Trailer Question

Post by **Atticus** » October 2nd, 2006, 11:19 am

The latch on my trailer coupler is a PITA to fold down after I drop the coupler onto the ball with my tounge jack. I checked the ball is the right size for the coupler (2") and it seems that the piece under the coupler that folds up to lock-in the ball is just too snug.

Well there is a 3/4ths bolt down there I was wondering if I could back off of it a few turns with a socket wrench and loosen the locking mechanism up a bit so my trailer would lock on to the hitch ball easier....

Is this reasonable or am I begging for disaster?

catchin1 · Post by **catchin1** » October 2nd, 2006, 11:37 am

Yes loosen the nut, thats what its for.

Post by **Sir reel** » October 2nd, 2006, 11:38 am

Good morning Atticus.

I would try one thing before I adjusted anything. Once your coupler is down on the ball, and with the lever still in the up position, start your tow vehicle, put it in forward and move just enough to put tension (forward) on the ball/coupler. Then without letting the vehicle rock back...go see if the lever is still hard to put down. If it is then consider the adjustment. I should have also ask what sort of terain the boat is parked on... if it slopes away from the vehicle that's good...if it's flat...thats good...if the trailer slopes towards the vehicle a bit, that can create a slight bind at the coupler as you describe.

Post by **Fisherman989** » October 2nd, 2006, 11:48 am

Be very careful in loosing that nut....or if you loosen it at all....tighten it back like it was after "adjusting" it. My friend had the trailer 4 weeks ago to come off his truck...going down Hwy 75...keeping up with the traffic. Only the chains saved his hiney. The nut was gone.

Post by **Atticus** » October 2nd, 2006, 12:27 pm

Thanks for the info guys. The trailer sits on a dead-flat surface of a garage floor. I tried moving up a little as suggested and it was still a little bit of a pain.

I am thinking about comming two rounds off of the nut and seeing how that works.

Post by **tin can** » October 2nd, 2006, 12:34 pm

Atticus, spray some WD-40 up inside the coupler. If that doesn't help, back off half a round on the nut. If you back off too much you'll have a lot of slop in the coupler, and you'll feel it banging around while towing. Make small adjustments until it works right.

DoubleD · Post by **DoubleD** » October 2nd, 2006, 12:54 pm

I was gonna say the same thing as TC...baby steps.

Also, try pushing straight down on the lever, applying an axial force through that 3/4" bolt. Sometimes it needs a little nudge to get that wedge down below the equatorial width of the ball.

(You'll notice that, after awhile, grease and sand get gunked in there and that whole assembly will get stuck up)

Post by **Jumptrout51** » October 2nd, 2006, 2:20 pm

TinCan and DD are correct. Baby steps-baby steps with those nuts.

beatswork · Post by **beatswork** » October 3rd, 2006, 3:31 pm

I had a similiar problem. I WD-40'd inside the latch and it was super easy to fold down after that. Don't know if you're having the same problem I had, but I'd try that before loosening any nuts. Good luck.

Post by **sundown** » October 3rd, 2006, 3:45 pm

I have the same problem and instead of WD-40 I just coat the ball with some grease..works fine although a bit messy if you rub up against the ball.

Post by **wevans** » October 3rd, 2006, 4:12 pm

The problem I generally run into is the spring not being able to push the catch down far enough when it starts getting gunk and rust built up

I now spray it once a month with Corrosion X and pull it strait up "not throwing the latch" and then grabbing the latch with my finger and pulling it down while jiggling the latch handle

it's a bit messy, but keeps it working the way it's supposed to

Post by **Browning Slayer** » October 3rd, 2006, 4:57 pm

tin can wrote:Atticus, spray some WD-40 up inside the coupler. If that doesn't help, back off half a round on the nut. If you back off too much you'll have a lot of slop in the coupler, and you'll feel it banging around while towing. Make small adjustments until it works right.

When you get your adjustment just right, hit the threads with some Elmer's glue and it won't budge until you move it with a wrench.

Post by **KarstRanger** » October 3rd, 2006, 9:28 pm

sundown wrote:I have the same problem and instead of WD-40 I just coat the ball with some grease..works fine although a bit messy if you rub up against the ball.

Grease on the ball works good for me too. Just put a slice in a tennis ball and put over the trailer hitch ball to keep grease off of thing it ain't supposed to get on.