Setting Pin Height for Hookup

[pbahlin]

It has always been a minor annoyance for me to set up the correct height of the rig for a clean hookup to my hitch. Usually I get the truck (tailgate down) under the pin then eyeball the height to make an adjustment that will allow me to back into the jaws. Usually this takes a couple of attempts as I ease into the hitch.

I have a Trailer Saver that has a lot of articulation in the head so when hooking up it has a pretty good ( 30 degree ) downward tilt and it can be 20 or 30 degrees tipped to one side as well. This makes guessing the height a guess at best, duh! I want to avoid a high hitch so my goal is to have the truck come in a bit high so that it forces the truck to take some weight from the rig as it slides over the hitch plate.

Here is a way to eliminate this guesswork. I measured the height from my hitch base plate to the bed of my truck. Then I took a short piece of chain and hung it from the pin (off to the side of the pin in one of the holes in the Moryde mount). I adjusted the length of the chain so that the distance to the end of the chain from the pin plate is the same as the dimension I took from the hitch to the truck bed. When I back the tailgate under the chain, all I have to do is move the rig up or down until the end of the chain just kisses the open tailgate floor.

Voila! Only one adjustment of the height and it goes in perfectly every time.

Enjoy!