Help! Hitch stuck in ball mount.

[1988Resort]

Just bought a new (used) travel trailer and a brand new weight distribution hitch and towed it home. After getting it home and parking in driveway, I had a hell of a time getting the hitch off. The driveway is gravel and the truck was a bit on grass, everything was not completely level and the truck was not lined up completely straight with the trailer, so I think that's why we had a particularly hard time getting the hitch off on the one side. I was working on a time constraint (I had to leave for work) and doing this for the very first time ever, we made a hasty decision. Was having trouble lowering the ball from the ball mount. In hindsight, I think I know what we were doing wrong. The person helping me suggested to just dismantle the hitch bar from the receiver, so that's what I did and drove the truck out. This worked, but now the piece of hitch is left dangling from the ball mount. I would like to get it out from under the ball mount, then reinsert the hitch into the receiver before connecting the trailer again; however, don't know how to get ball free from ball mount. Otherwise, someone will have to hold the hitch up perfectly in line while I back the truck into it which seems impossible. Any suggestions welcome. Thanks!

[2_many_2]

Lynnmor wrote:
Always apply grease to the ball despite what some might advise.

X2

[toedtoes]

1988Resort wrote:
Oh my goodness; I just got it off! The problem was I just didn't know how to properly undo the latch. It was very sticky; the trailer is very old, as I mentioned. I had an "aha" moment last night when I watched one more youtube video of hitch dismantling and watched the way he pulled out the latch.

When dismantling the hitch the other day, I broke the first rule of RVing, "Never be in a rush", as I was starting to run out of time before I had to be at work and I needed to get the trailer detached from my truck so I could drive to work and not have to take my trailer with me! So I began to panic. I also had someone helping me who knew nothing about trailers and was the one who suggested pulling the pin out of the hitch and driving the truck out. So now I just have to put the ball mount back on my truck and practice hitching and unhitching about 50 more times! Maybe 100. And maybe put some WD40 on that latch.

Thanks, everyone!

Congrats!!! Being in a rush is bad, getting stressed because you're in a rush is worse. Just be thankful your reminder was painless. 😉

Glad it was an easy to fix problem. Now that it's disconnected, use a grease to lubricate. WD-40 is good to loosen it when stuck, but grease is better to keep it from sticking.

[opnspaces]

Edit, I see you posted that you got it fixed while I was typing. But I am curious, do you have the black or silver style below. I'm leaving my post to possibly help someone else in the future.

First and foremost be careful. When you get that hitch loose it's going to drop to the ground. You definitely do not want it to land on your foot.

As asked above, leave the latch in the lock position and see if you can move the hitch around by hand. Leave it locked so it doesn't suddenly drop on your foot. If it doesn't move you have a problem. If it does move as we all expect it will, then you have a rust or binding problem.

In the pictures below does your trailer use either of the latch styles? If so which one one, the black or silver?



If the black unit then uncoupling takes two motions. You lift the back edge up exposing a small v shaped groove on the bottom of the lever. While holding the back edge up you slide the lever backwards until the v shaped groove hooks over the slot and holds the lever up when you let go. If the lever does not stay up you are not unlatched and it will never come off.

If the silver unit then the lever lifts up and stays up. If it won't uncouple after the lever is up then you possibly have a rust issue.

[1988Resort]

Oh my goodness; I just got it off! The problem was I just didn't know how to properly undo the latch. It was very sticky; the trailer is very old, as I mentioned. I had an "aha" moment last night when I watched one more youtube video of hitch dismantling and watched the way he pulled out the latch.

When dismantling the hitch the other day, I broke the first rule of RVing, "Never be in a rush", as I was starting to run out of time before I had to be at work and I needed to get the trailer detached from my truck so I could drive to work and not have to take my trailer with me! So I began to panic. I also had someone helping me who knew nothing about trailers and was the one who suggested pulling the pin out of the hitch and driving the truck out. So now I just have to put the ball mount back on my truck and practice hitching and unhitching about 50 more times! Maybe 100. And maybe put some WD40 on that latch.

Thanks, everyone!

[Lynnmor]

1988Resort wrote:
The torsion bars/sway bars/spring bars (can these terms all be used interchangeably?) have been removed.

The words "torsion bars" was used many years ago but not today, they are NOT "sway bars".

It sounds like you have a rusted coupler latch and penetrating oil would be even better than WD-40. Always apply grease to the ball despite what some might advise.

[valhalla360]

1988Resort wrote:
Wow, thank you everyone. I have never used a forum like this and had no idea so many people would reply with suggestions. To the person who asked, no, I'm not in Texas, but thanks so much for offering to help; I wish you could come help me! Thank you also to the person who posted the vocab list. To try and clarify the situation: 1) The truck is no longer attached; I drove it away after removing the hitch pin. 2) The torsion bars/sway bars/spring bars (can these terms all be used interchangeably?) have been removed. 3) The ball and ball mount are dangling from the trailer's coupler.
My main objective at this point is to get that ball mount out of that coupler without damaging anything. I will check again to see that I properly opened the coupler latch. The trailer is old and the latch did not open so easily like the demos I watch on youtube! I will get some WD-40 to spray up in there. Several people suggested hitting the coupler with a hammer or mallet. This is also what my boss suggested to me today. I will review the comments again, and if anyone has suggestions w/ the more clear description, please let me know. I will try again tomorrow morning. I don't know how to post a photo to the forum; first time forum user here.

