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Travel Trailer Hitching and Unhitching Guide

May. 24 2021 Ownership Tips By The RV Guys

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Don’t rush through while you are hitching and unhitching your travel trailer, as doing a bad job of these important steps can lead to mishaps and waste a lot of your precious time. This can also make you go in for costly repairs. Don’t worry yet! The RV Guys in Valley View, Texas, have you covered. We’ve compiled this handy guide to help you with the steps, so that you can safely hitch and unhitch your travel trailer. Visit us to learn more such tips from our friendly team and to look at our collection of travel trailers for sale. We are happy to serve our customers from all over North Texas.

Hitching Safely

To begin coupling the tow vehicle and your travel trailer, remove the hitch lock and position the receiver latch vertically. Also, secure the trailer by choking the tires. Once you have done this, proceed to follow the remaining steps as highlighted below:

  • Use a jack to lift the front-end of the trailer and lubricate the jack piston when it extends.
  • Place the hitch close to the receiver and slide it gently. Refer to the owner’s manual for suggestions to do this correctly as there are different ways to do this on different models.
  • Secure the locking pin after you’ve inserted the hitch properly.
  • Align the vehicles to allow the hitch to join them. Seek the assistance of a family member while you do this or use a camera to complete the step.

Important Considerations

Don’t fret if you aren’t able to do it right the first time. Hitching and unhitching trailers isn’t an easy task; you should be able to master it with some practice. Have a crew member assist you while you are performing the steps. You can also consider investing in cameras and sway bars. These accessories help bring the vehicles in line and support the vehicle connection, besides preventing trailer sway.

Unhitching Like a Pro

Unhitch the travel trailer by following the steps shared below:

  1. Park the vehicle in a big enough and leveled space.
  2. Make sure that the wheel chocks are in place on both sides of the trailer.
  3. Use a jack to lift the trailer a little off the ground.
  4. Disconnect the brake cable, emergency brake controller, and safety chains.
  5. Remove the sway bars after ensuring that you’ve adequately lowered the tension of the bars.
  6. Lower the trailer and let it put some weight on the tow vehicle.
  7. Release the hitch ball by lifting the ball receiver latch.
  8. Use the jack to lift the trailer and move it away from the hitch ball. However, avoid raising it too high, as this can move the items inside the trailer from their positions and even break them when the trailer suddenly lowers.
  9. Your trailer is free now; move your tow vehicle away from it and use the jack to place the trailer in a leveled and safe manner.
  10. Put away the hitch till you need it again.

We hope these steps will help you safely hitch and unhitch your travel trailer. When you regularly use your rig, you will gain the confidence to perform all the above-mentioned steps like a pro. Untill then, refer to this simple guide.

If you need more such tips to use your rig or to upgrade to the latest travel trailer model, visit The RV Guys in Valley View, Texas. Our wide inventory of campers gives you a variety of choices. We are happy to welcome our friends from North Texas.