lincster
Mesa Az
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Joined: 01/27/2003
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msredneck84 wrote:I always leave enough gap that I can see daylight thru. This is the way I was taught and it works for me.
Same here. I leave a little gap till I can see I am backed up far enough. Then get out and lower the trailer until it touches the 5er hitch, close and lock the jaws and then lower the rest of the way.
My wheels are always chocked until the jaws are locked, then I take the chocks out.
After the jaws are locked, I also put the truck in neutral and let everything even out before I run the jacks the rest of the way up.
Once the jacks are off the ground, before I put them all the way up, I put the truck in drive and gas it a little bit. If the trailer is going to come off the truck, I would rather have it land on the legs instead of the bed.
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BB_TX
McKinney, Texas
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Joined: 04/04/2005
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Hadn't thought of it as "making the truck squat" but that is what I do. I have the pin box very slightly lower than the hitch, maybe an inch or less. As I back up the pin box rides up onto the hitch causing the truck to "squat". That assures that the king pin moves into the hitch properly, or as mentioned no high pinning. And yes, I do not remove the chocks until I am locked and pull tested.
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Ran
Wisconsin
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Joined: 03/14/2008
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Trailer Trash 2 wrote:WHEN YOU SQUAT YOU HOOK UP, you better have that 5er chocked good, or it can roll back off the table, and bend you front legs when it comes down and they connect with the ground.
I usually will connect with it almost even but a slight pressure so I have a tight closing of the jaws to the pin.
I agree with Don.
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nayther
Burbank, CA
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Joined: 03/21/2005
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BB_TX wrote:Hadn't thought of it as "making the truck squat" but that is what I do. I have the pin box very slightly lower than the hitch, maybe an inch or less. As I back up the pin box rides up onto the hitch causing the truck to "squat". That assures that the king pin moves into the hitch properly, or as mentioned no high pinning. And yes, I do not remove the chocks until I am locked and pull tested.
That's my method.
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Y-Guy
Tri-Cities, WA
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One step to save your trailer, hook up the brake control wire and the break away cord, as you start to back up reach down and use the lever on your brake controller to fully engage the brakes to prevent it from rolling. Yes chocks are good, but not fool proof.
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gestanton
Rotterdam, NY
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Always make it squat to avoid the possibility of "high hitching".
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mapguy
Puget Sound
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Y-Guy wrote:One step to save your trailer, hook up the brake control wire and the break away cord, as you start to back up reach down and use the lever on your brake controller to fully engage the brakes to prevent it from rolling. Yes chocks are good, but not fool proof.
Yep
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Billyayle
Chandler Arizona
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I always do the squat method. About 2-3 inches, with the wheels blocked you can give a good thump when hitching. I have a Reese and never had an issue with it hooking up this way.
Although I will say that if your hitch is too far down you can easily make your slip ring into a usless piece of plastic. I could pinch and bend the inner tabs that hold it in place. I know now to make the extra trip to the landing gear button and lift it one more time.
I don't know who posted it, but the best thing I saw was to set the level that you're comfortable hitching and then adjust (MOD) the breakaway cable to the same height so the end loop just touches the ground. That way you know how high to jack it up everytime.
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r1Mk
modesto, ca
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Joined: 04/16/2007
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I have destroyed several lube plates by squatting the truck. Now I adjust the height to show a little daylight. After I hook up it's pretty easy to see if the jaws of the hitch are above the bottom of the kingpin.
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CrazyTed
Hoollieville #214
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I use just a little squat, not enough to damage my lube plate.
CrazyTed
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Va Bch, VA
2006 KTM 450 XC
1997 Triumph Tiger 900
2005 Chevy 2500HD 4X4
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