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Old 05-10-2013, 08:55 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rodsterinfl
(snip) the end that goes into the main hitch head is the really low spot. I noted that on the video it looks low as well.
I see. Yes, at the hitch head, mine are almost even with the bottom of the trailer frame so seems like plenty of clearance.

Do you have a photo of yours?


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Old 05-11-2013, 10:49 AM   #22
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Pahaska - I picked up some bright orange rope, a magnet and a big cleavis pin for a weight. What an ingenious idea!!!! Worked like a dream in the backup cam for hitching up by myself this morning. That suggestion should be a stickie!!

:-)

Thanks!!
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Old 05-11-2013, 10:52 AM   #23
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Rodsterinfl - I was wrong - the picture is deceiving. The front drop of the bars is about 5-6" off the ground (should have measured it this morning). Once I hitched up, I took a quick glance and they're definitely not as high as the frame of the trailer. But no issues for me yet (that I know of) :-)
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Old 05-20-2013, 11:00 AM   #24
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I'm so glad there were no video cameras for me this weekend.

BEAUTIFUL little campground in Littleton, MA (I'll post on that later). Not like a condo-camp but beautiful natural scenery, every site is different, some with full, partial or no hookups at all and only a handful of pull throughs which is critical for me as a rookie with all those beautiful trees :-)

So, we pull in - guided by the owner on his golf cart. The site is just gorgeous. He wants to be sure I'm close enough to the hookups and guides me in fairly deep. No prob. But I didn't get out and look around (lesson #1 from our driving instructor last month: GOAL) so I didn't realize that when disconnecting the truck from the trailer, the truck was immediately going to start down a fairly good slope.

I (ignorantly) hopped out, started disconnecting, made sure the coupler lifted up so show no weight on the hitch and as I started pulling out, I noticed the drop on the road. Too late when I heard the thump of the stinger popping out of the hitch box and realized....oh crap - that angle is NOT going to work to back in again.

While I had a great time, I was worried about re-hitching all weekend and thought I had come up with a brilliant idea: just get the stinger close then use leveled on the front tires to raise up the front. Should be a piece of cake. Wrong....

After about an hour of trying this several different ways (shades of my exit from Chilly Man 7!!) I finally had to trudge to the office and ask for help. I was thinking maybe they had one of those hand operated tow dollies I could use to just back up the trailer 10 feet to get a level hitch location. No go.

When he saw the hitch he said, if you just used a regular ball, you could do this.

I know. I know. I really do know that. :-)

Well, he proceeds to dig down around my rear tires and builds up some very funky looking ramps with my Legos and boards under my front tires and starts hiding me back to the hitch. It ultimately worked though I could see his head in the backup cam and though for sure I was going to back right into him!

But BIG lesson for me - the angle left to right isn't a problem with this hitch but level is really crucial! I had spun the WD jacks down to 0 and there was still a bind with that uneven approach.

And no matter how many times I tried to tell myself it was no big deal - I was 2 parts kicking myself for NOT looking around before unhitching, 1 part embarrassed despite the lack of onlookers and 3 parts PO'd/frustrated! All of that could have been avoided with 2 minutes of forethought. I could have backed it up 10' and still connected just fine...

Oh well - that one was painful enough I'm pretty sure it will be burned in to the mental checklist!!!
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Old 05-20-2013, 03:14 PM   #25
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We chain our locking pins to the head with a loose loop of chain so we don't ever drop, lose, or misplace them. We also carry spares.
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Old 05-20-2013, 03:59 PM   #26
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We chain our locking pins to the head with a loose loop of chain so we don't ever drop, lose, or misplace them. We also carry spares.
I have gone to padlocks in place of the locking pins. A few years ago, there was a rash of vandals pulling the handles on parked 5th-wheels just to see the trailer crash down into the truck bed when the unsuspecting owner drove away.

Even though I always intend to do a brief scan of the hitch area after a stop, I like the fact that no one can tamper with my hitch without me detecting it. I always used a padlock on the locking arm of the hitch before PPP for the same reason.

Matching keys are on my truck key ring as well as on my two rings that have all the various trailer keys so I am never without means to unlock the hitch.
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Old 05-20-2013, 06:47 PM   #27
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Amen to the lesson on getting as level as you can. Haven't had as "dramatic" a re-hitch as you describe, but I have had to use my lego blocks under my front tires to be able to get the stinger into the receiver -- twice. Inconvenient, but doable. And, if you are camping in a relatively ungraded spot, this can happen. The other advantages of the PP so far offset this occasional nuisance..
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Old 05-20-2013, 08:33 PM   #28
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Quote:
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. (Snip) The other advantages of the PP so far offset this occasional nuisance..
I tend to agree though I have no other hitch experience to speak of. I have seen trailers on the ball either with NO other system or some kind of WD/sway control. Some sway pretty violently - I had to avoid one last month - thought he was going to kill himself, us, and several others!! I've seen others that seem to track really well so I'm sure there are good products that when set up well will do a decent job. But the one thing I worried about was sway. It just doesn't happen with the PP.

So the leveling thing is a key - got that in spades now :-)

Next trip is Diggin the Dead with a great group of Airstreamers at Recompense in Maine. First boondocking experience. Lets see what entertainment value I can provide at this rally! :-)
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Old 05-23-2013, 09:14 PM   #29
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Granted - I have a rear view camera but I hitch up in under five easy - gonna have to pull out the ole' video camera.

Easy hookup, the best weight distribution (adjustable tension - not stuck at one value and a link) and of course no sway....

Need I say more?
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