On Topic!! At LAST!! :-) "Hitch Worries"/Stupid Question

[Cudedog]

Melissa, this one's for you!

(Or for anyone else who might like to comment - Sue? Beth? Lyn? Velda? Either here on via PM. Anyone!).

As many of you know, I purchased a Jayco 154BH "Baja" edition in Spring of last year. On my very first trip out (dumb, I know!) I drove from northern California to Yellowstone. And back. No major problems, the trailer pulled like a dream, and was a joy to live in for the nearly three weeks that I was gone.

Beginners luck?

Anyway, after reading about Barbie's scary experience with losing her trailer, and a couple of times having a bit of trouble of my own in hitching up, I have definitely begun to worry.

I have the Andersen weight distribution/no sway hitch installed on my trailer/van, by way of background.

Anyway, here goes.

My hitch is a 2" ball, the receiver (?) on my trailer also takes a 2" ball. The ball is rated at 10,000 pounds (my trailer weighs in about about 2,600 pounds, unloaded - 3,200 pounds loaded).

It seems to me, from time to time (although I AM a worrier, and tend to let worries eat away at me) that the ball does not fit up inside the trailer's receiver as far as it should (never gave this a thought during my Yellowstone trip).

The latch thingee does latch, and the pin easily goes through the latch thingee (as you can see from the photo). Getting down on my hands and knees, I can see that the "grabber" thingee (I try to use only the most precise technical terms ) fits around about 1/3 of lower part of the ball. As you can see from the photo, it is not locked around the "neck" of the ball, but rather it is locked to the lower part of the ball itself.

I have tried cranking up the trailer jack to be sure that the trailer doesn't come off the ball when the latch is locked - and it doesn't, the jack begins to raise my van as well (I just crank it up a little bit, enough to see what is happening without damaging the jack).

My questions is. . . does this look right? Or should the trailer's receiver fit further down onto the ball? Also, now that I am looking at the photo again, it seems that the latch thingee should be more "level" to the hitch, instead of kind of sticking up in the air.

What do you all think?

Worry - worry - worry.

Thanks in advance to all that reply. This is really bothering me, and I maybe have a trip coming up fairly soon (still in the planning stages) so if there is a problem, I need to get this taken care of.

Thanks again!!

Anne

[SoCalGalcas]

Looks OK to me. If that thingy goes over the ball, and the thingy locks, that makes it safe. That is my understanding. I wish I knew the “words” to use. I use a “friction sway control” thanks to Laura.
Lyn

[chalet05]

That looks just right. The important thing is to make sure that mechanism is locked around the ball as you described - it doesn't encompass the entire ball. I had a trailer come off even though the hitch latch was down and pinned because the lock on the ball didn't engage.

[Cougarfan]

It is seated correctly and is inside the coupler at the proper distance. For the Andersen to work properly, it has to "grab" the ball with the "latch thingee". You will end up with a little dimple in the ball over time and that is perfectly normal. If you use grease on the ball, it will not "grab" the ball and you won't have any sway control so don't use any grease on the ball or inside the coupler.

Andersen is great to work with. You can always call them and ask them to look at your set up via photos and they will help but it looks to be properly connected to me (with over 5 years experience with the hitch).

Happy to answer any questions at the Pow Wow if you still have concerns.

Laura

[Cudedog]

Looks OK to me. If that thingy goes over the ball, and the thingy locks, that makes it safe. That is my understanding. I wish I knew the “words” to use. I use a “friction sway control” thanks to Laura.
Lyn

Thank you, Lyn!

Anne

[Cudedog]

That looks just right. The important thing is to make sure that mechanism is locked around the ball as you described - it doesn't encompass the entire ball. I had a trailer come off even though the hitch latch was down and pinned because the lock on the ball didn't engage.

Anita!

Holy smokes!