Can you rotate the ball at all if you grab the shank or is it just completely immobile?

If you can rotate it and shift it around, it's probably the latch. It might be as simple as apply 40-50lb of upward pressure so the latch can operate. Just be careful as it's pretty heavy if it falls out.

If the ball is trapped and completely immobile, you have a bit more of a challenge. (be very careful and triple check that the trailer can't roll of drop)
- If you can get it back into the receiver on the truck, you can use the truck and the trailer jack to try and free it but that will be difficult to get perfectly lined up.
- You could try chocking the tires very well and then use a jack to try and push the ball up. Be very careful not to lift the front of the trailer off the ground. That might pop it free.

[wa8yxm]

lwbfl wrote:
The entire hitch has been "removed from the truck". The hitch and ball are stuck in the tongue so they can't go on a bench just yet.

Sorry mis-read thought you'd removed the hitch from the trailer not the adapter from the tow vehicle.

If the hitch is bolted to the frame. same advice.. just the other end of the hitch.. Remove to bench. return when done.

[Crabbypatty]

Backing up places all the weight of the TT on the hitch, especially on uneven or different surfaces. Next time straighten out, chock the trailer wheels once you get it where you want, place truck in neutral and let the tension releases from the hitch. If on a hill, you may need to place it in gear with a foot on the brake, to release a little bit. Dont go to far forward otherwise you placing tension on the hitch in another direction. I almost always place in neutral even now with fifth wheel and it takes the tension off the pin.

[2112]

Use the below link to post pictures

http://photoposting.is-great.net/?i=2

You can either drag and drop or select the image from your computer. This will generate an imgur link in a box. Copy that whole link and paste it in your reply.

With the latch completely open, lever pointing straight up, you should be able to kick the ball mount a few times and it should just drop out. Watch your toes.

Good Luck
Dave

[1988Resort]

Wow, thank you everyone. I have never used a forum like this and had no idea so many people would reply with suggestions. To the person who asked, no, I'm not in Texas, but thanks so much for offering to help; I wish you could come help me! Thank you also to the person who posted the vocab list. To try and clarify the situation: 1) The truck is no longer attached; I drove it away after removing the hitch pin. 2) The torsion bars/sway bars/spring bars (can these terms all be used interchangeably?) have been removed. 3) The ball and ball mount are dangling from the trailer's coupler.
My main objective at this point is to get that ball mount out of that coupler without damaging anything. I will check again to see that I properly opened the coupler latch. The trailer is old and the latch did not open so easily like the demos I watch on youtube! I will get some WD-40 to spray up in there. Several people suggested hitting the coupler with a hammer or mallet. This is also what my boss suggested to me today. I will review the comments again, and if anyone has suggestions w/ the more clear description, please let me know. I will try again tomorrow morning. I don't know how to post a photo to the forum; first time forum user here.

[SDcampowneroper]

To unhook from a WDHitch, First chock the trailer wheels.
2- run the tongue jack down until it lifts the hitch some. Alittle if front of truck is off level low to trailer, more if front of truck is high to trailer. This relieves tension on the WD bars so they will release easily and safely.
3- remove / relieve tension on the WD bars
4- raise tongue jack to put the weight back on the truck
5 - Open coupler latch- may have to wiggle truck back and forth if truck is pushing back on the trailer.
6- run tongue jack down ( may have to use blocks to raise high enough) to lift trailer off truck tow ball. This serves 2 purposes, as tongue jacks have short stroke, and are weak at long extension.
Reverse procedure to hook up.

You cannot have the wrong size ball to cause binding. A 1/78" willfit in a 2" coupler, a 2" will not fit in a 1 7/8" coupler. No trailer ever designed and built for more than 2000# uses a 1 7/8 "
Likewise, 2" balls and couplers are for the 2000- 5000# trailers.
trailers over 5000# use a 2 5/16 " ball Never could you fit a 2 5/16" ball into a 2" coupling.
OPs issue I think is a WD bar still applying down force on the ball. She wrote to the affect that one bar was still attached. That alone would not let her ( i read their profile) to raise the hitch high enough to separate truck from trailer, particularly if truck was in a front low orientation, blocks would be required to lift the trailer high enough.
There are many makes and types of WD hitches, some leave bars on the truck, most are removable, but the principles of weight transfer, are the same as is hook up procedure.
Good Luck, OP, its easy when you are experienced.

[lwbfl]

Boon Docker wrote:
Would have to be a pretty big bench to put that trailer on to. :B

And upside down to boot!

[capacitor]

Did the OP leave the stage?

[Lynnmor]

Until the words used are clear, I have no idea how to help. A photo is the only way to see the issue. Use the proper words for each component, here is a list:
Receiver
Shank
Hitch Pin
Ball Mount
Ball
Spring Bars
Coupler
Coupler Latch
Brackets

[Boon_Docker]

Would have to be a pretty big bench to put that trailer on to. :B