q re receiver and hitch/ball noise during travel

[hwitten]

I'm on my way back from Montreal with my new ProLite Suite.

One question I forgot to ask at my delivery briefing was wether some slippery stuff shoul be applied to Receiver, Ball, etc.
Should I have?

Main question though is the racket the pieces make. I assume some is normal and it has not been bad or annoying until we hit the Perimeter road in Winnipeg and it continued to Portage La Prairie. The road is so bad that CUV and trailer went in opposite directions continuously. I finally reduced to 70 in 100km/hr stretch and it became tolerable.

All I could think is: I sure hope dealer installed hitch properly with all bolts tight
It sure sounded like it was all coming apart at any time.

Aside from that the drive back has been nice. No camping yet as temps were at and below freezing with wind blowing so I did not want to take a chance alienating the better half too early in our new camping adventure

Heinz
Trailer was as expected and better. I'll elaborate after I get it home.

[Martiangod]

Your going to get some action on the hitch with a lite trailer. I have seen somehorrer set ups by. Dealers, but most do a great job. You dont need to lube your hitch. It may be a little lite on the toungue weight

[Roly Nelson]

I used to have a bit of hitch noise, but found that is was the loose fit within the reciever square tube. I simply took a hacksaw blade, ground it down to a very slim tapered shim, removed all of the teeth then cut it to about 2 inches long and hammered it in to the space between the solid barstock and the square tube, which eliminated the sloppy fit within the hitch reciever. Next step was to tighten the trailer hitch over the ball, so it fit snugly. Now my lightweight trailers float silently down the freeway, just like they are supposed to.
Roly ~~

[Shadow Catcher]

If your coupler is not adjusted your trailer could end up looking like this.



There is a nut on the bottom of most couplers and if it not adjusted then can with a bit of encouragement come off the ball.
When connecting your trailer to the towing vehicle, it is important that the hitch coupler is adjusted with the correct amount of tension for both smooth and safe trailer performance. A loose connection may cause the coupler to disconnect or to rattle. An over-tight lever coupler will make it difficult to connect and disconnect. This can also transmit unnecessary vibration to the towing vehicle. On the lever lock coupler, the amount of locking force can be adjusted to the diameter of the hitch ball. To change the amount of locking force against the hitch ball:

1) Release the hitch coupler-locking lever (to its straight up position).
2) Locate the adjustment nut on the bottom of the hitch coupler.
3) Rotate the nut on the threaded shaft clockwise to increase tightness and counter clockwise to decrease tightness.
4) Remount the trailer coupler on the hitch ball.
5) Push down the hitch coupler-locking lever to its horizontal locking position.
6) Repeat steps 1 through 5 until a snug fit is obtained.

[hwitten]

Thank you all for the points to check.
Will be shifting weight a bit forward too.

Sun almost up. Time to go

[Dale M.]

Pretty good discussion already in progress.....

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=55669

Dale

[hwitten]

Sorry about starting the extra thread. Only had iPhone so searching was not great.
Have checked the other thread. Wish I would have read it before I left

Anyways... My rattle went back to normal after leaving Hiway #1 and due to my shuffling weight and the zip ties jammed in receiver and coupler at bottom it was even quieter than before. More permanent fix after getting home.

Last day Edmonton to home, Sunday.

First sleep in new trailer last night. Have to make some adjustments in how stuff is arranged but all good.

[hwitten]

First tow of 4872 KM complete.

Smooth and relative quiet ride after leaving Hi-Way #1 at Portage La Prairie.

Now for some tweaks and hopefully some camping.

[hwitten]

6) Repeat steps 1 through 5 until a snug fit is obtained.

Finally had a chance to check this out today and found there is very little play. I'm going to try the plastic bag trick mentioned in the other post next hitch-up.

The new hitch mount I got, with the correct rise, is a bit sloppier than the one supplied with the hitch. I was able to get a thin plastic spacer on 3 sides. Hopefully that will quieten it some. Maybe I can find something thinner to get something on each side.

I browsed some RV Parts Stores today and came across a tightener. Anyone use one of those things? Thought it might be less hassle but figured I'd ask first before possibly wasting money on it.

Heinz

[hwitten]

Solved!

Got this U-clamp from eTrailer. Twenty-some bucks.
Haven't tried it with ProLite yet but borrowed neighbor's trailer for a run to the dump and it was perfectly quiet.
May still have some ball rattle but certainly not from receiver.

HitchUclamp.jpg (89.37 KiB) Viewed 650 times

[Bogo]

I used to have a bit of hitch noise, but found that is was the loose fit within the reciever square tube. I simply took a hacksaw blade, ground it down to a very slim tapered shim, removed all of the teeth then cut it to about 2 inches long and hammered it in to the space between the solid barstock and the square tube, which eliminated the sloppy fit within the hitch reciever. Next step was to tighten the trailer hitch over the ball, so it fit snugly. Now my lightweight trailers float silently down the freeway, just like they are supposed to.
Roly ~~

Similar situation on one hitch. Instead I used a grade 8 bolt to tighten in the side walls of the receiver tube against the receiver hitch. I also greased it to make it a bit more rust resistant.

[BrwBier]

I have found that a plastic milk carton makes a good shim between the receiver and draw bar.