Hitch set up help

acritzer wrote:
Ok. I'll count washers, maybe add one more, raise the ball up a notch and see what it looks like. Using the tongue to raise everything helps a lot. Otherwise I feel like it's a crazy amount of strain, which makes me second guess the set up.

Hi,

I can tell your not yet use to how far up to jack up the camper and the truck. Pulling hard on the snap ups to actually snap up can be dangerous. The pipe come out of your hand, fly into your leg or worse...

Here is a tip to add to Barney's list. Find yourself a 6" block of wood or other sound tongue jack block. Put it under the jack foot.

Once the camper is on the truck tow ball, and the ball coupler is locked onto the ball, jack up the camper and the truck, way up. It is going to look sky high until you find out the correct place that you can flip up the snap ups by hand, without the pipe. This is the way you need to do it. Yes, pulling up a little with the pipe is OK, but not a lot.

The 6" block will allow the truck and camper to go higher which is what you need. Then once snapped up, lower the jack and it loads up the WD bars with all the tension safely. Do the same process unhitching in reverse. BUT use the pipe and gently thump the chains. If they are still banjo tight, jack up some more. Once the heavy tension breaks free, then use the pipe to unload what little tension is left over. AND always stand clear to the side of the pipe. If it lets go, there are no body parts in the line of fire.

I have 1,700# WD bars and there is no physical way I can pull up full tension on those bars with a 2 foot pipe "not" jacking up the truck and camper.

Here see my trusty block friend. I don't leave home without him...:)
The truck and camper is my prior rig, but I still use the same trusty block on the camper/truck in my sig.



Oh, and on the cranking... Buy yourself an early, birthday, fathers day or early Christmas present and invest in a power tongue jack. Once you convert, you will never go back the the crank...

Good luck

John