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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / RVs / May 2005Sucess!!!!! at unhitching!!
Thanks everybody! It was combination of being stuck and pulling up the tow vehicle rear. WD-40 spray around all joints and up into the ball area and my son 220LB first standing on the back bumper of the camper and I put a brick under the hitch wheel, which made me suspicious as to why the height moved so much from just him sitting on the back bumper when it didn't before. Then he and slim daughter 53 lbs sitting in the open hatchback of the tow vehicle and I started cranking again. After going only 3" it suddenly popped off the ball. (Earlier I had it cranked up all 16" and it wouldn't move and I could see parts in wheel well of the tow vehicle that I don't normally see.) And then it rolled back about a foot because I forgot I had taken the bricks (chocks) away. I'm so relieved. I'm sending you guys virtual ice cream while we get the real thing to reward for being patient and helping out. I started to un-hook the camper at 4:15 and didn't get it unhooked until 7:45. All the time I'm thinking "What's the use of camping when I can't get the tow vehicle disconnected. I don't want to spend the rest of the car's hauling around a camper." I have serious thing about losing mobility. This problem occurs 5 weeks after I got a bad sprain in my ankle that I now have to have phys therapy to treat. For a couple hours I was wondering if I'd have to call a mechanic or someone to get the thing unhitched. Ball grease and DW40 spray from now on. LK >Thanks everybody! > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > >LK This may be a stupid question, but are you sure the hitch ball is the right size? If it is too large, it may be hanging up the locking mechanism.... Just a thought. Mark Filice 2004 Homestead Settler 255RS 1999 Chevrolet Suburban 2500 >Thanks everybody! > [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > >LK congratulations! You've just survived one of many little things about camping that irritate the hell out of you at the time, but make great campfire stories later.. As we say in the computer world, "The definition of experience is the ability to recognize your mistakes when you repeat them" mac Please remove splinters before emailing Being in the computer world as well, here's one that I think is funny... I once heard the definition of insanity as "doing the same thing multiple times expecting a different result". Hmmm...ever caught yourself saying this while troubleshooting? "Didn't work? Well, just try it again..." :-) Wesley > congratulations! > You've just survived one of many little things about camping that irritate the > hell out of you at the time, but make great campfire stories later.. > > As we say in the computer world, "The definition of experience is the ability to > recognize your mistakes when you repeat them" >Thanks everybody! > >It was combination of being stuck and pulling up the tow vehicle rear. > >WD-40 spray around all joints and up into the ball area and my son >Ball grease and DW40 spray from now on. > >LK Hi, Go easy on the WD 40 . WD 40 will take wash off any grease you have on the ball and hitch. Get white grease or a marine grade grease to use on the ball and hitch. You need a white or marine grade grease so it doesn't wash off with rain or water so easily. Grease at least once every trip. Just to be sure,check the ball size, usually stamped on top of the ball itself, with the size stamped on the hitch of the Aliner. It's a possibility that it's the wrong size ball, but probably not. Take care and Happy Campin... RichA "We Get Too Soon Olde and Too Late Smart" > Thanks everybody! > [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > > LK Sorry about your physical ailments. Camping should not be so difficult or strenuous. Please re-read my previous post describing how to ensure the hitch and latch are not caught when you begin to raise. Any pressure on the mechanism will prevent it from releasing; unfortuately this could also damage the hitch itslef and prevent is from properly latching in the future. Please take the combination to a hitch/trailer shop and ask them to look it over. You might have a 2" ball and 1 7/8" coupler. Or maybe the coupler is damaged. You might also take the Aliner back to the dealer and in the parking lot hitch and un-hitch it a few times with and without a mechanic's help. Like anything using a camper, towing, or hitching/unhitching takes a little practice. Once you have verified all the mechanical parts are rights, you need to practice your technique first on flat ground then on downhill and uphill slopes. With proper chocking of the wheels you should be able to hitch or unhitch on most [reasonable] inclines. I am assuming with your Subaru and A-liner combination you did not unhitch while camping -- most of us pop-up owners must do that to slide the front bunk out. >Sorry about