bolt that takes the slop oit of the connection between jaws and pin.

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