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SteveSueMac · 03-23-2016, 01:41 PM

Are those 2 components painted together? Might be my phone but it looks as though the hitch was painted wet (not the powder coat that was on it originally).

ghaynes755 · 03-23-2016, 02:16 PM

You may have tried it but plug the stinger onto your tow vehicle. If you have a floor jack or some helpers, lift the head so that you are taking weight off of the stinger/head. Then try and work it loose, maybe a pry bar at the joint of the stinger and head. Might simply be the weight of the head causing additional friction.

deeperblue · 03-23-2016, 04:25 PM

Thanks for everyone who is trying to help.

Just want to clarify that the picture I posted is not the picture of my own hitch. I downloaded a picture from the web so that I can mark the locking mechanism and make sure that when RVDreamer says "locking mechanism", it means the stuff marked by red arrows.

My hitch is on the floor in my garage now, so there is no "weight of the head applied to the stinger problem". The stinger just stuck in there. I will use WD-40, and use hammer to knock it from all directions (but won't knock it too hard), and also try using things like ComeＡlong to pull it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghaynes755

You may have tried it but plug the stinger onto your tow vehicle. If you have a floor jack or some helpers, lift the head so that you are taking weight off of the stinger/head. Then try and work it loose, maybe a pry bar at the joint of the stinger and head. Might simply be the weight of the head causing additional friction.

slow · 03-23-2016, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deeperblue

I recently purchased a used ProProde hitch. However, the previous owner removed the hitch with the stinger inserted to the hitch head.

So now I can't pull the stinger out. (I have no trailer yet).

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can pull the stinger out? Or do I have to install the hitch onto a trailer and connect it to a tow vehicle and then pull the stinger out? Or can I go to a hitch shop and they will be able to help me out?

Thanks.

When I purchased my new pp, I made the mistake of fitting the stinger into the main unit before I picked up my trailer. I too got stuck.

If you look closely on the end of the main unit opposite the stinger, you will see a narrow slot of about 1/4 inch wide by 2 inches high. Take a 1/4 x 2 x 9ish long piece of steel and place it in the slot and hammer out the stinger. If that does not work, go to a shop with a press and have them press the stinger out with the steel plate.

When apart, file off the weld spatter you will find in the main unit that the stinger goes into. That is what was hanging up my stinger in the main unit.

Sbb · 03-23-2016, 07:43 PM

Yes I did. I had a TAB and drove from NJ to MD to pick it up and got home after dark. It had a weird type of hich, nothing very sustantial. I was crying in frustration because I could not unhitch, it was late, and needed to go to work next day. My husband came out, pull the reciever pin out, set up cinderblock and prpped shank on the block. Next day I figured it all out and all was good.

J. Morgan · 03-23-2016, 08:33 PM

It is just wedged on the bevel of the stinger. Give it a few sharp blows with a large hammer right on the edge of the hitch or stinger where the stinger enters the hitch head. It will pop out.

You can hit the stinger as hard as you want with a 2 1/2 pound hammer and you wont hurt a thing but paint.

Superat stultitia.

J. Morgan · 03-23-2016, 08:44 PM

Not an exact match, but a ball joint taper is similar to your problem, the vid might help you understand what I was trying to convey above.

http://youtu.be/vpAwM2xH-IU

Superat stultitia.

rmkrum · 03-23-2016, 09:12 PM

Yup. An assortment of hammers is the key. If a good whack or three with one does not work, go for the bigger hammer!

Sent from my pocket Internet using Airstream Forums

deeperblue · 03-23-2016, 11:18 PM

This makes a lot of sense. I will try.

Quote:

Originally Posted by slow

When I purchased my new pp, I made the mistake of fitting the stinger into the main unit before I picked up my trailer. I too got stuck.

If you look closely on the end of the main unit opposite the stinger, you will see a narrow slot of about 1/4 inch wide by 2 inches high. Take a 1/4 x 2 x 9ish long piece of steel and place it in the slot and hammer out the stinger. If that does not work, go to a shop with a press and have them press the stinger out with the steel plate.

When apart, file off the weld spatter you will find in the main unit that the stinger goes into. That is what was hanging up my stinger in the main unit.

Foiled Again · 03-28-2016, 03:31 PM

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f464...ll-126665.html

couldn't get the stringer IN

Until 3 fat guys sat on the bed of my truck (the campsite was muddy and got more and more uneven. On the dry I wanted to leave the stringer was pointing UP so much that it wouldn't go fully in. Another suggeston was to let air out of the rear tires of my tow vehicles. That woulda worked too!

SteveSueMac · 03-28-2016, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Foiled Again

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f464...ll-126665.html

couldn't get the stringer IN

Until 3 fat guys sat on the bed of my truck (the campsite was muddy and got more and more uneven. On the dry I wanted to leave the stringer was pointing UP so much that it wouldn't go fully in. Another suggeston was to let air out of the rear tires of my tow vehicles. That woulda worked too!

I'm going to go back and read that thread (it's been a while) but I forget whether you tried adjusting the WD jacks to move the head and approach angle for the stinger? I had that problem the first big rally I went to (oh man....bad memories of that 45 minute departure debacle &#128533

. Wish I had known the secret to adjusting the angle with the WD jacks 😀

Foiled Again · 03-28-2016, 07:51 PM

I knew the trick and nothing I could do would get it adjusted enough. Pretty much proved that I don't have an aneurism anywhere - would have blown it like a balloon under the stress. Marine Gen. Chesty Puller would have recruited me as a D.I. over some of the vocabulary I was using.

JDnBeastlet · 04-08-2016, 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deeperblue

This makes a lot of sense. I will try.

Any luck yet?

deeperblue · 05-23-2016, 02:50 AM

Finally I used a big hammer, just knock on the stinger from all four directions - top, bottom, left, right. Then it gets loose and I can put it out.

Thanks all that tried to help!

Quote:

Originally Posted by JDnBeastlet

Any luck yet?

Rich Jenkins · 05-23-2016, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BAB

Like most others with a PP, I found that if I noted the point at which the tongue of the trailer lifts off the ball I'd be good to go. Granted, this is NOT a lot of movement. Around 1/4 inch. I've had some "interesting" experiences when I've parked in a really unlevel spot, e.g., high in the rear, low in the front. But, I've always been able to make it work. The more you hitch/unhitch the easier it gets -- and when you get good at observing and replicating the angle of the stinger/angle of the receiver.

We've been on the road since early March. I'd say the above is absolutely the most helpful suggestion for ensuring a good unhitch.

I do this every time now. Having the main hitch unit "come off" the ball that 1/4" makes a huge difference.

Also, on the hitching angle, as above, it really helps to get a good look at the angle, and MAKE SURE it is coplanar, by adjusting the W/D bars up and down.

Lastly, lately I've had good luck in using a length of very bright orange 1/2" tow rope tied around the hitch, visually extending the receiver box forward. This orange rope is really apparent in the back up camera, and gets the truck stinger and receiver box lined up early.

The rope is about 5', and I just lay it down on the ground wrapped around an old horseshoe to keep it straight.

switz · 05-23-2016, 09:51 AM

If all else fails, call Sean at ProPride ((800) 960-4767) or Terry Powell at Hensley ((800) 410-6580) and they can help resolve the issue.

lsbrodsky · 05-23-2016, 10:19 AM

As I said on one thread or another, what I did was mark the height of the top of the pyramid on the stinger from the ground with a piece of tape on the same wrench used to latch up. When it is time to unhitch, I use the trailer jack to position the stinger at that height and it slips right out, but only if the wd bars are completely loose. The jacks are not all the way down, but usually an inch or two from down.

Larry