B&W Companion 5th Wheel Hitch Issue

[DaveMatthewsBand]

You should also apply your trailer brakes fully using the brake controller, when backing up to hitch up, so you don’t move the trailer backwards which can damage the front legs.


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[rjswift]

If you have to physically close the handle on a B&W hitch then something is wrong. When you back into the hitch with the handle in the open position the handle should close when the king pin is in the jaws. You should not need to move the handle by hand. When disconnecting from the hitch the handle should remain the the open position by itself. Sometimes the handle will not remain in the open position on it's own due to friction or twisting at the hitch king pin interface due to uneven ground. In that case there is a hole in the hitch to drop the safety pin into after holding the handle in the fully open position. Open the handle all the way and drop the safety pin into the hole to hold the handle open. Get in the truck and slowly pull forward and the king pin will be free. Remember to always do a pull test before fully retracting the landing gear.

Thanks for your response J&G garage, I appreciate it. One thing my DW always tells me is I always OVER communicate, as you can probably tell by my winded tale before getting to my "issue". Try as I might, even after rereading my post I miss-stated the point of "closing" the swing arm and inserting the pin. You are correct, the swing arm does indeed swing closed with the insertion of the king pin in the jaws. But, in the 10-15 times I have hooked up our new 5th wheel, that arm on the hitch HAS swung shut, but not all the way, or far enough to just drop in the pin, almost, but not all the way. I have always, so far, had to "close" it the last inch or so to be able to drop the pin into the locking hole. I should have stated it more clearly in that post, to be sure. Please don't take my response the wrong way, it's only for clarification.

To be sure, it was very dis-concerning to have this issue and as a newbie, frustrating. But after getting feedback from folks on this forum and learning of the off level situation, which I had not encountered yet, I was very confidant in the solution.

Your point on the uneven ground disconnect and holding the swing arm open to assure release is another piece of info I appreciate as now I am armed with this info ahead of the "issue", should it occur. I also wondered what that hole was for in the back of the hitch, now I know.

Thanks again for extending your knowledge to me and the group. It's what makes this forum so fantastic. Besides, I always love learning by others mistakes. Only this time, I was the other.

Happy Trails!

[rjswift]

As full-timers, if you choose to re-domicile to SD, TX or FL you'll no longer have to pay the stiff CA income or vehicle registration taxes. My brother did that w/SD and his vehicle and trailer tax is now < $100 each. Might consider changing cell numbers though that's not required.

Thanks LuvSki, The CA dream has become the CA nightmare after living here for almost 40 years, so we ARE leaving CA. We currently use Escapees in Texas, as our mailing forward service and have done so for a few years. It has worked out great as we spend most summers out of CA as Campground hosts. Escapees mail forwarding service, as well as other services has been our go to. Still trying to decide where we will officially domicile once we go full-time. A lot to consider on that front.

What is the might consideration you speak of in changing phone number?

Thanks again for your input.

Regards

[J&G garage]

Bob (or maybe Sheran), Look at your hitch from above and identify the silver pins poking through the 5th wheel. Give them a hose down with a spray lube from all sides. DW-40 will work here. I find that if there is much friction in these pivot pins that the handle doesn't always close all the way. When this happens close the handle (there should be no spring type resistance when closing the handle) and put the safety pin in. Go to the rear of your tow vehicle and inspect the jaws of the hitch. They should be closed together with a very small gap between them. Don't forget to do a pull test before you put the landing gear all the way up.

[Steven@147]

Bob (or maybe Sheran), Look at your hitch from above and identify the silver pins poking through the 5th wheel. Give them a hose down with a spray lube from all sides. DW-40 will work here. I find that if there is much friction in these pivot pins that the handle doesn't always close all the way. When this happens close the handle (there should be no spring type resistance when closing the handle) and put the safety pin in. Go to the rear of your tow vehicle and inspect the jaws of the hitch. They should be closed together with a very small gap between them. Don't forget to do a pull test before you put the landing gear all the way up.

Agree with you. I bought my Companion hitch slightly used and it had been setting for a little while. The lock handle was stiff to move, a little penetrating oil on the large pivot pin took care of that and loosened up the locking handle. Now when the hitch closes, the lock handle always fully closes. you wont find any mention of this on the standard B&W Companion hitch videos.
In some cases people that have had their hitch for a long time with this problem have had to get the pin pressed out, cleaned the pin and the bore, then reassembled. Moisture gets in the head pin bore and it wont move freely. We keep our hitch covered when not in use.

