Unhitching

We picked up our new 181 Friday. Part of the deal was that we got a free night in the attached campground. Since we had to be in two different directions Saturday, the plan was that we would simply spend the night in the trailer and then go home, unhook, and do the rest of our activities.

The first challenge was getting the bars detached. I finally got them off without giving any blood, but they sure fought me.

Then, lift the latch and detach trailer from Mountaineer. Latch comes up only about 45 degrees, and the plate under the ball refuses to move. Eventually I just pulled the pin and drove away. The ball is still attached to the trailer! This afternoon I put a pry bar on the latch, but no luck.

What's the trick?

On the bumper pull trailers I have used in the past, the latch must be lift AND slide forward or backwards to disengage the ball.

BINGO!!! Thanks!

When we had the TT, my hitch looked something like this. The chains were loaded and released using a "cheater" bar (a pipe that came with the hitch) to add leverage to the short pin. It was never a problem, once the trailer tongue had been raised a bit. Removing the bars from the receiver was simple a matter of turning them outward from the hitch until they released from the cam inside the hole. As for releasing the ball, you need to raise the trailer tongue until the load is just off the ball, then use the release lever as Alan indicated.

JohnDar said:

When we had the TT, my hitch looked something like this. The chains were loaded and released using a "cheater" bar (a pipe that came with the hitch) to add leverage to the short pin. It was never a problem, once the trailer tongue had been raised a bit. Removing the bars from the receiver was simple a matter of turning them outward from the hitch until they released from the cam inside the hole. As for releasing the ball, you need to raise the trailer tongue until the load is just off the ball, then use the release lever as Alan indicated.

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Our hitch doesn't have any chains, so the bars slide into a socket at the front and a clamp holds them in the back. I suspect that a small pry bar will be helpful, and maybe a bit of lubricant. All I had to do was slide the latch back and the ball assembly fell off. Now I know!

Haven't tried assembling the hitch yet (too cold!) but one of these days it will be reasonably warm and I'll try it.

Thanks for all the good advice here.

Sounds like you may have an Equal-I-Zer brand hitch or one of the copies. To remove the bars crank up the jack on the trailer tongue while the ball is still attached to the vehicle. This will take the weight off the bars. Then remove the clips that are on the brackets on the trailer end of the bars. If they aren't loose raise the trailer some more. Swing the bars out of the brackets then lower the jack and uncouple the the hitch from the ball. Your dealer should have shown you how to do all of this. Maybe you should go back and have them run through the drill with you....Don

Before I forget..Don't put any lube on the ends of the bars as that will defeat the anti-sway function of the hitch....Don

If you have the hitch I am thinking you do, try raising the trailer up higher. This makes the bars go on and off easier. Also the ball hitch is pushed in and then slide to the rear of the TT. The ball latch is then moved away from the bottom of the ball on the tow vehicle. I hope this helps. Michael

After coupling the trailer to the ball, raise the trailer with the tow vehicle attached raising the rear of the tow vehicle with it. This will make it easier to attach and detach the bars.

Thanks to all who responded. The hitch we have is an Equal-I-Zer brand, as someone suspected. This will most likely be a learning curve for us as we figure out exactly how high we need to raise the tongue to release the bars. Yes, raising the latch and sliding it rearward did release the ball assembly, so now I know that trick. We're learning!

Just keep raising it until the bars lift off the mounts at the trailer tongue a little bit or at least until you can move them. Release the bars then lower it and release the latch on the hitch. A power tongue jack is a nice addition and makes it really easy to do this. You can look online at their website to make sure the hitch is set up correctly. It's a really good system once it's properly adjusted. I've had a couple of them. Don