Trailer keeps popping of the ball at highway speeds and a good bump

b4tn

Cadet
Joined
Jun 4, 2017
Messages
29
Last night was the third time I about poo'd my pants. I need to figure out what the issue is. My trailer has come off the ball now 3 times at highway speeds. The trailer has surge brakes and the coupler is not marked but accepts a 2" ball. I tried a 2 5/16" ball and it was to big. I don't know a lot about surge brakes but it looks like the coupler is all one piece and part of the hydraulic system. First time it happened at 55mph, I hit a bump on the highway and the safety pin bent and the trailer popped off. The second time the same thing happened. I bought a new pin and last night it came off again at about 35mph on my exit. This time the pin is still in good shape. So with the Pin in it does not take much pressure using a jack to lift the trailer off the ball. 2 5/16 is no big and 2" seems to be to small. Any ideas?
 

ondarvr

Supreme Mariner
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Apr 6, 2005
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There is normally an adjustment that can be done to make it tighter, if not replace it.
 

Silverbullet555

Chief Petty Officer
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Mar 13, 2011
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Picture of your coupler can help. Most coupler are adjustable and assuming you have the right ball size, it sounds like you need to adjust the mechanism that gets drawn to the ball.
 

b4tn

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Jun 4, 2017
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29
When the trailer came off last night the tongue went under my jeep and shredded my tire. I have USAA roadside assistance so got it towed to my works motorpool. rode my motorcycle in today and will be swapping the tire around 2:00. I will look for adjustments. I am not sure of the tongue weight. I know the boat is a about 3500 pounds dry 21' boat on about aprox 27' trailer. I am not a big guy and I can lift the tongue if I have someone there to put the jack down.
 

MBAKER

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Jun 9, 2008
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Are you sure you are using a 2" ball not a 1 7/8"? They are close enough in size that its easy to mistake unless they are marked.

Is this a new to you trailer, and/or has this problem just started?

If new are you making sure the 'clamp' part of the ball hitch is actually sitting below the ball when hooked on? If you look underneath youll see what im talking about. Ive seen people hook up and accidentally push that clamp backwards and when the lever is tripped it doesn't draw up tight under the ball. First bump and the trailer bounces up and off.

After that Id check the adjustment of that clamp.

An easy check to see how much slop there is would be to hook on like normal then try and jack the trailer up, you will be able to see if it pops off the ball that way or if it lifts your vehicle up as well.
 

82rude

Rear Admiral
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May 8, 2012
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Look under the coupler ,there is normally a large nut under there,screw. it in a few..Test to make sure your good to go.
 

muskyfins

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Jun 7, 2012
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578
Every time I hitch up a trailer, I always try to pull it off the ball to check security. Not saying it would absolutely prevent this, but it adds a double check before moving the trailer.

Also, I always padlock the coupler closed. Prevents it from "popping" open.
 

Alumarine

Captain
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Feb 22, 2005
Messages
3,684
Although this is a separate issue you probably should not be able to lift the tongue by yourself with that setup.
I'm guessing it should have a tongue weight of 400-500 lbs.
 

poconojoe

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Sep 10, 2010
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I also check , as others have said, by cranking up on the trailer's Jack. If it is seated correctly, you will start to lift your vehicle. And I also use a padlock to prevent the latch from lifting. I do a visual of the ball clamp underneath too.
Maybe your ball clamp is set too lose or too tight. Too lose and it's just not holding. Too tight and it's just grabbing the side of the ball and not grabbing the ball from underneath.
 

Scott Danforth

Grumpy Vintage Moderator still playing with boats
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make sure your vehicle has a 2" ball and not a 1-7/8" ball.
if you let us know what coupler you have, we can point you in the right direction for adjustment
if you have the right ball, and properly adjusted coupler, you should be able to lift the back of the truck up by the ball using the trailer jack. IT SHOULD NEVER COME OFF
as stated prior, your tongue weight is too low
 

ondarvr

Supreme Mariner
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Apr 6, 2005
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11,527
Not enough and it will be a factor, that was what I was getting at.

​It should never pop off, other things should break or bend first, tongue weight is a separate handling/safety issue.
 
