Is it necessary to unhitch?

[Mark Ulmer]

Originally Posted by Teamfour

I leave my bars connected but use the tongue jack to take a little weight off and perhaps level the TT a bit.

Thanks!

[Bluepill]

I keep whatever rig I'm using (MH with Toad, or SUV with Trailer) as "ready to go" as possible. Almost got caught in a flash flood at a campground in Texas in 2012.

[aceinspp]

Originally Posted by ottawapaul

X2 or X3. Don't need to unhitch for overnigh, but do unplug from your truck so as not to drain the battery.

X 4 leaving the truck plug in to trailer I found it will blow the fuse on tv so you have no tt lights. Later RJD

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by Boots49

gljurczyk, always happy to have a wing man. Now that Sue & I are retired, we plan to be on the road more, hopefully I can drag her away from our new 1st grandson.

Come to Virginia if you have time, I have free CG , with access to the biggest lake in Virginia.It's cheap to, FREE. You always welcome for steak and eggs. Just PM me. Hope meet you guy's sometime boots.....

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by dieselguy

gljurczyk ... I guess I didn't say it right. It figured it obvious you would need to manually put the front legs down as that is the process with "level up". I just wanted to warn others not to hit the auto level button after you took a bit of weight off your truck if they wanted to have all 6 legs on the ground. Do it all manually.

You are correct my friend, I do it just as you said all the time...

[floridela]

Originally Posted by ottawapaul

X2 or X3. Don't need to unhitch for overnigh, but do unplug from your truck so as not to drain the battery.

If it's raining real hard and thunderstorms a brewing, I say unplug and call it a day!

[ozarkcamper]

Is the same true for a 5th wheeler?

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by ozarkcamper

Is the same true for a 5th wheeler?

Yep, for overnights- we don't unhitch. We even rarely put down stabilizers or landing gear. I do disconnect from the truck because I know it'll pull from those batteries. (Except that cold night in Tucson where that was a saving grace! Made it to morning because I could draw from the truck battery.)

[Kaadk]

One thing I didn't see mentioned was all the above advice assumes your hitch is setup to have the trailer fairly level in the first place. (Note: if it's not it needs to be adjusted because it really should be! )

As long as you're already level, then dropping the tongue Jack to relieve some of the weight is fine. If you're not level then don't try this. Instead, fix the hitch so it's level, and then go ahead and try this.




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[Jakieboy]

My wife and I agree with all comments so far. We have often stayed overnight without unhitching the TT from the TV, as long as the site is level enough to allow all appliances to operate properly. At sites with electrical service, we don't even bother to disconnect the cable from TT to TV. While camping in Kansas one night a few years ago, an extremely violent thunder storm blew into our area, and my wife swears it stayed directly over our campsite for three hours. She was terrified. The trailer was rocking and rolling pretty good in the wind gusts. The lightning and thunder flashed and boomed for hours, driving our two Chihuahuas deeper and deeper under the bed sheets! My wife kept looking out the window, and swears she saw the Wicked Witch of the West fly by!! Having grown up on the East Coast, I was accustomed to such storms and actually slept through most of it.

In the morning, my wife was still bleary-eyed from lack of sleep, and asked me how I could have slept through such a storm. I explained that, since the trailer was still hitched to the truck, even a tornado could not have sent us skyward. She believed mde!!

[Ray and Ann]

Originally Posted by Teamfour

I leave my bars connected but use the tongue jack to take a little weight off and perhaps level the TT a bit.

My opinion regarding the bars is that is depends on how far off level the trailer is. If it's close, I'd leave the bars in place. If it's significantly off, I'd disengage the bars but leave them hanging there ready to put back in the morning; the connection will have a little more leeway to shift with the tongue jack.

Overall, I agree that it isn't necessary to disconnect unless things are too far off level.

[Ray and Ann]

Originally Posted by Jakie-Boy

My wife and I agree with all comments so far. We have often stayed overnight without unhitching the TT from the TV, as long as the site is level enough to allow all appliances to operate properly. At sites with electrical service, we don't even bother to disconnect the cable from TT to TV. While camping in Kansas one night a few years ago, an extremely violent thunder storm blew into our area, and my wife swears it stayed directly over our campsite for three hours. She was terrified. The trailer was rocking and rolling pretty good in the wind gusts. The lightning and thunder flashed and boomed for hours, driving our two Chihuahuas deeper and deeper under the bed sheets! My wife kept looking out the window, and swears she saw the Wicked Witch of the West fly by!! Having grown up on the East Coast, I was accustomed to such storms and actually slept through most of it.

In the morning, my wife was still bleary-eyed from lack of sleep, and asked me how I could have slept through such a storm. I explained that, since the trailer was still hitched to the truck, even a tornado could not have sent us skyward. She believed mde!!

Are ya sure that wasn't the Witch of the East?...;-)
I hope you didn't actually believe that about a tornado not sending you skyward!

[OldCoot]

We always stop at cg with at least water and elect and never unhook the trailer or the umbilical cord. Even if I don't hook up to shore power, I don't unplug the truck to trailer cord.We don't use anything but the 12 v lights for a few minutes. See no need to unhook cord from truck with 3 batteries. (1-truck, 2 trailer)

[DSMURPHY]

Originally Posted by ependydad

Yep, for overnights- we don't unhitch. We even rarely put down stabilizers or landing gear. I do disconnect from the truck because I know it'll pull from those batteries. (Except that cold night in Tucson where that was a saving grace! Made it to morning because I could draw from the truck battery.)

X2 I try to find a level spot.

[Cool Canuck]

I don't unhook for overnight if the site is reasonably level. I do run the landing gear down to stabilize and level the trailer. Ford owners don't have unplug. There is a relay that cuts the power to the trailer if the engine is not running.

[Crabbyguy]

Is it necessary to unhitch?
No.