A clunk when i accelerate

[azjack]

I put the weld strip on every stinger so I don't have the noise at any time. Jack

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by fudge_brownie

I was told several years ago that any looseness between stinger and receiver should be dampened or eliminated. Is that the case?

If it is just a little fore-and-aft shifting (and not enough to damage anything), it seems like just an annoyance rather than a safety or reliability concern to me.

If something is being hammered out of shape - such as the pin hole in the receiver - then I would want to fix that.

If it's vertical slop, so there is some movement when load comes entirely off of the ball over bumps, then I would want to fix the loading and stability of the trailer so this doesn't happen even if the connection is a bit sloppy.

A potential problem is sloppiness side-to-side, because that can contribute to sway.

So, I don't think there is a single tidy answer.

[Loren & Cathy]

I was talking to some friends from Minnesota who left their stinger in over winter and drove through a lot of salt slush. That welded it in. Loren

[pkgman51]

That noise usually means to me I don't have the ball secured in the trailer latch. If I hear that following hitching-up I release the latch and inch the ball forward to make sure it's pulled as far forward from the trailer as possible. Then I re-seat the latch and the noise goes away. I don't have to do this every time hook-up, only when the thud tells me something is amiss.
Gary

[cpaharley2008]

Gary,
Are you saying that the ball is not properly seated inside the trailer coupler and you reseat it properly?

[pkgman51]

Yes. I have a 19. I anticipate there is enough tongue weight to keep the trailer from popping up. I release the clasp, pull forward ever so slightly, slowly to make sure the ball is all the way forward, and the coupler is all the way down. Then I lock the clasp and don't hear, nor feel, the thump again. Sometimes, I hitch up and don't hear/feel the thump. Then I pat myself on the back and go forward as all is well.
Gary