Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 07-11-2019, 03:44 PM   #1
Member
 
Micro Mom's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: Milton, GA
Posts: 34
Pull behind towing

Hi all. We went from 14 years of towing 33’ - 40’ fifth wheels to our lovely little 25BDS MicroLite. Towing such a small trailer is much easier in respect to maneuvering but we are feeling the trailer behind us more than when we pulled our fifth wheel. Not a lot, but noticeable.

What we’re really having a hard time with is hitching and unhitching. I finally made a note on my phone to refer to. Can you all let me know if I’m missing anything or if I got anything wrong? FYI “bucket” refers to the red stabilizer bucket-looking thing that we got from the dealer for under the jack. Please forgive me if my terminology is wrong.

Unhitching
1. Chock wheels
2. Put bucket under jack
3. Raise jack slightly
4. Release sway bars
5. (Adjust height?)
6. Release ball hitch lock

Hitching
1. Line up ball hitch & receiver
2. Lower to just cover ball hitch
3. Lock ball hitch
4. Put sway bars on and lock
5. Remove bucket
6. Remove chocks
Micro Mom is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-11-2019, 03:50 PM   #2
Site Team
 
bikendan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Goodyear, Arizona
Posts: 33,604
First, don't know what you mean by red bucket thing. Do you have a pic, link or name of this thing?
Second, are you using a WDH or just a hitch ball and a friction antisway bar? If it's a WDH, brand and model would help.
__________________
Dan-Retired California Firefighter/EMT
Shawn-Musician/Entrepreneur/Wine Expert
and Zoe the Wonder Dog(R.I.P.)
2016 PrimeTime TracerAIR 255, pushing a 2014 Ford F150 SCREW XTR 4x4 3.5 Ecoboost w/Max Tow Package
4pt Equal-i-zer WDH and 1828lbs of payload capacity
bikendan is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 07-11-2019, 03:52 PM   #3
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 5,712
Unhitching
1. Chock wheels
2. Put bucket under jack
3. Raise jack slightly (Raise as high as you need to release pressure from bars.) I've probably hit 8 to 10" sometimes.
4. Release sway bars
5. (Adjust height?) (Lower enough so hitch unlocks easily.)
6. Release ball hitch lock
**7. Raise up and move vehicle and level trailer.

Hitching
1. Line up ball hitch & receiver
2. Lower to just cover ball hitch
3. Lock ball hitch (Raise up jack to make bars go on easier.)
4. Put sway bars on and lock
5. Remove bucket
6. Remove chocks
TheWolfPaq82 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-11-2019, 03:53 PM   #4
RV There Yet?
 
IsleDog's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Winona, MN
Posts: 1,139
you are going to get a million people adding all of the little things that can/should be done when hitching/unhitching. you have a good grasp on the general procedure. in time it will become second nature! when we got our camper, we hitched and unhitched several times (towed around the block) just so we had a few controlled situations under our belt. you've got this! happy camping!

when unhitching, we check for level (side to side) before anything else (we have stabilizers, not levelers). yours may be different.
__________________
2018 17RP
2009 Crew Cab King Ranch F150 "Goose"
IsleDog is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-11-2019, 03:56 PM   #5
Grammar Pedant
 
67L48's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Frederick, CO
Posts: 1,580
Generally speaking, yes, that's correct. Chocking the wheels before you unhitch and leaving the chocks in place until your trailer is back on the hitch are the two most important things. Otherwise, you could have a runaway trailer. Yes, people do this ... unhitch without chocks in place.

Then, I'm usually up-down, up-down. That is, hitch goes up to release tension on WDH bars. Then down to put weight back on ball. Then up to remove hitch from ball. Then back down (after truck pulls forward) to level out.
__________________
Every time you use an apostrophe to make a word plural, a puppy dies.

TV: 2019 F-350 Lariat 4WD CCSB 6.7 PSD 3.55, 3,591 lb payload
Former RV: 2018 Rockwood Mini Lite 2504S
Former RV: 2007 Fleetwood/Coleman Utah
Former TV: 2005 F-150 King Ranch 4WD SCrew 5.4L Tow Package
67L48 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-11-2019, 04:03 PM   #6
Member
 
Micro Mom's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: Milton, GA
Posts: 34
Thank you for the quick replies!

This is the bucket: https://www.amazon.com/Andersen-Hitc...12236131&psc=1

And we do have a weight distribution hitch. Sorry I don’t remember the name or model. It was the most expensive of the three weight distribution hitches that the dealer sold.

TheWolfPaq82 thanks! Your additions to my notes are helpful and appreciated!

IsleDog thank you for your words of encouragement. We also have stabilizers. I kind of miss the automatic leveling the last fifth wheel had. And I’m so missing the quickness of fifth wheel hitches! But we did drop the hitch on DH’s tailgate once. You only do that once and then you learn! No danger of crushing the tailgate with a pull behind
Micro Mom is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-11-2019, 04:11 PM   #7
RV There Yet?
 
IsleDog's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Winona, MN
Posts: 1,139
Quote:
Originally Posted by Micro Mom View Post
Thank you for the quick replies!

This is the bucket: https://www.amazon.com/Andersen-Hitc...12236131&psc=1

And we do have a weight distribution hitch. Sorry I don’t remember the name or model. It was the most expensive of the three weight distribution hitches that the dealer sold.

TheWolfPaq82 thanks! Your additions to my notes are helpful and appreciated!