This is an excellent piece of advice on what to look for. I would never have thought of this!!! From now on, when I hook up, I'm going to get down on my knees and "have a look" to be sure the hitch latch is engaged (easy enough to do!).

I can see that it would be pretty easy for me to think that it was engaged, when really it wasn't (if I didn't take the time to look to check!!).

Thanks again!

Anne

[Cudedog]

It is seated correctly and is inside the coupler at the proper distance. For the Andersen to work properly, it has to "grab" the ball with the "latch thingee". You will end up with a little dimple in the ball over time and that is perfectly normal. If you use grease on the ball, it will not "grab" the ball and you won't have any sway control so don't use any grease on the ball or inside the coupler.

Andersen is great to work with. You can always call them and ask them to look at your set up via photos and they will help but it looks to be properly connected to me (with over 5 years experience with the hitch).

Happy to answer any questions at the Pow Wow if you still have concerns.

Laura

Laura, thanks so much for this current advice, and thanks so much for originally suggesting the Andersen hitch back when I was trailer shopping. I have LOVED my Andersen hitch, and probably would never even have known about it had you not suggested it on here.

Haven't yet had to phone them, but there are several videos on YouTube posted by Andersen Hitch that show the step-by-step process of hitching up with their hitch.

LOL. I watch the videos before each trip as a sort of "review", just to be sure I haven't forgotten anything!! The videos are very helpful!

https://andersenhitches.com/Catalog/andersen-nosway-weight-distribution-hitch.aspx

I don't go through all of these "steps" (because my hitch is already installed), but the video includes the steps I find helpful to review.

Thanks again, Laura!!

Anne

[MelissaD]

Looks good Anna. If your in doubt of being hitched you tested it well when you lifted the back of the van. The latch grabs the bottom side of the ball to allow it to tilt in multiple directions. If it grabbed the neck the trailer and van would not be able to move up or down as required to go over humps or valleys.

[Cudedog]

Looks good Anna. If your in doubt of being hitched you tested it well when you lifted the back of the van. The latch grabs the bottom side of the ball to allow it to tilt in multiple directions. If it grabbed the neck the trailer and van would not be able to move up or down as required to go over humps or valleys.

Melissa, thank you so much for looking at the hitch up for me! I never knew this part, it was new info for me: "The latch grabs the bottom side of the ball to allow it to tilt in multiple directions. If it grabbed the neck the trailer and van would not be able to move up or down as required to go over humps or valleys."

Makes sense!

Thank you!!

Anne

[BarbaraRose]

Great advice from everyone. I know personally, I will be a little nervous the first time or two out with mine just because of what happened, even tho I know what caused it and that it is no longer an issue. But the fear is hard to get over after an experience like that. Thank God for chains and emergency brakes!

From the photos, it all looks good to me too. If the ball isn't sitting all the way in, the latch won't go down.

[JudyJB]

I'm going to steal your thread, Anne, because it relates to fears of driving or pulling RVs. My fear has always been tires, especially since I have had four blowouts. Two of these were part of a Michelin recall on tires due to sidewall blowouts, which is what I had, and I got 7 new tires as a result. But the sounds and effects of the blowouts were scary and the fact that neither were my fault did not allay my worries.

My third blowout was very low speed and definitely my fault. I was driving through Tucson's Gilbert Ray campground and another vehicle was driving toward me. I moved over to give him room and scraped my tire against a sharp rock on a bridge. And the fourth is cause unknown on I-80 near Fairfield, CA.

After a blowout, you imagine that any rough pavement is a tire with a bulge on it, getting ready to blow. I also cringe when I run over a small piece of anything on the road, even cardboard. You have no idea how many times I have pulled over on a freeway to check my tires. And when you hit a chuckhole, you wait for the bang of a blown tire. When I do my walk-around before starting out of a trip, I look at all the tires and used to try to figure out if they looked low, but you really can't tell. I am guessing this is what happens when you tow and you imagine the coupling ball is about ready to fall out.