Last edited:

boatman37

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May 14, 2015
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1,273
i always run my jck down to try to lift it off the ball to be sure it is secure. that being said my daughter has a 2016 wrangler unlimited with a 4" lift and 35" tires. she had been pulling her quad trailer with no issues. she bought smitty bily bumpers with the receiver built into the rear bumper so they removed the factory hitch. the new insert was about 2" higher than the factory hitch. she had about a 6" drop insert and was pulling the trailer and it popped off 3 times on her way here. i pulled her trailer with my stock ram and it was fine. i ordered her a 12" drop insert but she hasn't pulled the trailer with it yet. i'm sure that was the issue though.

is your trailer level with the vehicle? hers also popped off after hitting a bump. she knew she needed a different insert but had been fine before with it
 

fhhuber

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Jun 19, 2014
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1,365
if the hitch is popping off the ball you have

1) Latch not locked (Put a pin through the hole to lock it!)
2) Wrong size ball
3) Very badly adjusted latch
4) Bad latch mechanism
5) Bent or worn out hitch. (almost always bent... because those things can last 500,000 miles of towing with a little grease)

Tongue weight won't be the cause. Tongue weight affects towing stability. Overweight or underweight or right weight ... go over a big bump and it can pop the hitch off the ball if you have one of the above problems. If you don't have one of the above problems it will pick up the back of the car/truck before the hitch pops off.

Wrong hitch height shouldn't cause the hitch to pop off either. But it can aggravate one of the 5 causes of hitches popping free. The hitch s on a BALL and it grips that ball and when properly latched with a good latch it will lift the back of the tow vehicle CLEAR OFF THE GROUND using the tongue jack regardless of the drop... if the hitch doesn't bind first (and then it will bend the hitch or the frame of either the tow vehicle or the trailer.)

When these ball hitches work they work.

Hitch up the trailer to the tow vehicle.
Run the tongue jack up 6 or 8 inches above ground (or above whatever block you used)
Put in a block that just fits.
Crank that tongue jack down and lift the tongue and back end of the tow vehicle to the limit of the jack or till the tow vehicle's rear tires are off the ground.
It should stay latched.

You can do this... its basically the same procedure used to hook up when using a Reese spring equalizer hitch.
I've seen the wheels of the tow vehicle off the ground quite a few times with the 1972 Estate Wagon when we were hooking up the 28 ft travel trailer.
 

Thalasso

Commander
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Jan 18, 2011
Messages
2,876
Bingo^^^^^^
Tongue weight can be whatever. To light to heavy won't make a diff. The tow vehicle hits the low spot in the road long before the trailer gets there and pulls the ball out of the coupler.
 

G_Hipster

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Sep 24, 2016
Messages
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I can't remember the brand of my actuator off-hand, but it's a little tricky and takes paying attention. On mine I switched to a lock that is very close to the diameter of the hole you put a lock pin in. Anything less and mine could partially unlatch and pop off, which is what happened. I haven't had a problem since I started using something that is almost snug in the hole. Every coupler is stamped. You might have to clean up some paint or rust what-have-you but it's there somewhere, and there are repair kits available. Do check the adjustment.
 

boatman37

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May 14, 2015
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1,273
to clarify my comment about hitch height, i didn't mean that it affected tongue weight. if it is securely latched the tongue weight has no affect on the trailer breaking free. what i am saying is that the coupler locks onto the round part of the ball. if it is too high the rear portion of the coupler is actually pressed up against the stem of the ball so it isn't fully latched. or i should say it is fully latched but when you get an odd angle the stem acts like a lever and pries it off. sitting on a flat surface it is locked enough to not break free but when the trailer hits an uneven surface it adds pressure to the coupler. that is the only explanation i have for my daughters case. it was fine before the added 2" and was fine with my truck afterwards. after the 2nd time it popped off she raised the jack and it was locked. she then stopped at advanced auto and bought a lower drop insert and the guy there installed it and hooked the trailer up and the jacked it up and it was locked. a few miles down the road it popped off again. i used the original insert she had when i towed it with my truck and it was fine. the only difference was a different tow vehicle with a more proper ride height. it popped off 3 times in about a 10 mile trip so if there was an issue with the coupler or ball then it should have popped off on the return trip with my truck. nothing else was changed other than the tow vehicle. she has not towed it with the new lower insert because she is afraid to now and her boyfriend has a bigger trailer so they take his with his truck but i will have to test it with her jeep to verify.
 
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