Replace coupler

[johnnyv]

Want to replace 3 bolt coupler on 21ne trailer, buggered up clasp. Can you help ? Thx !

 

[johnnyv]

A frame trailer coupler.

 

[Rockhead]

I’d go with a bulldog hitch easier the hitch up n unhitch

 

[johnnyv]

After further review the " A " part is welded on. Is it possible to change the clasp that locks on ball, that's where the problem is. I have to pound pin thru, because of bad alignment. Thx

 

[brroberts]

Mine doesn’t always align very well either. It never has. Lubrication helps as does a gentle tug forward to make sure the ball is all the way forward in the hitch. Those two things go a long way to making the Brabber hitch easier to use. Otherwise grind it off and weld on a sleeve lock hitch. I’ll probably do that sometime, but it’s not a high priority.

 

[brroberts]

BTW, I’m guessing the 3 bolts you are referring to are the ones that hold the tongue jack on. That’s all they do.

 

[brroberts]

I just went out and laid under my coupler and looked up to see if it had an adjustment nut as some couplers of this style do. Mine does not. It fits well, so even if it did, I wouldn’t adjust it. I have other couplers I have adjusted, but this is definitely one connection you want solid without play.

 

[johnnyv]

Thanks BR

Thank you sir , I was on uneven ground our first time out ( 2021 ) , took pliers to the pin holder, wrong. I get get close then wrap it with rubber mallet. Oh well, lived with it this long.

 

[John in Santa Cruz]

I find after unhitching and partially jacking I sometimes I have to run the truck forward 1/2" or so before I can release the saddle hitch. Ditto after dropping the hitch back on the ball, sometimes I have to pull forward a bit before the saddle will latch down correctly.

 

[MrLynn]

I find after unhitching and partially jacking I sometimes I have to run the truck forward 1/2" or so before I can release the saddle hitch. Ditto after dropping the hitch back on the ball, sometimes I have to pull forward a bit before the saddle will latch down correctly.

Ours is similarly finicky. I like to check it by cranking the jack up and making sure the coupler lifts the truck. Need to lift it anyway, as that makes installing the Fastway E2 bars easy.

 

[Rob_H]

I found the same thing others mentioned. Pull ahead a little and the hitch lock drops into place.

 

[Dcgrout@icloud.com]

After 2 and a half years, I got tired of the finicky factory coupler from Escape. I looked into the Demco EX-Latch hitches. Ended up having a welder remove the Escape coupler and welding on the Demco coupler. Wish I had done it on the way home from Sumas. Hitching and unhitching is so fast and simple now. Just quick and trouble free.

 

[Donna D.]

Are you really asking about replacing the coupler? The receiver is the square tube on the tow vehicle the ball mount slides into.

 

[Iowa Dave]

I use carburetor cleaner on a blue shop towel to clean the ball up and clean the inside of the coupler up each spring and a couple times each summer. Once clean I smear a little Lithium grass on the cleaned surfaces. With the coupler lever up I back barely under the lip of the coupler with as much as 1/3 or so of the top of the ball showing ahead of the front of the coupler lip. Then I slowly lower the trailer. As it contacts the ball I gently either rock the trailer or encourage the slack to come out of the parking gear on the Highlander. The couple will crawl over the ball and seat tightly with the ball to the very front of the coupler and the latch will go down easily. I lock it down with a cylinder lock I bought from E trailer over 10 years ago. The lithium grease picks up dirt and turns black after a few trips. Then it’s time to clean the dirty grease off and retreat.

I put a lightweight plastic bag over the coupler when parked and the vinyl ball retreat over the ball when parked too. This prevents a couple nights in the doghouse from getting grass on my pants and keeps my knees from hurting after I have I cracked them on the stinger as I get down to beg for forgiveness for being so expletive careless. However, all comes out in the wash with a little elbow grease and a liberal application of Grandmas spot remover.
Sign me “I ain’t Heloise but here’s some tips from a grease monkey”.
Iowa Dave

 

[John in Santa Cruz]

I need to clean my coupler now that I'm using an Andersen WDH. Andersen specifically says not to use any lubricant on the ball, and a couple months into the 10000 mile 4 month Mexico trip, I took a couple fingers full of heavy grease from a fellow camper, and rubbed it around the inside of my coupler.

 

[Iowa Dave]

I followed the Anderson instructions for one day of towing.. Jack Allen had supplied us with a nice little tube of lithium based grease and I greased her up the first morning out of Tucson. We were at the campground near Roswell. Did not sense any aliens. Just a squeaky ball. Took care of that and have been following the regimen described above for 7 years and over 50,000 miles of towing . Works for me.
YMMV
Iowa Dave

 

[Donna D.]

I changed the title of this thread to help with Search. The discussion is about the coupler, not the receiver.

 

[GinoandLinda]

I’ve done both. Religiously greased the ball when we towed our StarCraft. Started to do the same on the Rpod then stopped for no apparent reason. Eventually cleaned it all up and never saw or felt a difference. Anderson does not recommend greasing the ball on the Ultimate Hitch. Haven’t done so and after 11,000 miles, no appreciable wear on the ball.

 

[MrLynn]

Ball and coupler are metal-on-metal surfaces. Seems to me like a little grease should help. So I do as Iowa Dave does, but less meticulously. A little lithium grease on the ball, and when not hitched, cover it with a tennis ball.

 

[John in Santa Cruz]

Ball and coupler are metal-on-metal surfaces. Seems to me like a little grease should help. So I do as Iowa Dave does, but less meticulously. A little lithium grease on the ball, and when not hitched, cover it with a tennis ball.

The Anderson WDH, the ball rotates with the trailer, greatly reducing friction. And the shaft the ball is mounted on has a friction surface providing antisway... Any lube that got in there would be detrimental