made it to Florida / major problem on our way

[dbylinski]

JoelC,

As explained to us with our very first fifth wheel, raise landing gear just slightly off the ground, APPLY FULL TRAILER BRAKE, attempt to drive out from under it.

I would think it would be hard on the landing gear from either scenerio but I would also think that straight down about 1/2 inch with no foward inertia would be easier on the system. During your test if your hitch fails while you are moving in either direction I would think that the landing gear would suffer as a result. The gear would plant themselves and the trailer would continue to move.

I am sure many other ideas exist out there and will be forthcoming!

 

[buckeyebob]

now i am concerned!!i have a curt 20k also ,i always pull the handle to open the jaws,rotate the the latch so it lays on thr bar ,back up ,pull forward and you can hear the click and the latch will drop down into the bar notch allowing me to put lock pin through both holes.i am always concerned i will bend the front jacks when i do the pull test afterr hooking up,even though i place them on a 24 inch 2x6.i saw a guy drop his because he failed to chock his wheels on a slanted pad .

 

[buckeyebob]

i didnt think a bedsaver was available for a curt 20k hitch.this will be a good add on.

 

[caissiel]

I also use and older RBW and they are surely foolproof as the bar slides in and it locks right in. Not available any more, might be that the bar leaves room at the pin, but it don't bother me. I see a lot of RV'ers place high block under the front leg. Its a No No for me because you can not check the connection by pulling or if the 5'er falls off it will surely hit the top of the box. It happened to a friend of mine and just barely missed his new truck box.

 

[porthole]

I would think it would be hard on the landing gear from either scenario but I would also think that straight down about 1/2 inch with no forward inertia would be easier on the system.

2 thoughts here.
If you have the wheels chocked there should be no forward motion.
I load the trailer brakes which also keeps it from moving fore and aft.

If you hitch up correctly you are loading the trailer in the saddle.

You should be loading the saddle about the mid point and having the pinbox "ride up" the saddle. This helps prevent "high hooking".

If for some reason the pin is not locked in, as you drive forward the pinbox is going to slide down the saddle (vertical travel).

So if you have a 1/2" or so of clearance on the jacks it should be a rather "gentle" crash landing. Especially compared to having the jacks retracted fully.

One of the features I like with the PullRite is that the pin is "wrapped" by the locking jaw.

 

[truknutt]

i didnt think a bedsaver was available for a curt 20k hitch.this will be a good add on.

Here is the Application Guide. Curt 20K part #BXR4800.

 

[dbylinski]

Hi Duane, I agree 100%. Just occupying my non-smoking mind today!

We leave our wheel chocks in and apply the trailer brakes which as you say may create a "gentle crash".

The OP removes the tire blocks, applies the safety brake cable but does not connect the trailer brakes? Pulls foward and slams on the brakes.

Does it stand to reason (if you are not chocked and the trailer brakes are not applied) you may encounter a problem if the hook up does fail under these conditions? And in addition, the damage may occur prior to the safety brake activation depending upon the length of the cable.

I only hooked up once by myself as John & I usually work as a team. I do plan to do much more of it this summer. Just want to be sure that my line of thinking is a good one!

 

[smday]

When I'm driving the semi tractor and a million dollar pump trailer I really don't want it to fall. When we hook up the chocks stay in place until we are ready to go. As soon as we hook up to the pin we also hook up the brakes and do the push and pull test with the trailer brakes on. We also leave the landing gear down as the trailer shouldn't be moving with brakes on during the test. But if you are more comfortable with the legs up a bit that should be ok to. Now I haven't pulled my first 5er trailer yet as it is still at the dealer But I will be doing the same hook up procedures as it is At the company. Haven't seen or heard of any trailers falling yet by following their steps in hooking up.

 

[dbylinski]

smday, if that is the procedure the "pros" use it stands to reason it's what we should do as well. Thanks for your professional opinion.

 

[boatdoc]

I have a 16k hitch made by RBW called little rocker it is old and have been wanting to up grade but I love the way it works. The hitch that I have when the arm goes in there is a solid peace of steal that slides behind the pen so I have panted it with florescent orange pant so if I don't see orange it is not latched. Want to up grade but I love the way this one works. It doesn't have a place were a lock can be put in but the handle has to be up to be able to pull it back but that sound like a good idea to put a lock in to make sure it does come open. Sorry to hear that it happened.

Stick with your RBW!!! We have never used anything else. When that bar slides across it's about a sure as it gets. I have painted the bar white just to see it better. We went from the 15K Lil Rocker to the 16K X16 as they use the same bedrails.

 

[smday]

One thing I have learned is when I do my pre trips is that if ask myself did I do that I will start the pre trip over again. It's better to take an extra 5mins than have something go wrong. We have also some pre printed pre trip and post trip forms that need to be filled out for D.O.T. Whenever they check our trucks. I am going to make up a condensed check list for the 5er as well. It will make things easier in the long run and you don't get complacent when doing your checks. We all know someone that has said they have done it a million times and know what there doing and it won't happen to me. I don't want to take any chances. Better safe than sorry.

 

[porthole]

Does it stand to reason (if you are not chocked and the trailer brakes are not applied) you may encounter a problem if the hook up does fail under these conditions? And in addition, the damage may occur prior to the safety brake activation depending upon the length of the cable.

I only hooked up once by myself as John & I usually work as a team. I do plan to do much more of it this summer. Just want to be sure that my line of thinking is a good one!

I would not depend on the "safety" cable to prevent this problem.

That cable is long enough that by the time it is pulled the trailer is already off the saddle.

Even if it did pull in time the brakes still take time to apply.
And the way brakes work (at least drum brakes) more "braking" is applied as the the drum tries to rotate. Although both front and rear shoes are applied at the same time, more friction is generated on the rear shoe as the front shoe grabs the rotating drum and "rotates into the rear shoe.

Either way - have you ever tried to lock up your trailer brakes doing 20-25 mph?

As for the team approach for hooking ???

My preference is that I do all the steps myself, in the same order The helper is welcome to observe but .........

When Deb is ready to do this I will show her the same way. She does all the steps in order, without interference. Nothing wrong with though with the OP doing a double check when you are done.

 

[ricatic]

TX Bobcat

I have the B&W Companion hitch and I have a Bed Saver as well. My truck had a B&W Turnover Ball setup on it when I bought it. I made a package deal with the dealer to include the Companion and the Bed Saver.

Ricatic