drenjoey
Gray, Maine
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This morning, I decided to install an electric tongue jack. To do so, I hitched my truck and did the work. When time came to unhitched, the ball was stuck in the receiver.
I moved a bit forward, but still no luck. I finally decided to remove the pin that holds the hitch and let the whole thing slide out. (Hope I made my story clear.......Still a lot of French in me).
1-Did this happened to anyone, and if so, is there a better solution.
2-Do some of you grease the receiver?
Thanks
Dre
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skipnchar
Topeka or somewhere else
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The BALL should always be greased but if you merely hitched to the truck to work on the trailer that is not likely the base CAUSE of your problem. Most usual cause is pressure on the ball (forward or to the rear). You say you moved a little forward but maybe you needed to move backward to relieve the pressure. I'd try that first. Now I SAY this assuming your ball is stuck in the coupler of the trailer. Some couplers have adjustments for how tightly they grasp the ball but it is rare for them to need adjusting is they've BEEN working correctly. I would be VERY cautious about making any adjustments because too loose and a disconnect could easily occur.
Good luck / Skip
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ScottG
Bothell Wa.
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Mine gets stuck all the time - sometimes I have to jiggle things to get it to release. Or, I just use the elect. jack to force it off.
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old guy
Oregon (pronounced Or e gun)
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you just have to get a bigger hammer. I have pried my off many times. this happens if you don't grease the ball.
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LAdams
Northern Illinois
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Grease will help and sometimes if the trailer is in tension with the coupler, it may be necessary to back up a bit or pull forward a bit to unload the tension off the hitch...
There is also an adjustment for ball tightness on most hitches... Look under the coupler and you should see a square adjustment nut... You want this adjustment to be snug so that the ball won't pull out, but not so tight that it will not release the ball... Check it out - it could be part of the problem...
MAKE SURE you have it adjusted properly - too loose could cause an unwanted uncoupling of the TT and that would be disastrous...
Here's a little procedure that explains it...
Coupler Nut Adjustment
Les
* This post was
edited 04/15/12 03:52pm by LAdams *
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drenjoey
Gray, Maine
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Thanks for the replies.
I'll start by greasing the ball and take it from there. I don't want to play with adjustments if I don't need too...............Nice to read I'm not the only one with this problem.
Dre
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RoyB
King George, VA
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Didnt I read somewhere some folks leave it all hooked up including the WDH items etc and never uncouple the ball. Just pull the pin like you did drive away from it... Then you wouldnt have to hook up the WDH thingie...
My POPUP is too small for me to worry about the WDH and my other trailer was the Fifth Wheel so I havent had to mess with the WDH yet... Maybe I read all that wrong...
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drenjoey
Gray, Maine
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RoyB wrote:Didnt I read somewhere some folks leave it all hooked up including the WDH items etc and never uncouple the ball. Just pull the pin like you did drive away from it... Then you wouldnt have to hook up the WDH thingie...
My POPUP is too small for me to worry about the WDH and my other trailer was the Fifth Wheel so I havent had to mess with the WDH yet... Maybe I read all that wrong...
The moment I pulled the pin and moved forward, the hitch fell on the ground.
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