5th wheel stuck on hitch. Please help!

Hello everyone! I recently upgraded from a pull behind travel trailer to a 5th wheel and this was the third time taking off the hitch... Well, trying to remove the hitch this time. See attached pics. Tried many times to hold trailer breaks and pull the truck forward and back, but not working. What did I do wrong?

Can anyone provide insight on how to remove?

Thanks!

Looks to me like you've raised the pin way too high.  Drop it down so that there's about 1/4" of space, just barely enough to see.  And the plates should be nearly parallel. Hold the trailer brake and BACK UP to reset the latch.  Then pull the release again.

What brand of hitch is it?  I had problems like this with a couple of Curt hitches.

3rd pic, Reese pro series, 15k. ;D
I figured that much out, but I can't be of any help past that.

8Muddypaws said:

Looks to me like you've raised the pin way too high.  Drop it down so that there's about 1/4" of space, just barely enough to see.  And the plates should be nearly parallel. Hold the trailer brake and BACK UP to reset the latch.  Then pull the release again.

What brand of hitch is it?  I had problems like this with a couple of Curt hitches.

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Totally agree. You have the trailer way too high. You should have raised it just enough to see a little space between the hitch plate and the trailer plate. No more than 1/4" of space. I don't go that high when I do it.

I raised it up to take the pics. Been raising and lowering and nothing happens. Is that metal disk supposed to be stuck there or should I have had it lower when I hitched it up, putting the metal disk inside the hitch?

Might be time to give Reese a call.

For a temporary fix, I'd pull the pins holding in the hitch in the truck and raise the hitch off the bed so you can pull away and level up.

Joezeppy said:

For a temporary fix, I'd pull the pins holding in the hitch in the truck and raise the hitch off the bed so you can pull away and level up.

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I've no experience with 5th hitches...but just brainstorming....
but doing that might also take the bind off of it and allow it to release

Had a 5th wheel for 6 years. Your pin is cocked which is jamming it. The plates should be even (parallel). Did you try to lower it all the way down and raise your stabilizers? If you did, does the plate on the hitch sit flush with the plate on your pin? Another thing, is your trailer siting level? Somebody mentioned releasing the pins on the hitch. you could leave your front stabilizers down, take a little pressure off thechitch and pull the pins and drive out from under the trailer. Get some help and see if you can slide the hitch off the pin by hand.

Yes, I lowered the stabilizers and it was never level. I hooked it up on uneven ground.  Called Reese and they suggested removing the bolts to get the truck unhooked. Going to try that, but very concerned about the height needed for the trailer so the top part of hitch doesn't smack me in the face.

TopofSuwanee said:

I raised it up to take the pics. Been raising and lowering and nothing happens. Is that metal disk supposed to be stuck there or should I have had it lower when I hitched it up, putting the metal disk inside the hitch?

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What metal disk are you talking about?  There is a lube plate made out of delrin or Teflon (form of plastic) between the hitch and the trailer pin box. Are you trying to connect by lowering the pin into the hole. If you are that's the wrong way. You need to raise the trailer just high enough so when you back up into the hitch, the pieces just clear each other or the trailer actually gets picked up just a bit.

What happens when you lower the trailer so the weight is OFF the jacks? Do the plates come together or does it still stick up in the air like the picture shows?

Have you pulled the handle out about 5" so the locking bar clears the hole opening. If not, you need to pull real hard on the handle and swing it towards the front so it stays out.

http://rv52.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Cequent-5th-Wheel-Hitch-Instruction-Manual-Users-Guide-Installation-Guide-Model-15K.pdf

https://www.etrailer.com/Fifth-Wheel/Pro-Series/PS30093.html

you have high pinned the pin box - remove the hitch from the truck- when you hooked up the trailer the hitch was too high  for the pin box . next time lower the trailer so that it is about 1/2 lower then the head unit. The pin box needs to ride up the hitch a little bit thus starting out 1/2 low ( ride up the big U shaped plate that curves downward - it need to ride the curve up). dont worry it will be ok. its also a design flaw in most of the smaller hitches they use a flat piece of steel 1/4 inch the bigger hitches use a thicker plate thats rolled.

Those metal disks are forged as part of the hitch pin ... side view of the pin looks like this:

________
  |    |
    ]  [
  |___|

The flat part of the trailer hitch should rest directly on the hitch skid plate, the flat plate of the hitch.

Try lowering the trailer down, making sure the top flange of the hitch (the "metal washer") settles into the hitch - not sitting on the skid plate.  You may have to move the truck forwards or backwards while there is downward pressure on the hitch to get the top flange past the skid plate.

If you're lucky, the bottom flange will also slip past the locking bar so the bar can move into the pin's waist where it belongs.  Then you should be able to pull the release handle to move the locking bar out of the way, lower the landing gear just enough to take some weight off of the truck and let the trailer slide out the rear of the hitch.

If not, and the release bar is still jammed against the bottom flange of the hitch pin, you'll have to pull hard on the handle and maybe hit it with a heavy hammer to get the locking bar to move to the unlocked position.  If you have to resort to a hammer, I'd have a qualified person inspect the hitch for damage before reusing it.

My apologies if this is stating the obvious, but you don't lift a 5th wheel in and out of the hitch - it's supposed to slide out the back after you release the locking pin.  Lift the trailer just enough to take the weight off of the truck so it'll slide easier.

Same thing when you hitch up - the trailer should be just high enough to contact the hitch just behind the midpoint of the saddle, so it rides up on the skid plate and levels it out against the trailer's plate before the pin slides into place.

When you hitched up on uneven ground, the pin wasn't fully down on the hitch - you "high pinned" so the locking bar went across the bottom flange instead of staying in the waist where it belongs.

Since you don't have a hitch that tilts from side to side, the way to avoid this problem in the future is to run the low side of the truck onto some leveling blocks so it's tilted in the same direction as the trailer.

Lou Schneider said:

Since you don't have a hitch that tilts from side to side, the way to avoid this problem in the future is to run the low side of the truck onto some leveling blocks so it's tilted in the same direction as the trailer.

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Lou, the head/skid plate does pivot from side to side. You can see the pivot pin in the 3rd and 4th picture. Also if you open the second link I provided and then open up the U Tube video, it shows the head pivoting.

I wonder how the OP made out. It sure would be nice if members, who originated posts, would get back to us with the results.  It would be nice to know if we helped them. 

When I first got my 5th wheel last January I was having problems similar to the.

What I found out was that I was not lowering my trailer enough to hitch up.  You want both beveled edges on the hitch and pin box to match,  this will force the trailer up and over the hitch.  What happens if you don't do this is that as the trailer slides up on the hitch and weight is transferred to the truck the truck settles down but the trailer wont settle with it as the legs are holding it up to high.

To release the trailer I bring the trailer up until I have the gap of maybe 3 or 4 pieces of paper between the hitch and the plate on the pin box and then I will pull the release lever.  If I cant pull the release lever then I adjust until I can pull it, only then I pull out from under it.