Back up and look method, my wife tries but her directions are usually a little late.
Am I the only one that to get my coupler to lock in has to park so the tongue actually is about 1/4" to a 1/2" behind the ball so it slides forward onto it?
92DakotaHD wrote: Am I the only one that to get my coupler to lock in has to park so the tongue actually is about 1/4" to a 1/2" behind the ball so it slides forward onto it?
No, everyone does. It's just the geometry of the system. The coupler doesn't settle down to the ball in a straight line, it follows a curve where the center of the circle is the pivot point of the trailer (the wheel if it were a single axle trailer) and the radius of the circle is the coupler. Imagine flipping the trailer on it's side and spinning it around the axle. The coupler would draw a circle. Draw a line through the circle at the center, to represent the ground, Then pick a point above the ground where you have raised the coupler to slide your ball under. If you draw a line perpendicular to the ground from the coupler, that would be your ball directly under the coupler. The line is inside the circle and too close to the TT to land the coupler onto the ball correctly. You need to pick the point on the curve where the coupler would land when you lower the TT onto the ball. That point is a tangent of the circle, not inside it.
DW and I in our Gulfstream Amerilite 21MB
Chevy Silverado 2500 HD - Duramax Diesel 6.6L - Allison Tranny
"We can categorically state that we have not released man-eating badgers into the area." - Major Mike Shearer - British Army - Basra, Iraq
After reading the replies to this post (thanks to all of you) and hearing a couple of recent news stories about kids being killed while playing behind trucks and SUVs, I bought a backup camera and installed it today. The second thing i tried was hitching up the TT. This is, by far, the easiest way to go. $70- at Costco and 20 minute basic installation. The next step is to hard wire the monitor into the truck rather than leave it connected with the lighter plug. I just need to dig up a little wire from the basement.
I agree with mgbogue1, after pulling all kinds of trailers for 45+ years, Hitchin' Rods sure save dents and frustration. Liked them so much on our first TT that i made a small set for the 5er out of magnetic pickup tools fro Harbor freight when we traded. Line them up in the mirror (you can even tell if the tongue is hi enough if you put tape in the front rod) when the one on the ball knocks off,
Bob's your uncle! Just get out and crank 'er down.
On my now sold travel trailer, I fabricated a mount for a convex mirror that was tall enough that I could look at my rear view mirror in the truck, and via the convex mirror, could watch the trailer coupler and hitch ball as they approached the correct line up.The mount was a piece of flat iron to which I welded two muffler clamps the correct diameter to go around the trailer jack. It could be moved vertically 2 or 3 inches, and I also drilled a series of mounting holes spaced 1 inch apart for the mirror mounting bolt at the top of the flat metal piece, so there was ample adjustment to work nicely. I also painted the area right around the hitch ball white; ditto the area of the trailer coupler. When the two white patches merged, everything was lined up right;all that had to be done was to adjust the trailer height so that the trailer coupler was just nicely higher than the hitch ball.I also welded to the equalizer head a vertical piece of 1/2 inch thick flat iron, which was 2 inches higher than the ball and about 1-1 1/2 inches in front of it (i.e. between the ball and the back of the truck) in case I misjudged how far to back into the hitch coupler. Worked great for hitching up by myself before the DW had her morning coffee and got ready to roll.
After buying a new fifth wheel this May, I have fabricated a mount with an attached convex mirror and bolted it to the pin box on my trailer. This also works in a similar manner as the one on my old TT for backing in to the fifth wheel hitch without any coaching. I don't have to worry about interacting with someone who is grouchy because she doesn't really want to be out at the horrible hour of 9:00 A.M. without having had her coffee yet, so domestic bliss is preserved once again.
Northern Tool will usually fill the need with some crappy and inferior product, and this time, they hit the mark with "Get Hitched".
Two items in one package, and priced under $25, but I got them on sale for $15.
It is like an extending car radio antenna, with a magnet on the bottom, and a tennis ball looking thing on the top. See it HERE.
Stick one magnet to the tongue, raise the antenna so you can see a yellow tennis ball from your TV. Stick one magnet to your TV's hitch, and raise the antenna so you can see the ball out your rear window. Bring the two balls as close together as you can.
There will be a minimal amount of wiggle of the trailer to get it exactly ready to drop on the ball, and your vertical height setting of the tongue will be trial and error until you get accustomed(sp) to their relative heights. For me, the TT needs 25 cranks from bottom to be high enough to get the ball under.
They have made it very simple to connect the trailer to either tow vehicle. I have a utility trailer for my motorcycle and gen purpose, and now the TT. I know it will save a lot of frustration trying to get the two connected.
Thanks to Northern Tool for finally selling a knock-off item that is useful.
I used to do the backup and look method myself... until I installed a backup camera for other purposes (can't see cars behind my truck when I'm parking in a stall and want to get my nose off the road.)
I never even though about hitching up and yesterday was my first time with it... it went so smoothly! I do have to agree that its hard to see the black on black to know when to stop and I haven't managed to get my camera to be without snow fully so when those two things are corrected its going to be totally sweet!
TV - 2007 Silverado Crew cab shortbox with 5.3l engine
TT - 2007 28BHS Passport
campers include me and my 4 year old twin boys and occasionally DH
I have a Pull-Rite hitch so if the alinement is close I can get the tongue on the ball very easliy. I just love PR set up and after a few times of hooking up it is easy to hitch be myself.
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