Hitch question

[Cyrus]

A friend has the B&W 5th wheel hitch and says he can't unhook if the camper and truck are not at the same level side to side. The locking system will not release the trailer pin. I noticed that the B&W has a piston that keeps the head level relative the part mounted to the truck bed. Is this normal or is there an adjustment for this?

[garyka]

What I do is before I try to unhook I put the truck in reverse and back up enought to take the load off the hitch,about a couple of inches.

[ggranch]

I'll preface this with,"I don't have a B&W hitch." Most hitches that have the side to side rocking movement (many older ones don't) are limited to between 4 and 10 degrees of movement. If your friend is exceeding the allowed movement, he will bind the jaws making release hard or impossible. Check the B&W website for exact information. Bob

PS-garyka is right-on about relieving the bind by moving the truck forward or backward too.

[Delaine and Lindy]

I have the B&W and have no problems unhooking. As said above after installing the (Roto Chocks) first on last off, I remove the safety pin and pull the handle and push it to the left and put pin in the hole to keep the handle in the open position and it will unhook. But if it for some reason it binding you might have to relieve the pressure either from the front or the rear. I have unhook several time since installing the B&W and must say it is so easy to unhook. GBY...

[sreigle]

Does he have the hitch that does not rock side to side, like most older hitches? We had one of those and once could not get unhitched because of being on different planes. A neighbor came over with a small sledge hammer, took a good whack at the hitch and the pin popped right out. I wouldn't recommend that method. The problem in that case is binding because the hitch does not rock.

If the hitch is a rocker, maybe his angle was more than the rocker can handle? He might have to run a truck rear wheel up on some boards to bring it into closer alignment with the trailer. I used to do that sometimes.

[Cyrus]

Steve,
The hitch does not rock side to side unless you hold pressure on it to compress the piston on the side. His solution has been to block the truck rear wheel but we were wondering if this was normal. Since you had the same problem maybe it is normal. I wonder if B&W information tells you about this or do you have to learn it on you own?

[stiles watson]

I have the B&W Companion Hitch and have not had this problem. This hitch is so much easier to deal with than my old one. The self unlocking feature is great. I have had to extend the legs enough to release the locking handle and/or adjust the truck to take tension off the connection, but I think that would be normal for any hitch. However, I would go to the B&W site and contect them for tech support.

[rames14]

I don't have the B&W hitch, but it is the same with my Reese. I need to make sure that I have the king pin all the way to the back of the hitch or its hard to release.