High hitched

[gearhead]

Curt Q20. Went to buy new tires this morning. Had the 5th in the driveway loading for the Richmond trip. Back up to it. I always have to raise it a bit with the Level up to be high enough. About that time a friend pulls in the driveway. We are talking, a lot. I back under it. I don't hear it latch. Get out and look. Oh excretement, I'm on top of one jaw and under the other. I never did this before. Try to pull out. Nope won't do it. The buddy is yakking away. I finally find the sweet spot and get out with my brake paddle switch on. Tried to hitch again. Nope. Looked real close and one jaw is not open. Got a drift pin and hammer and popped it open. Hitched up good. Scary for awhile.

[ctbruce]

Yakky neighbors will do it every time....Enjoy your trip!

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[rhagfo]

You should always hit the pin low on the hitch! I am some times as much as 2" low. It doesn't hurt the hitch or pin box to hit that low,'as long as you don't go so low as to go under the hitch head.

[gearhead]

^^^Yeah I try to be low enough for it to climb the hitch. Good learning experience for me though. Talking and not paying attention.

[bsmith0404]

I had a similar thing happen one time. The be honest I never figured out how or why it was happening. I was letting the 5er climb the hitch, was on a slight angle, but for some reason it kept climbing right up over the jaws and high hitched. It got so bad that I had to drop the 5er to the point that it barely cleared the tail of the hitch in order to climb it. Have never had the problem again and don't know why it was doing it that day. It's a bit difficult to see what is going on back there when you're in the cab of the truck.

[JRTJH]

High Hitching can be a very, VERY dangerous thing !!! It doesn't seem to happen too often, but if you're not vigilant, if you don't notice, it can lead to a very costly and damaging situation. It's been several years since a member posted that it happened to them, and, going strictly by memory, it's been 5 years since someone posted that they had damaged their trailer and truck. The last one was around $5,000 as I remember.

I paint the bottom ring on my pin florescent orange and always check after coupling before I raise the tailgate. If I don't see orange BELOW the bar, I "investigate" !!! If I do see orange BELOW the bar, I plug in the electrical connector, the camera connector and the break-away cable and close the tailgate. Many people use a flashlight and that seems to work just as well as my orange paint. On a sunny day, it's very difficult to see "inside the hitch" which always seems to be "in the dark"..... So, be prepared, sooner or later, it's going to happen to you. Don't drive away without doing a "pull test", then raise the landing gear only after knowing you're properly hitched. We definitely don't need another report of a crushed truck bed and damaged underside of the fifth wheel pinbox area !!!

[Barbell]

Early on in our RVing adventure, I learned that when the DW asked what she could do to help with hooking up, I told her to keep all the neighbors away from me. She does and we have had little to no trouble since.

[canesfan]

One of my friends down the street had this happen a few years ago. He was hitching up early in the morning, was tired, in a hurry, and yeah, you know the rest. He actually made it out of the cul de sac and around the corner and a little ways down the street before BANG. People whose house he was in front of came running out with a gun wondering what happened. Shortly thereafter he traded everything in and bought a Class A. That's one of the things I like about my Pullrite Superglide, it's "almost" impossible to high hitch, but I still check everything before pulling out.

[66joej]

I did have an issue about 10 years ago. Had a Laredo 5er and 2500 Ram TV.
Not really paying attention thinking I was on level ground forgot to chock the wheels pulled the hitch release and started to walk back to set the landing gear down when the 5er rolled off the hitch. It landed on the box rails. Fortunately I had lowered the landing gear somewhat so the damage was minimal. A set of box rails covered up my stupidity. I guess Laredos were made better back then so no damage.Moral of the story always cock your wheels first even on seemingly level ground.

[larry337]

Look at not only the jaws but take quick look at the pin box and the fifth wheel plate. there should not be a gap. If there is then its a good bet you are high hitched.

[gearhead]

I've got my pin painted too. It would have been hard to drive away with the gap above the plate and the swing lock holes weren't lined up on the handle. But if you just did a tug test you would have thought it was hitched.
Lesson learned for me: tell crazy Jerry to shut up for a minute.

[chuckster57]

Knock on wood....hasn't happened yet. Probably just jinxed myself for Friday.

[larry337]

Originally Posted by gearhead

I've got my pin painted too. It would have been hard to drive away with the gap above the plate and the swing lock holes weren't lined up on the handle. But if you just did a tug test you would have thought it was hitched.
Lesson learned for me: tell crazy Jerry to shut up for a minute.

Where I work we pull doubles. Two trailers, two fifth wheel plates, two kingpins, 6 air lines, four air valves, 18 wheels, 2 elec cords, 2 landing gears, etc. Some of my co-workers will get very irritated if you walk up to them in the middle of hooking or breaking a set. That said, last summer while camping with some of my co-workers, I arrived and started dropping my fifth wheel. My buddy walks up to me and starts talking to me in the middle of it and sure enough I pulled away without disconnecting my electrical plug and pulled the cord right out of my pin box while he stood there and watched. So there you have it, two professionals being complete dumbasses lol.

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[kfxgreenie]

When the Andersen coupler drops on the ball there is no doubt, you have a positive connection.

[jsmith948]

Originally Posted by kfxgreenie

When the Andersen coupler drops on the ball there is no doubt, you have a positive connection.

Understand your point...BUT...if the ball type hitch is superior to the kingpin type hitch, one would have to wonder why it is that the regulatory agencies require safety chains on a ball type hitch and there is no such requirement on a fifth wheel/kingpin hitch. Also, why would the trucking industry use the fifth wheel/kingpin hitch if a ball type hitch is so much better? Sorry, after more than 2.5 million miles in a semi, I'll stick to a fifth wheel hitch. Just sayin'

[allmi01]

Since I'm still new to 5th wheels, I try to learn from all the veteran folks here.

I did high hitch my Monte once. The Husky hitch did not lock in properly so I could not put in the safety pin on the release handle. I thought, well better to unhook and retry it. Lucky thing I did. Lower the the kingpin and re-coupled. All went well but I still sweat it out for a couple hundred miles.

I do visually check the jaw (husky hitch I have is a single jaw) to ensure it is closed around the king pin. Thanks to all that suggest this practice. It saved me.

Mike

[kfxgreenie]

Originally Posted by jsmith948

Understand your point...BUT...if the ball type hitch is superior to the kingpin type hitch, one would have to wonder why it is that the regulatory agencies require safety chains on a ball type hitch and there is no such requirement on a fifth wheel/kingpin hitch. Also, why would the trucking industry use the fifth wheel/kingpin hitch if a ball type hitch is so much better? Sorry, after more than 2.5 million miles in a semi, I'll stick to a fifth wheel hitch. Just sayin'

My theory for the chains. It is easy to forget to latch the coupling on a ball type hitch. Even though you forgot to lock it you can still pull the trailer down the road, maybe even at Interstate speeds until you hit that right bump that bounces the trailer off the ball, and then you have a disaster. You will not get to far and not at too fast of a speed if you didn't get your fifth wheel hitch "locked" and the outcome will be personal property damage only in most cases. How many ball "failures" can you find, when proper equipment was being used?

[JRTJH]

I think we're getting off topic with an "apples and oranges" type of conversation. There's no "equality comparison" between a fifth wheel hitch and a ball type hitch. Discussing the pros and cons of each would be better left to another thread, this one is about "high-hitching a fifth wheel coupling". Please limit comments to fifth wheel hitches and "high-hitching"...