Can't get unhitched!

tracyb-oh wrote:
Update. After the overnight from being sprayed throughly with WD40 when our help arrived the coupler lifted right off letting go of the truck. So we are now separated. I think a little lubrication did the trick. Thanks everybody.

Or, things just settled and the forward/reverse pressure that was on the ball was relieved enough to release the hitch.

We had the same problem when we brought our Jayco 28RLS home last year. The coupler wouldn't release the ball. The next day I finally found the culprit. A tiny ball of weld splatter had fallen into the pivot point between the green and yellow parts in JBarca's pics. I fished it out with a pen light and paper clip and it's worked like a champ since. Ours is a Lippert under chassis coupler but the concept is the same.

lbrjet wrote:

TxTwoSome wrote:

NJRVer wrote:
JBarca,
Excellent post with photos!

X2!!

Yes, the time and thought put into John's post deserves some praise.

Gee guys, thanks! I'm humbled.

I have been towing something... since I was like 12 years old on the farm. And lets say that was a long time ago... Boat trailers, cargo trailers, flat bed trailers, even a PU camper where no issue for me hitching and unhitching. But the first TT with that "different" style ball coupler, well, it got me. The first time I hooked up to a TT, my dealer hitched it and never thought anything about it. We towed it half way home and camped. Wet cold and the Friday after Thanksgiving in 2003, getting dark and now after business hours. For the life of me, I cannot get that ball coupler off the truck.... This is stupid, how can it be this bad... Wife wanting to get supper started and I can't unhitch the camper... After enough fiddling, screw drivers, pry bar, you name it, 30 minutes later it came off. At that point while it was off, really did not know why.

Next morning hitch up OK and head home. Still on an all time high from our first camper, we say, lets spend another night at the local state park. So back into the site, dang...still can't get that ball coupler to release, Errrr. Here we go again.... 30 minutes later, it's off still not knowing exactly what I did to get it off. Spent the night, hitched up the next day and towed home just fine.

Then to unhitch at home, you dirty rat, not again... Again, 30 minutes later it was off and I said, that's it. How does this darn thing work... Crawled up and looked up. You stinker you.... that release lever "does not pivot up" like many to almost all other ball couplers I have used over the years. It slides back towards the TT!. Duh... Now with 1 finger in about 1 second after the pressure is off, ping, it's unlatched!

We all have at least 1,.... camping story where you do something dumb... it can't be this hard... That was my first one with the TT... I'll never forget that nor how the latch works...

The pics I had were from another discussion we had a while ago on the new Andersen WD hitch and the effects on the ball coupler. And then this post came in with someone who could not release the coupler... Gee I wonder if they know how the coupler latch works???

The learning never stops. Hope it helps someone else in the future.

Thanks again

John

TxTwoSome wrote:

NJRVer wrote:
JBarca,
Excellent post with photos!

X2!!

Yes, the time and thought put into John's post deserves some praise.

NJRVer wrote:
JBarca,
Excellent post with photos!

X2!!

Update. After the overnight from being sprayed throughly with WD40 when our help arrived the coupler lifted right off letting go of the truck. So we are now separated. I think a little lubrication did the trick. Thanks everybody.

JBarca,
Excellent post with photos!

If you still haven't gotten it un-coupled...ask if the ball has a flat spot on top?

If no flat spot on top, it will either be tough to un-couple or unable to release the ball from the dome of the coupler

As stated in my last post here, that dome's front (towards the TV) goes BELOW the equator to capture the ball and the rear portion of the dome does NOT, but has the latch form the rest of the dome below the equator

Here is a typical tow ball with a flat spot on it's top...that is to allow the ball to move backwards after the latch is released




and here are three different types of latches and their cross section. Note the rear portion of the dome is about where that flat spot will slide past to release from the front of the dome


These do NOT show the ball's flat spot


This one does show the flat spot on top of the ball

Is it still stuck??
Take a bfh to it, or un pin the stinger and drive out.

This for sure would help if we knew which coupler you had.


You mentioned a travel trailer, this ball coupler is very common on many TT's.

The first thing to understand if this is your first time unhitching, is how the latch lever works and "how" to release it.

This is in the "latched" position.


A cross section


This is the "unlatched" position. If this is not in the unlatched position the ball will not come off.


A cross section


In order to unlatch this type of coupler, the lever on top "slides" back towards the TT. It does not pivot up like many small boat or small utility trailers. In order to slide it back, you must release the pressure from the ball acting up on "after" unhooking the WD bars.

Meaning,

Jack up the camper and the truck with tongue jack. Go high enough to take the pressure off the WD bars and remove WD bars.

Now lower the tongue jack and look at the receiver pin box and the hitch shank. When you lower the camper enough, there is a slight gap that will show at the top of the shank and the pin pox when the truck stops going down and the camper is only held by the jack. Stop at that point. This means the upward lift pressure is off the bottom of the latch pawl exerted by the ball from the upward jacking force. If you go too far, then you loaded the pressure again by the trailer pushing down.

See this pic for the gap between the top of the hitch shank and the top inside of the receiver. The red arrow is pointing to the gap I am referring too. You need to stop lowering at the "instant" the gap appears. If you go too far, the gap is there but the trailer is now pushing down on the ball. You need to truck height at rest and the trailer height at the same resting point and not lower or higher.


Once that gap "just" appears, then stop and try slide the latch handle back towards the TT. If it is still in a bind you may have have gone down too far. go up a hair higher on the jack. If the latch is still not sliding back, there could be trailer pressure pulling the on the connection. Chock the trailer wheels from rolling forward or backwards and put the truck in neutral to release the pressure from the trailer trying to roll backwards.

The latch has to be released or this is never comeing off the ball, and you did not say it was. That I saw anyway, if you did I missed it sorry.

If you made it past the latch being released and it is now full back and still cannot get the ball out, you are still in a pressure bind but at least we know you are past the latch being back the way it is suppose to be.

The bind comes from the trailer pushing "into" the truck, or the truck pulling away from the trailer. Again, chock the trailer from rolling forwards to backwards and gently back up the truck a very small amount so all of the front part of the ball coupler can unhook from the tow ball. Sometimes the truck in neutral will release the pressure. This can also be doing by jacking the camper up high enough and it will force the ball to wiggle out, BUT the trailer or truck has to move to allow it to wiggle out. If the camper is rolling backwards and the truck locked in gear, it still may not come out with lifting.

Tell us if the trailer and truck on level ground? and did you chocks the wheels on the camper?

Hope this helps

John