Finally, last winter I got over my cheapskate thinking and spent about $350 on a tire pressure monitor with sensors for all six of my tires. I now turn it on every time I start driving somewhere. I don't leave it on all day, but I do at least use it to check to make sure at least I am not starting out with underinflated tires. And I periodically check it throughout the day. Heat does make your tires really hot and increases the inflation numbers, but the monitor is programmed (by you) with a recommended upper and lower limits. If a tire goes over that number, an alarm sounds. It makes me feel a lot less nervous about my tires.

My son has had two blowouts on his 28' trailer, so I wholeheartedly recommend getting a tire pressure monitor for trailers, as well as motorhomes. Unless you stop and look, you cannot "feel" the vibration from a tire that is low. In fact, I would add that to what you should purchase when you first buy any RV--just add it to the list of hoses and such.

[Colliemom]

Sometimes you will find that the hitch doesn’t want to latch when it is seated on the ball, due to the unlevel ground, maybe the hitch is off center a fraction etc. When that happens, just crank the jack up a bit to clear the ground, get in your vehicle and shift into forward for just a sec, then into reverse doing same, that jiggles the hitch and the ball. You will feel the “clunk” for want of better word as the hitch will grab the ball right. Then you can just put the latch down and all set.

As to greasing the hitch ball, there are arguments on both sides. I do mine, but with Reese Hitch ball grease. Over time a hitch ball wears down from metal to metal contact, friction etc. Eventually, unless you keep the ball covered or take the hitch off the vehicle, it will become rusty and corrosion sets in, especially in a hot, humid climate. Then it becomes noisy as the metal rubs together. A light coat of grease will protect the ball and allow the trailer to turn more easily. I have a friction sway control on my weight Distribution System and that has it’s own little ball mounted on the hitch. I do not grease that ball. I also do not grease my spring bars. Never have a problem. You can buy hitch ball covers that fit your hitch ball and that will protect them too.

[BarbaraRose]

Hitching up my little trailer now, I can hear the "clunk", as you say, when it falls into place. I get nervous putting my car in gear to move that little bit to do that. Did that once with the other trailer when unhitching, and the whole trailer fell forward onto the ground because the jack came off the cone I had it on. Had to get a neighbor to come over with a car jack to lift it back up for me. The trailer hitch on the Cherokee was crooked (came up at an angle from under my car so the coupler wouldn't release very well), and it was really hard to get the trailer on and off the hitch without someone having to help me. They would have to jump up and down on the hitch on the car to get it to release or fall into place. Hopefully, this one will be easier to do by myself.

I should get those tire pressure monitors for my trailer. I only have one axle on it so if I have a blowout, it will be a big deal versus having two axles with a blown tire. Can anyone recommend a good one? I see Amazon has solar powered ones. Any idea how well those work?

[Colliemom]

I highly recommend putting a metal round or square base on the bottom of the jack if it doesn’t have one, the set that jack on a block or blocks of wood for stability. I use a couple pieces of 2x6 boards I cut down and I carry a few more if needed. Rarely do I go over 3. Also get a set of wheel chocks and put them in front and behind your tires before you unhitch. This will prevent the trailer from possibly shifting shifting or rolling a bit necessarily. Leave them there while you are parked.

I can’t comment on tire pressure monitors as I have never used them. There are arguments both for and against them. Look on RVNet and you can find discussions on that subject. Making sure you have good quality tires, keep them inflated to proper presume and checking them periodically can go a long way to worry free driving. I do like the truckers do. When I stop for gas or at a rest area, I feel my tires and walk around my rig. This may sound silly, but getting your trailer tires rotated and balanced like you do a car, truck etc. is good too. Heck, we can get a blowout on our regular everyday vehicles too. Guess if we worry about all the what if’s, we would never go anywhere

[BarbaraRose]

Guess if we worry about all the what if’s, we would never go anywhere

Very true!