Pulling the breakaway pin puts full battery voltage on the brakes. Be sure to put it back after you unhitch. Again what brand and model of hitch do you have?
YnotTurbo wrote: This happens to me. I will set the leggs down and take the pressure off the bed of the truck. Then I will back the truck up o so slightly to push the pin off of the jaws. If there is a lot of pressure on the jaws, it will not open. Also make sure you have the camper raised enough so it is not resting to firmly on the hitch. You will eventually have a set standard operating procedure.
Real trucks also have a clutch pedal!!!!
They also have factory exhaust brake...! Also real trucks with auto tranny makes eating a cheeseburger while driving in slow traffic an easy task.. No push, let out, push, let out. Leg getting tired just thinking about it...LOL
Navy Chief
2007 Dodge Ram 3500 Laramie w/6.7 CTD, 6 speed auto, Factory Exhaust Brake.
2007 KZ 41CKS3 Montego Bay Sportster
2006 Kaw KDX 200
2008 Can AM Outlander Max 650
2006 Yam R6
2007 Suz GSXR 600
Golf cart
I didnt read all the other posts, but I think you get the message. Sometimes the truck/trailer settle with pressure against the jaws of the hitch causing the jaws not to release easily.
I have found the solution is to have your spouse work the lever while the driver moves the truck forward or backward. Do this with caution. Make sure they keep their other hand and arm out from under the nose of the rig just in case it falls.
Once the pressure is gone, the lever can be pulled with ease.
Happy Travels!
Bruce & Carolyn Wittmeier
Vietnam Vet 1968-69
2001 Ford F250 4X4 OffRoad, Auto ESOF, KingCab, ShortBed, Airlift Airbags, DiPricol gauges, SCT-Tuner from DP-Tuners (40/80/120HP), Bilsteins, Reese Slider, Jordan, 2001 30RKFS SunnyBrook w/personal touches
mattkuspa wrote: When people are mentioning setting the e-brake do you mean sliding the lever on the brake controller, or is it common practice to pull the release cable on the ebrake switch so one person can do it.
When people mention setting the e-brake, they are talking about the emergency brake on the tow vehicle, not the emergency break away switch on the trailer,and not the manual brake lever on the controller. There is no need to pull the cord on the break away switch when unhooking.Chock the trailer tires after leveling side to side, then unhook.
Several posters have given good advice on getting all of the pressure off the jaws/locking bar when unhitching. One thing not mentioned yet is that if the truck is on an angle, I.E. the site is markedly out of level side to side, it can be a real pain to hitch/unhitch unless you back the low side rear truck tire up on some leveling blocks. I ran into this situation twice in a two week period during our last outing (one site required putting the low side of the trailer up on almost 6" of leveling blocks ), and did a lot of cursing trying to unhitch without getting the truck more level also. I will be looking for a hitch head that has side to side pivoting capability to upgrade my setup, and this should help somewhat in the future.
Park the FW,chock the tires,put TV in reverse 'slightly'to take pressure off hitch.You can lower landing gear to just 'touch' the ground then pull hitch release.It will release easily then continue to lower landing gear to raise FW slightly and pull TV slowly forward.It will disengage
and you can determine how much more to raise FW before pulling away completely from the FW
I once spent 30 minutes raising+lowering landing gear trying to get that 1/8" separation.I then remembered reading on this site(?) how wise guys pull release lever when owner is having lunch and unit drops into bed on pulling away.
We had problems when our rig and hitch were new. After doing it a half dozen times it works a lot better.
Sometimes we need to take the pressure off the hitch like many of the others have already said, but for us we had to break in the new hitch.
Good luck.
Jim & Jane
2008 Cardinal 30TS
Trail Air Pin Box, Air Suspension, Smartair Air Spring Self Leveling, Reese Signature Series 18K hitch
2008 Chevy Silverado 2500HD 4x4 Duramax/Allison Ext Cab Long box Use And Promote CB Channel 13
"Preferred method" IMO
Chock the wheels, drop the landing gear, raise the pinbox slightly off of the hitch, put the truck in reverse and put rearward pressure on the pin, set the parking brake, put the truck in park, and the handle shouldn't be a problem to release at all.
I have never found the need to pull the ebrake cable out to setup. If you ever do this make sure you put it right back in.
Cabriolet86 wrote: Chock the wheels, drop the landing gear, raise the pinbox slightly off of the hitch, put the truck in reverse and put rearward pressure on the pin, set the parking brake, put the truck in park, and the handle shouldn't be a problem to release at all
This is the exact procedure needed to unhitch without a problem...almost verbatim the instructions that came with our Pullrite!
mattkuspa wrote: Lots of good info. Again though, I have to ask about the trailer parking brake. Is it ok to just pull the cable out of the E-brake to set the parking brake on the trailer.
If you are asking about pulling the cable for the emergency brakes for the camper, then the answer is no. Long term energizing of the brakes on the trailer by pulling the emergency cable with run you trailer battery down and eventually burn up the emergency controller.
Also remember, some manufacturers of brake controllers mounted in your truck say not to energize the emergency controller with the vehicle controller hooked up. It may damage it.
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No push, let out, push, let out. Leg getting tired just thinking about it...LOL
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