Some of you may have already thought of this but will post anyway. I had trouble seeing the locking bar behind the pin to determine if it was fully locked in place. Everything on the hitch is painted black. So I closed the hitch (with trailer disconnected) and made sure the bar was fully locked in place. Cleaned the grease from the narrow rear side of the bar and masked the area. I painted the narrow side of the bar white along the full width of the throat. Now I can see the white bar clearly and tell at a glance if it is fully locked. There has been some wear to the white paint as the bar opens and closes but it is still easier to see than the all black one.
Gives me just a little more confidence when I give the initial hitch test and easy to check during pit stops. Another thing I check during pit stops is the trailer axle hubs. I walk around the trailer and look for the usual stuff but I stop at each wheel and carefully put my hand on each hub to check for excessive heat buildup. Have found bearing and brake problems before they get expensive with this simple test. Caution, the hubs can get very hot if you have been using the brakes on long down hills just prior to the test.
Linear Mode
