Crap. New camper is stuck to my tv!

[southpaw211]

Just got home with our 23b. Got it leveled and chocked, DH went to unhook camper from our tv and it won't come off of the ball. We've cranked it high, we've cranked it low. Won't come off the ball. No tension in the tongue latch.

So, anxious kids and new camper, no sleeping in it now and I need my car to go to work. And idea thatcher save me from wasting a vaca day tomorrow to go back to the dealer? Grrrr. Unhappy start.

[firefighter]

Undue the nut and spring on the bottom of the hitch lever. That should work, it may be adjusted to tight

[RoyBraddy]

geeesch.... My tongue latch lifts up then slides back... Squirt WD40 all over it. It must be in a bind somehow... Pry it up maybe alittle higher with a large screwdriver... My tongue latch has a lock hole to hold it closed or open... Mine has to slide all the way back to release around the ball...

You gonna look good going to work with your trailer attached.... I have done that a couple of times - planned of course...

gotta suck not getting it to open up all the way... Bang the crap out of it I guess....

On mine I can remove the round bar and clip that holds the receiver in place and allows me to remove the whole receiver from the tow hitch... Maybe you can do this as it will at least get the hitch unhooked to the truck. Just pull the pin and drive forward alittle bit. Of course be sure all is blocked and jacked up etc...

[Westerncanuck]

Step on the drawbar when you are lifting the tongue and bounce on it. Make sure your wheels are chocked. This happen from time o time when I unhitch

[tnchuck100]

Would it be possible to pull the pin on the receiver and pull away leaving the ball on the trailer until you have time to deal with it?

[bigbird]

my hatch is always stuck when i back into by driveway (slopped). I choke the wheels raise up the tonque slightly and drive ahead an inch then it pops up and i get the thumbs up from wife.

[jdorant]

Originally Posted by tnchuck100

Would it be possible to pull the pin on the receiver and pull away leaving the ball on the trailer until you have time to deal with it?

x2, just make sure you chock the wheels on the TT and crank your front jack to the ground. I use white lithium grease to keep this from happening. If it starts to get sticky, I wipe it clean and apply new grease.

[ridge19h]

Happened first time when trailer was new. Jump on Tv to release. When off put some grease on ball. Never gets stuck now.

[bigbird]

Yes jdorant i ment chock the wheels not choke them. He has enough problems right now.

[southpaw211]

Thanks for the ideas everybody - tried them all without success. We're wondering if maybe the guy who installed the hitch (service tech, not our salesman who was doing the PDI with us) didn't have it all the way on the ball or something. When we got to the end of the street and went to turn, we heard a loud bang. Our route from trailer place to home is about 8 miles of rural narrow roads, so we couldn't just pull off and take a look. We thought maybe it was the tension/slack of the chains (and never having used a WDH/sway bars before). Now we're thinking maybe the crashbang sound had something to do with it.

This new hitch doesn't look like our old one for the pop up (which looked like Roy's), this one is much heavier duty looking and we were worried about detaching the TV from it just in case. The part of the tongue that goes over the ball looks different too. The pop up had sort of a collar that slipped down over it and then you put the cotter pin in. This one is completely smooth with just the little latch on top. The latch appears to be connected to nothing on the inside. There isn't anything underneath it to loosen.

Luckily the dealer is super close by (and is a small family run place who have been great to deal with). Just bummed that we've got to run around screwing with it tomorrow and can't just come home from work and start moving in. I'm sure they will get it figured out while we're at work.

Thank you so much for all the quick responses - you guys are the best!

[Denise]

When we picked up our new tt a few years ago, the tech actually 'threw in' this high tech thingy to help us lift the tongue off the hitch (secured stack of wood ...LOL).

Not sure, but hope this helps but it works for us

[Crabman]

Hmmmmm, I`ve had this happen before on boat trailers before with dry latches but always could get them off with a bit of fiddling around and lubrication.
Did you try rocking the TV back and forth a bit (not much, an inch or so) with the trailer chocked?
The loud noise you heard was probably the WD hitch when you made the turn.

[nylyon]

I had issues with my last TT as well. I tried and tried, jumped up and down etc. Turned out that while I released the latch, I did not slide it back. Does yours slide back as well? Is it sliding freely, or is it a non-sliding type?

[MrKong]

When I bought my last one had the same problem. I went around front while they finished hooking it up. When I got home, it took 2 hours of jerking, jumping, and rocking to get it loose. All because the dealer did not put a drop of grease on the ball.

You said you leveled it up in the first post. Are the support legs down? If you have some WD 40 with the straw on the can, you might get the straw up around the ball and get some in. Work it around a little, and that might be enough to get it to drop.

[bigbird]

Good point nylyon. We just got our first trailer this year and the latch looked new to me compared to our boat trailers. When i slide the latche back i also look to see if the pad lock holes line up in the unlock position.

[jdorant]

Originally Posted by bigbird

Yes jdorant i ment chock the wheels not choke them. He has enough problems right now.

LOL, didn't even see you said choke!

[Jayco 228]

Jump up and down on the bumper while you crank up, another handy part of having a power jack. The tilt on your hitch might need adjusting. I know I had to make adjustments to mine after the initial setting, made getting off the ball easy after I tilted the hitch more.

[Terry]

Wonder if you have too much tension on the ball backwards or forwards. Wonder if carefully putting the truck in neutral and have someone in the driver seat while unhitching and carefully let off the brake after you raise it up some. Would never do this on an incline or put myself in harms way....but it is what I would do...

[Denise]

Originally Posted by tafische

Wonder if you have too much tension on the ball backwards or forwards. Wonder if carefully putting the truck in neutral and have someone in the driver seat while unhitching and carefully let off the brake after you raise it up some. Would never do this on an incline or put myself in harms way....but it is what I would do...

Actually besides what I posted above, this is what we do otherwise. Well, Ok, maybe not we... Don is much heavier so he gets to do the gymnastics on the bumper

[clutch]

Be sure and keep your fingers and feet clear of the hitch area. You most likely need some lube on it.