Giving up on the stock 21C coupler

[bborzell]

While it’s true that the initial encounters with the coupler ranged from easy as pie to, “Damn this design”, I worked out a routine that made hooking up under optimal conditions pretty routine.

Optimal conditions included quite level and the ability to line up both camper and truck on the same center line.

But, last week, a semi rig rolled over on a ridge less than 3/4 mile from us. Somehow, the cab AC shorted out and caused a grass fire that spread to 20 acres before it was contained. In the interim, our street was notified by the local Sheriff folks that were were under mandatory evacuation.

I has previously parked the camper under its port but not all the way back leaving the front of the frame on a very slight incline. When it came time to beat feet, the ETI installed coupler decided to put up a fight. What normally took a minute or so to get the catch to set in place turned into a 10-15 minute fight. Blocks, jiggling forward and back, griping did little to remedy the situation. Finally, I got the catch to set and off we went.

We drove to a freeway off ramp and pulled in alongside 8-10 campers and boats. When you gotta grab what’s important and run, boats and campers rank right up there. After a few hours, the evacuation was lifted so we went home and I vowed to finally replace the coupler.

The Bulldog and Curt offerings were at the top of my list, but reports of rough finishes got me to keep looking. Don’t know if the Curt and Bulldog are made in China, but rough castings and finishes are common when a US company utilizes many different fabricators to produce their products to their specs; I am reminded of back when Delta and Jet woodworking tools had to stop using “cottage” Chinese operations to make table saw and jointer bases. Maybe Curt and Bulldog are having similar production issues.

So, I looked for a Chinese company that makes a wide range of trailer equipment including couplers and who does all their fabrication in house. And I found:

NBJINGYI CA-Frame Coupler 7000LBS Capacity, Heavy Duty Cast Head Forged Powder Coated Black on Amazon, looked up the company, read reviews and ordered it thinking that, if it looked like crap, it was an easy turn around back to Jeff.

It arrived today and it looks great. No finish flaws and all moving parts move smoothly. It was around $70.

[Rossue]

That is good sleuthing; looks like a nice coupler and gets very good reviews and there are 168 of them. Hopefully you can use the threaded holes for your jack.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=NBJINGYI+...ref=nb_sb_noss

[bborzell]

Originally Posted by Rossue

That is good sleuthing; looks like a nice coupler and gets very good reviews and there are 168 of them. Hopefully you can use the threaded holes for your jack.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=NBJINGYI+...ref=nb_sb_noss

Yep, same diameter/pitch bolts, as well as triangular dimension. Found an excellent welder able to do the swap a week from Saturday.

[Rockhead]

We did the same thing. Purchased our bulldog hitch from eitrailer. When it arrived, checked the operation of the hitch and casting. Everything* was clean and smooth operating. Had a mobile Rv / trailer mechanic do the install for $150.00 and a beer afterwards. So easy to hitch and unhitch now

[JohnK]

bborzell, we inherited a Bulldog coupler from our 2020 21C previous owner. Yes, there is much less chance of a false hitch, but In my experience the Bulldog is no panacea. You'll still need a good aim. For starters, you cannot be laterally off with the ball on the latch side of your Bulldog coupler and rely on tongue weight to push the ball into place. Also, I'm finding that when I go to unlatch it I am increasingly finding the need for help by tapping it fully open with a hard object. Grease around the upper part of the collar will help in that regard but then you've got a mess which we didn't used to have with the conventional coupler.

All the best with your Bulldog.

John

[bborzell]

Originally Posted by JohnK

bborzell, we inherited a Bulldog coupler from our 2020 21C previous owner. Yes, there is much less chance of a false hitch, but In my experience the Bulldog is no panacea. You'll still need a good aim. For starters, you cannot be laterally off with the ball on the latch side of your Bulldog coupler and rely on tongue weight to push the ball into place. Also, I'm finding that when I go to unlatch it I am increasingly finding the need for help by tapping it fully open with a hard object. Grease around the upper part of the collar will help in that regard but then you've got a mess which we didn't used to have with the conventional coupler.

All the best with your Bulldog.

John

Funny you should mention it. I had it welded on today. Found a great kid locally who fabricates custom Ford F150 bodies. He did an impeccable job.

So, today, I practiced hooking/unhooking several times on varying slight slopes. Worked easily every time. The fact that my truck’s backup camera has an additional overhead lens setting makes for spot on lining up.

I will keep an eye on the coupler’s behavior when unlatching.

Thanks for the suggestion.