Ok just bought a new to us TT, 08 Keystone Sprinter. Elite Hitch system-load level bars 10k and sway control attachment.

2 5/16 tongue and ball. Since the first time I unhooked the ball wont drop out of the tongue without a fight. PITA for sure. Also have to beat the release lever back with hammer.

Over the hollerdee wknd I asked another camper to bring his receiver over for a test. His did the same thing.

Everything I have ever hooked up too has been no problem releasing the ball.

So other than really cleaning the tongue of grime,grease and wire wheel it with drill, what else can I do to remedy this problem??

Thanks

 

IMO, that is a critical safety item that you are hitting with a hammer.
Clean it all up for sure.
Loosen the nut a bit to start.
You or the OO may have damaged it.

 

If you just take a ball, so nothing else is involved, is the fit still the same mating it to the tongue? That's a common model towable so if it is that bad something is the matter. I agree with the advice above regarding what normally should be the fix.

Steve

 

something you can try is chocking the wheels and pulling up or back a bit to take the pressure off the ball/hitch/etc...

certainly not good to beat on something with a hammer...

unless you paint it to match later

 

Agree about pulling forward or backward half an inch. I find when I hook up to my trailer, I often can't get the release lever to go down until i pull the whole rig forward a few feet and hit the brakes pretty hard. That always makes it easy.

Never had a problem getting it to release at the end of a journey though. is your truck/trailer straight and level? I can see taht causing issues.

 

Put a little grease on the ball. Also, disconnect the sway bars first. That will help.

Seriously, back up and forward a bit as noted above to loosen the jaw and if necessary jump up and down on the truck bumper to add a bit more downforce. No hammers here.

One last thing...with a header reading like that, I'm not sure that's a bad thing! Let me rephrase, heading.

 

Bob, you have a dirty mind, I'm impressed.

 

Me too, Bob. Well done!

 

Gotta have some fun and chuckles here.

Just adding off of other's seriousness.

 

Are you chalking the tires of the TT before trying the disconnect?

I always did that before releasing the sway bars and then jack up the trailer to release it off the ball.

 

oh my !!!!
right over my head when I was focused on helping


but good point to release all the pressure from sway bar and WDH too
we ASSuMEed no sway bars nor weight distributing hitch!

 

LOL on my Heading. Sorry Ben out of town at trade show.

Anyway yes I ALWAYS chock wheels first thing, raise tongue and remove levelers. Lower back down to release ball lock.

We have already tried back/forth trick. Greased up me ball really good a few trips back. Ball gets stuck on level ground or hanging from a cliff.

Martin72 and I did a test with just me holding the receiver in tongue. It released great! Almost like to gue weight is wedging the ball into tongue.

We could not find any adjustment on Tongue

What is this Nut mentioned to loosen??

 

Besides what has been said already, there isn't much to do.

Whenever this happens on our flatbed, I jack it up so the truck is lifting some, then I get my force up and give the tongue a solid kick. Like if you were kicking in a door. Or jump on the bumper and wiggle the truck around if it's really stuck. But usually this is because there is force on the coupler one way or the other due to parking arrangement.

 

There's no nut to loosen unless he's referring to the nut on the ball itself. I can't imagine any reason for loosening that to help remove.

Sometimes you have to hold the latch in the complete up position to allow it to fully release.

Try clamping it back down and pull the latch back up again, especially while wiggling the trailer and truck a bit.

I know when mine would stick before I used grease on the ball or i pulled in at an angle and it wouldn't release with the side pressure exerted.

Try to ensure you're backing up straight when releasing.

 

The nut being referred to is on the bottom of the frog. It's for adjusting tension.