IsleDog thank you for your words of encouragement. I’m so missing the quickness of fifth wheel hitches! But we did drop the hitch on DH’s tailgate once. You only do that once and then you learn! No danger of crushing the tailgate with a pull behind

one word of caution is to check the clearance of your tailgate to jack post. i can open mine and but cant let it all the way down. the tailgate will hit the jack post.
__________________
2018 17RP
2009 Crew Cab King Ranch F150 "Goose"
IsleDog is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-11-2019, 04:39 PM   #8
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2018
Location: Odessa
Posts: 143
I watched my camping neighbor last weekend remove wheel chocks before hitching up.
Lucky nobody got hurt when the pop up rolled forward off his blocks of wood as they were cranking it down
Tblt44 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-11-2019, 05:54 PM   #9
Now a "Top Member"
 
EdJunior's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Roman Forest, TX
Posts: 4,322
Quote:
Originally Posted by Micro Mom View Post
No danger of crushing the tailgate with a pull behind
Uh...don't be too sure of this. I never did it with my TT, but with a stupid little utility trailer, I forgot to clasp the hitch properly, and I stepped onto the back of the trailer, and it popped right off the ball. And went right into my tailgate. No major damage...more to my ego than anything. But just letting you know...it can happen.

Otherwise, you have the steps down pretty well. Do you have a power trailer jack, or manual? If you have a manual, get a power. Your arms and back will love you for it.
__________________
Ed and Sharon
2010 Wildcat 28RKBS
2019 Ford F-250 XLT - AWESOME Truck!
Retired AF MSgt

I thought I was wrong once, but I was wrong!
EdJunior is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-11-2019, 06:26 PM   #10
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: North of Seattle, WA
Posts: 17,285
Good choice on the 25 BDS. I love mine too.

As for "feeling it more" , that's because the hinge point is farther behind the rear axle of the truck. Once you get used to it that feeling will just disappear into the background.
__________________
"A wise man can change his mind. A fool never will." (Japanese Proverb)

"You only grow old when you run out of new things to do"

2018 Flagstaff Micro Lite 25BDS
2023 f-150 SCREW XLT 3.5 Ecoboost (The result of a $68,000 oil change)
TitanMike is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-11-2019, 10:39 PM   #11
Kasual Kamper
 
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: Fairfield County CT
Posts: 1,297
Quote:
Originally Posted by Micro Mom View Post
I can't see how they can claim that that block will "eliminate all movement and sway" of the trailer any more than putting a block of wood there will. And at $48? C'mon!
__________________
Current: 2013 Flagstaff MicroLite 21DS
Past: 2000 Fleetwood Mallard 19N
TV: 2013 Nissan Pathfinder SL 4x4
JayArras is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-11-2019, 11:24 PM   #12
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: North of Seattle, WA
Posts: 17,285
Quote:
Originally Posted by JayArras View Post
I can't see how they can claim that that block will "eliminate all movement and sway" of the trailer any more than putting a block of wood there will. And at $48? C'mon!
Depends on the block of wood. A chunk as tall and wide as these can be heavy.

Used under the tongue Jack I can see more stability than extending the Jack farther.

One could use a cinder block too. Depends on how much you want to lift and what your setup looks like.
__________________
"A wise man can change his mind. A fool never will." (Japanese Proverb)

"You only grow old when you run out of new things to do"

2018 Flagstaff Micro Lite 25BDS
2023 f-150 SCREW XLT 3.5 Ecoboost (The result of a $68,000 oil change)
TitanMike is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-11-2019, 11:30 PM   #13
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2019
Posts: 69
This is the way I do it also.
The way wolf pack stated on 1st page.
Jhut is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-12-2019, 07:08 AM   #14
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2017
Posts: 2,514
Your definitely on track. As stated the more you do it the easier it will be. Learning to identify tension on the ball for smooth discontent is key.
__________________
2022 Chevy 3500 Diesel SWD
2022 Columbus 329 DVC
moose074 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-12-2019, 07:15 AM   #15
Kasual Kamper
 
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: Fairfield County CT
Posts: 1,297
Quote:
Originally Posted by TitanMike View Post
Depends on the block of wood. A chunk as tall and wide as these can be heavy.

Used under the tongue Jack I can see more stability than extending the Jack farther.

One could use a cinder block too. Depends on how much you want to lift and what your setup looks like.
I use a combination of two 4x4 wood block sections (side by side) and several stacked duplo blocks on top. I also place the duplos under each stability jack.
__________________
Current: 2013 Flagstaff MicroLite 21DS
Past: 2000 Fleetwood Mallard 19N
TV: 2013 Nissan Pathfinder SL 4x4
JayArras is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-12-2019, 07:30 AM   #16
D W
Senior Member
 
D W's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: ALASKA (World's Biggest Campground)
Posts: 6,631
Quote:
Originally Posted by IsleDog View Post
one word of caution is to check the clearance of your tailgate to jack post. i can open mine and but cant let it all the way down. the tailgate will hit the jack post.
I read about this and see it more and more every day. Why do people opt for a setup that precludes them from opening the tailgate? It make no sense, no sense at all.
__________________
'07 K3500 Silverado LT Crew Duramax (LBZ)
2016 Salem 27RKSS
1984 CHEV SCOTTSDALE K20 2GCGK24J0E1XXXXXX (Chevrolet Legends-Class of 2019)
"...exhaust fluid? We don't need no stinkin' exhaust fluid"
D W is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
towing

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Forest River, Inc. or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 05:29 PM.