your physical ailments. >Camping should not be so difficult or strenuous. [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >it over. You might have a 2" ball and 1 7/8" coupler. Or maybe the >coupler is damaged. I had the dealership check out the hitch and I checked out the size. >You might also take the Aliner back to the dealer and in the parking lot >hitch and un-hitch it a few times with and without a mechanic's help. [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >unhitch while camping -- most of us pop-up owners must do that to slide >the front bunk out. I had not been camping. All I did was run it around the country block because I have to move it so trees can be trimmed and felled. Looks like I am going to have to park the camper at my neighbors to get it far enough away from the trees to be felled. The landscapers/tree trimmers are not going to be here for a couple weeks and I didn't want to try to solve the parking problem at the last minute. LK Hi: I also have problems but it is usually getting the camper to hitch up to the car - not unhitch. When I switched to white lithium grease it became MUCH easier for the ball to slide into the hitch. Bob > Thanks everybody! > [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > > LK Yes...grease it up good. We bought our 1983 travel trailer used, and it gave us that problem a few times. I eventually found that there was a part underneath the latch assembly that wasn't lubricated and was sticking. If I pulled it back before cranking up the camper, it would come loose. I occasionally put a dab of vaseline on the ball before hitching, and that seems to have helped things greatly. I seem to recall a discussion here a while back about what folks use for lubricating the hitch ball, so I'm sure there are other good things for lubrication as well. I can understand your frustration! :-) Wesley > Thanks everybody! > [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > > LK >Yes...grease it up good. We bought our 1983 travel trailer used, and it >gave us that problem a few times. I eventually found that there was a part [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > >Wesley I thought the consensus was lubrication was unnecessary. I know for my rig it is necessary. LK You may want to use clear silicone or white grease (in spray) instead of WD 40. Guess you were lucky that the pop up went back instead of forward. Mel LK a écrit: > Thanks everybody! > [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > > LK I just use hitch ball grease. It's white, made by Reese, and available at Walmart. It comes in a small tub. > Thanks everybody! > [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > > LK I've concluded the only purpose of hitch ball grease is ruining a good pair of pants.  SignatureChris Cowles Gainesville, FL '00 Coleman Mesa/'99 Chevy Astro >I just use hitch ball grease. It's white, made by Reese, and available at > Walmart. It comes in a small tub. > I've concluded the only purpose of hitch ball grease > is ruining a good pair of pants. You are obviously from the "school of don't lube the hitch ball". I have concluded that the only people that suggest NOT to lube the hitch ball are those that have to work on those components. It is sadly a self-serving suggestion and will eventually provide job security for those folks. If it were mechanically OK to NOT lube a hitch ball, it would be the FIRST mechanical, articulated joint that DOESN'T need lubrication. Translation: It *DOES* need lubrication, just like any other metal-upon-metal, working joint. My solution to avoid getting grease on my pants, besides consciously AVOIDING it, is that the hitch ball rarely "sees the light of day". That is, I store the drawbar and hitch head (including the ball) COUPLED to the trailer - and locked there. This is a GREAT place to store the drawbar, as opposed to allowing it to RUST in place in the receiver. Also, this practice provides a modest amount of security for the trailer insomuch as the trailer coupler is occupied and locked. It also ensures that the drawbar is NOT stolen in a parking lot or having to fight with a road debris-compromised, LOCKING clevis pin. On those RARE occasions when the drawbar is in the receiver and the trailer is NOT hitched to it, and this would also work for those with permanently-mounted hitches (Class I and some Class II), I have a VERY elegant and simple solution: A hitch ball cover. Total cost: $3. :) JR Signature2000 Skamper Ultra 249 TT 2002 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD Vortec 8100 - Allison 1000 It was a joke. >> I've concluded the only purpose of hitch ball grease >> is ruining a good pair of pants. [quoted text clipped - 38 lines] > :) > JR Jim is not given to humor. TS > It was a joke. > [quoted text clipped - 41 lines] >> :) >> JR > Jim is not given to humor. Oh! NOT true! I'm a very funny, but GULLIBLE, guy! <sigh> JR |
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