Unhitching

[alanzuck]

I am having trouble unhitching Monty. I cannot pull the hitch handle out from the locked position. I have tried putting the truck in reverse a little and tried to pull it and it didn't come out, and I tried putting it in drive a little and it still didn't work.

The manual says that putting it in reverse slightly would relieve the pressure against the jaws.

What is the exact procedure? Do I first put down the trailer jacks and raise the front end a little and then try to pull the handle, or do I not raise the front end until after the handle is out?

Please answer quickly as Monty is sitting there attached to the truck!

[jackw87]

With mine I chock the wheels so it will not move then put the front legs down till they touch the ground or pad so as not to drop on the truck bed then pull the release and then lift the trailer till i see a space between the4 hitch and the pin box

[kdeiss]

Raise the trailer first take the weight of the hitch that handle will pull out with no problem. Just be carfull not to raise to high.

[ols1932]

Yes--block the wheels, lower the front jacks to a point where you take a little pressure off the hitch. Try to move the bar. If you still can't move it, the problem is generally that the truck is backed up too tight to the pin or is pulled too far forward on the pin. Either way puts pressure on the pin. You can also lower the jacks a little more and try it again. I had the same problem when I first started full-timing. But once I got the hang of it there was never a problem after that.

[jackw87]

my hitch is a reese 2K and has a lever that locks the release arm in place you have to raise it befor you pull on the handle

[alanzuck]

Thanks to all of you who answered. I will try tomorrow morning. It is too dark now. I'll let you know tomorrow how things went.

[jackw87]

a;anzuck is the one that is having the problem not jackw

[stiles watson]

I agree. Chock wheels, then lower front legs until you can see light between the plates of your hitch. Remove safety pin and flip up catch, then pull handle. You can yank your arm off trying to pull the handle if you forget to remove the safety pin and flip up the latch. Experience talkin'.

[Kathi]

I am so sorry, but I am just busting up right now. We brought our 3400RL home and tried to unhitch and couldn't. The whole neighborhood was out there trying to help. We ended up towing that monster around with us for 3 days till we decided to take it to were we got the hitch. We pulled up, like there was something wrong with the hitch, right, well, the guy comes out and bam, he unhitches it. Boy did we feel dumb. so we go back home and spent the rest of the day trying. No way was it going to unhitch. By that time it was dark. so I told Paul, lets go in the house and we can try it again tomorrow. We went out the next morning and just looked at it. Our street is kinda on a slight upgrade. We figured that must be it. We put some levels under one side of the front jacks. And that was the problem. Now it isn't a problem. I even went out and marked the front jacks so that we would remember where they were at when the hitch released.

[steves]

All the above suggestions are good. I usually just make sure I back up to level it and then immediately (while my foot is still on the brake) set my emergency brake. I then am able to release the hitch handle with no problem. When I first got my 5th wheel I too had the same problem always struggling with the hitch release until someone gave me this tip.

Good-luck
Steve

[alanzuck]

Well, yesterday, I finally got it unhitched. I raised the front end of Monty, and I had to move the truck forward slightly.The handle then came out easily.

Thanks to all of you for your fast replies. It's good to know there is someplace I can turn when I need help.

[harleyrider]

While we are on the subject-you level side to side before unhitching right?

[ronstan]

Yes. I use 2x8 boards to level A lot of people use the plastic blocks which are available at a lot of places. The only problem I have seen is if you are on uneven ground they will sometimes break. But yes level before unhitching

[Wordsmith]

You know, I have come to the conclusion that it takes VERY little for these 5ers to embarrass us, whether it be unhitching or backing. The SuperGlide did its fair share of making me look stupid when I brought the 5er home after our second trip and forgot to pull slightly forward. Of course, I now look at it as part of our anti–tampering efforts!

It is the little points in life that typically trip us up!

[sreigle]

Same situation here. I sometimes have to back up into the hitch to get it to release, though. I guess for us it depends on whether the rig is pointing downhill or uphill. If uphill, the Montana is probably rolling slightly backwards and binding at the pin. I'll try Steves' suggestion next time.

I also once had (with our first fifthwheel) a problem disconnecting with a hitch that was just two-way. It did not pivot side to side. After leveling the trailer side to side there was no way the hitch would release. We'd gone up four or five inches on one side but I had not put boards under the truck wheel on that side. Since the hitch does not pivot to the side, it was on quite a bind. After trying several times, a nice fulltimer came over with a sledge hammer and gave the hitch a good whack. It released immediately. He then explained I need to keep the truck and trailer on the same plane to successfully unhitch. With the four-way pivot on the Reese hitch we now have I only have to worry about this in extreme off-level situations.