Mega-trouble unhitching

[jamesu]

Over the past few years we have Great difficulty unhitching TT. Used to be I'd stand on truck back bumper and jump up and down and hitch would release and truck ball would drop out. I almost dread arriving at any campsite as this whole process can take 30-45 minutes and yesterday set a record: 1 hr to release TT from the ball. Great angst and confusion: what are we doing wrong? We have have been TT'ing for a long time and thought we knew what we're doing.

I have inspected TT receiver socket. It is fine. Looks nothing like the guy on recent TT blog who posted horrific photos of his set up.

Also last September I talked to mechanic in a Reno TT shop about all this and I gained no insights from him.

Would appreciate helpful input from other TT'ers who have experienced this and figured it out. We are currently camped on the Columbia and the way it all happened last night when we arrived I am concerned now about even getting this TT hooked up so we can go home on Saturday.

[Arn]

Before unhitching just pull out the hitch pin. If it's tight you may need a hit or two with a hammer. This allows the ball to move either way to relieve any tension on the hitch. No more jockeying trucks back & forth an inch at a time or jumping up & down on bumpers. It works first time, every time, level or not.

[wrenchbender]

You have got to be doing something wrong, in the dozens of trailers I have towed and unhitched in the past 60 yrs I have never experianced that problem.I have had a few that have come unhitched and caught on the safety chains.Look under the hitch and see if there is a nut that adjusts the gap.Some older model hitches were adjustable.

[opnspaces]

That has got to be frustrating for you.I don't think I've ever had a problem unhooking mine. I wonder if your coupler is bent. You might want to go to Walmart and buy a 2 5/16 ball and latch it into the trailer tongue without a hitch, just use the bare ball. Now try to unhitch it. If the ball releases easily you can be reasonably sure that the coupler is in good shape and it's something else causing the problem.

[hawkeye-08]

When hitching or unhitching, a level site is easiest. If there is slope (either way), then it can be more difficult, but the fix is the same, once the latch is released, you need to move the TV a bit to release the tension. As others have commented above, sometimes it is forward, sometimes backwards. Sometimes I just pry it apart with a hefty screwdriver or old fashion jack handle (the one that can be used to pry hubcaps off). Occasionally I have seen hitches where the latch mechanism was just alittle too tight and needed to be backed off just a bit (I don't know if all hitches have an adjustment, but I know some of mine have).

[mtofell1]

I had problems with my trailer when it was new and watched a buddy go through the same thing. Somewhere around 5-10 hitches/un-hitches things got considerably easier. As many have mentioned, the front/rear loading is usually key. If you've tried all that I think it's time to take it to a shop and have them look things over. It really shouldn't be this difficult.

[FreakinSchmiech]

I was having a similar problem, it turned out that the ball on my equalizer hitch was no longer parallel with the ground. The set screw had slipped out a bit, and so the ball was angled back. Adjusting this (and I now I do it every time I hitch up), fixed it. That..and making sure the ball is well lubed.

[rwjejits]

oughtsix wrote:
Is your hitch ball the correct size for the trailer hitch? Maybe you have a cheap hitch ball that is slightly oversize of what it is speced at? My hitch ball has always just fallen out of the hitch when I jack the hitch up.

I am thinking the same....

[oughtsix]

Is your hitch ball the correct size for the trailer hitch? Maybe you have a cheap hitch ball that is slightly oversize of what it is speced at? My hitch ball has always just fallen out of the hitch when I jack the hitch up.

[myredracer]

What I've noticed is that after one up/down cycle of the tongue jack, the TT creeps forward a little bit relative to the truck which causes the jack foot pad to be pulled toward the rear of the trailer maybe up to about an inch. It's hard on the jack mounting plate on the top of the A-frame and you can see the jack jerk back to vertical as the pad is lifted off the ground. Not sure why this happens but it does make it harder for the coupler to let go.

I know someone on this forum who re-enforced his jack so it can't move and am going to do the same thing. Maybe doing this will help the TT stay put. I have to wonder if solidly chocking the wheels will help with unhooking the coupler? Otherwise, putting the TV in neutral is the answer. If on a slope, I'll pull the truck forward a wee bit.

[jmtandem]

The outfit that sold me this trailer ten years ago went out of business. Maybe that tells us something. It's like this stuff is new to me today.

Don't take this wrong but you have owned this trailer ten years and just now understanding how to unhitch it?!?!

[coolbreeze01]

Maybe too much down angle on the ball.

[CampingN_C_]

dee74 wrote:
On my last tt I had to pull forward to get the ball to release. On my new tt I have to ease back a little and the ball will release. I am not sure what causes the difference but I can unhitch in under a minute.

X2
I thought I was the odd ball here. (no pun intended) I too have to let the truck roll BACK slightly to get the ball off. It will not release with forward pressure on the ball. I usually just put the chocks down and back into them a little, comes right off then.

[Muddydogs]

My toy hauler is the biggest pain to unhook but like others posted move the truck. When you are unhooking look at the hitch to ball relationship and see which way the ball needs to go. If the ball is at the back of the hitch pull the truck forward a little, if the ball is pressed into the front of the hitch role the truck back a little. Not that hard if you take a minute to look things over and figure it out. Also with some of the newer hitches release or set the ball latch while you are raising or lowering the trailer, if you wait until the hitches is fully resting on the ball sometime the latch will bind up so while the hitch is moving up or down push or pull the latch.

[thomasmnile]

Rthomas61 wrote:
I had the same issue. Little Vaseline solved the problem for me

First time or two unhitching for me was a bear, but since I began putting the light coat of Vaseline on the ball, no galling, no binding. Hitch lock gets a couple shots of dry silicone a year, locks and releases with ease.