[MtnGuy]

Sounds to me like you might have lifted the pin a little to high off the hitch plate. There is a very fine line there and just a hair too high will make it difficult to release. I always stand by the left front corner of the trailer and just ease it up till you see maybe a quarter inch of daylight above the hitch plate. It should pull right out even on uneven ground. You will not see the jaws open, that's the cam action working as designed. If you release the arm and have a little daylight showing above the hitch just slowly pull out, it will release promise!

I will raise the jacks to see a bit daylight between the pin box and and hitch plate, but then lower the jacks some so some weight is on the hitch before pulling away. The idea with that is the bottom of the pin will not catch on the jaws from underneath, and the camper height is in the correct position for “auto hookup” when reconnecting. I want the hitch to lift the pin box a bit when hooking up so I don’t accidentally “high pin” the hitch.

[ken2017]

I once had the same hitch and the same problem unhooking. I noticed when I backed uphill onto a site, it would usually disconnect easily. But when I backed downhill it could be impossible to disconnect. Even on a level site it might be difficult to unhook. If the weight of the pin is pulling on the jaws, they would not open when I operated the release handle.

This seemed to help. I position the trailer on the site, place chocks behind the rear trailer tires then pushed back slightly against the rear chocks, set the tow vehicle emergency brake, placed front chocks on the trailer tires, extend the jacks to lift the trailer, then pull the release and the jaws should open. Lift enough to see a tiny gap between the pin box surface and the hitch. Lifting too high causes problems. Normally you can use the Ground Control 3.0 'drop the front jacks' feature and it will lift the front end to the correct height for unhooking. I have seen cases where it would lift it too high. If I don't like the height selected by GC 3.0, I adjust it manually before operating the release handle and pulling the truck away.

I've had similar problems with my Demco. I still unhook from the Demco just as I did with the Companion. In fact I did it today.

I hope this helps.

Ken
2017 Reflection 27RL

[Cajun Couple]

My Curt Q20 can get a little stubborn when detaching sometimes. I've got the Roto flex pinbox and I think it may cause the capture plate to rotate forward a little and cause the fifth wheel plate to rotate with it. I get the wife to put the truck in reverse and bump it a little and it will release the jaws. Only seems to happen when its cold and raining!!!

[Booneyrat]

Help needed for our new to us 5th wheel hitch.
We are seasoned RV'er for many years in a travel trailer but this is our first 5th wheel.
Recently purchased a 2017 F350 CC LB Lariat.
It had a B&W Companion 5th wheel hitch included with the sale.
This hitch is mounted in the Ford factory pucks.
Hopefully that is enough background info.

We ordered a Reflection 337 RLS and traveled to Indiana to pick it up.
Our return trip to SoCal from Indy was uneventful and had no issues with hooking, unhooking 5th wheel hitch.
Everything seemed fine with the new RV experience until today.
Hooked up the new 5th wheel no issues, arrive at campground for a couple of days enjoying new RV.

Got situated in campsite, started the unhooking sequence with the Auto level on the 337RLS as before.
Lifted the front legs to unhook the truck. Got it to the point of the RV plate is off the hitch and the pin is ready to come free.
I take out the hitch pin lock and swing out the bar to unlock the pin from hitch.
Here's where the issue begins.........................

The jaws will NOT open up to release the pin from the hitch. The arm that releases the jaws WILL swing to the open position.
I tried raising/lowering the RV to see if maybe I wasn't in the proper position as well as pulling forward/back to see if it would release.
Will not release to open up the jaws.
I double checked the position of the pin in the jaws and it was centered.

I resorted to taking the two pins out of the top of the hitch so I could get the truck out from under the RV and out of the way.

What am I missing? Anything else to try? is there a spring of some sort to "fix"?

I need to get that top piece of the Companion hitch off of the pin box but before I do I'm looking for some guidance from anyone.

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Get yourself an Andersen hitch and never worry again.

[backtrack2015]

Get yourself an Andersen hitch and never worry again.

...except about it collapsing in a collision.