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Old 03-09-2011, 07:06 PM   #1
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My "New" 1995 T-2070

After a 20 year hiatus from camping (with a pop-up), I bought a '95 T-2070 today. The trailer's in good shape. The interior is great and the outside needs a bath and a good waxing. The seller threw in a Reese WD hitch and a Reese sway control to seal the deal. Anyhow, it towed like a champ and I'm mighty happy.The only problem I had was trying to un-hitch the trailer. I'm use to a 2" ball and the standard flip lever release on the tongue back when I had the pop-up. I couldn't for the life of me get the ball to release from the tongue on th TT. Am I doing something wrong? I pulled the TV forward and tried, and backed the TV up and tried, to no avail. Eventually the ball released from the tongue "socket" after approximately 45 minutes of inventing new curse words. I doubled checked the ball size and it's correct. I was thinking that maybe I had tension on the hitch and that prevented it from releasing. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Larry
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Old 03-09-2011, 09:31 PM   #2
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First, Welcome!!!!

There are many here that are much more knowledgable then me, but the only thing I can think of is did you grease the hitch ball? Or maybe the trailer hitch has some damage to it?
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Old 03-10-2011, 10:38 AM   #3
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A tt has enough tongue weight that the lever won't move if the jack isn't sort of in a neutral position, and, as you stated, the truck and hitch ball needs to be in the right spot too. Make sure the tt is not rolling forward or the truck backward after you stop as that will pretty much lock in the lever. Also there are different styles of levers. On our 05 I lift the lever slightly and then pull it back more than lifting it.

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Old 03-10-2011, 11:30 AM   #4
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Something that has not been mentioned, but needs to be included, is how you disconnected. The weight arms and sway control need to be completely removed first before attempting to get the tongue off the ball. You may have done that, but I'll mention it only as a check-off.

When I drop my trailer, I level it and then chock the tandems firmly. After removing the weight arms and sway control, I flip the locking lever on the coupler and then raise the tongue with the jack. If it comes free, that's fine.

If, for some reason, it doesn't want to pop off the ball easily, I raise the jack up to the point where it just begins to lift the rear end of the truck. Then I start up the truck, place the transmission in Neutral and let it roll a tiny bit, maybe 1/2" or so. The tension of the tongue on the ball will push or pull the truck as needed and the ball will drop free.

The problem generally surfaced at home where the trailer's pad was at the crest of a hill meaning that the truck was very nose down when I went to drop it. Something about the angles of the TT and the TV and the shape of the coupler over the ball caused it to bind a bit. Everything is level here at the new house so I don't seem to have the problem at all.
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Old 03-11-2011, 02:45 AM   #5
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Thank you very much to all who responded. I will try leveling the trailer prior to unhitching. I also believe that due to the slight slope in my driveway, there was some pulling pressure on the hitch. I want to spray some WD 40 up into the tongue as well to help lubricate the jaw. The Mrs. and I are going to do some scrubbing and polishing this weekend on the ole' girl. It made me feel good to see that my wife had some interest again in camping. Hopefully this little camper is the re-birth of our prior camping days.
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Old 03-11-2011, 06:00 AM   #6
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You will probably have better results if you use something like the white lithium grease sold in small tubes in auto parts stores. I put a small dab on the ball before hooking up. Use an old tennis ball with a slit cut in it or buy a ball cover to keep things neat.

Others use regular axle grease, too. I prefer the white lithium grease because it is very resistant to water.

When you tow, there is a lot of force exerted on the ball and coupler so you want more lubing protection than WD-40 offers. Even oil is not enough.
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Old 03-11-2011, 07:02 AM   #7
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Larry, When I park I first chock the wheels of the TT. Then I'll put the vehicle in drive and then back into park. Most of the time this will move the ball forward and away from the moveable catch. The catch on my 91 simply slides towards the rear of the TT and then pulls up to open. There is usually enough play in the TV that when the tongue is raised the ball can wiggle and fall out. The grease on the ball also lets it slide out easier.

If I go to unhook and the ball latch doesn't open easily I am reminded to double check the wheel chocks.

Good luck with your 'new' TT.

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Old 03-11-2011, 09:23 PM   #8
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Hi Larry

Welcome to Sunline Owners Club and congrats on your new coach.

Assuming you have figured out the coupler latch and it is unlatched,

As folks have said, the camper needs to be chocked so it will not roll and the truck needs to not be in tension pushing or pulling on the coupler. If not it will not unhook as the force of the truck is holding the ball into the socket. Once the WD bars are off and the weight is up off the TT tongue being held by the jack then shift the truck slightly if needed.

If you look at the hitch shank in the receiver at the top you can see when the tongue jack is rasing the camper just enough that all the down play on the shank starts to lift up and then the truck will start to lift. At that point, shifting the truck slightly should help it uncouple. Now if the truck is on a slope use the parking brake once you jogged the truck and put the tranny in park. The play in the parking gear may let it go back too far and lock back up.

Now something no one yet mentioned. Are you having issues getting the ball coupler latch lever released OR it is released but the TT ball coupler will not come off tow ball? That can be 2 different sources of frustration.

The Sunline TT ball couplers for the most part slide back towards the camper, they do not pivot straight up. And the weight needs to be off the ball before it will slide back. To get the weight off most times once the WD bars as off, let the jack down while holding on the latch lever with gentle force towards the TT. Once the TT drops down far enough it generally releases pressure in the coupler latch to allow the latch lever to slide back with 1 finger. If the truck is on a hill with downward force to the camper, well it too may not allow the coupler latch to release. Then once released jack up the tongue to take the weight off the ball and shift the truck as need to uncouple. On level ground this goes real easy as the truck wiggles in the parking gear play.

So which problem did you have? getting the coupler latch to releases or getting the coupler up off the tow ball or both?

I know the 1st time I used the Sunline type of ball coupler latch I almost pried the thing off thinking it pivoted up like all the other ball couplers I used. Nope it slides back towards the TT and can work with 1 finger when the weight of off the back part of the ball coupler

Good luck and congrats on the Sunline

John
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Old 03-12-2011, 10:56 AM   #9
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Larry,

For your style coupler, there should be a small lever on the front of the latch, push that down. Then, try to push/slide the latch piece back while still pushing down on the front. If needed, use your other hand to grab the latch and pull on it while you hold it with your other hand.

Once you finish sliding it back, there is a small groove in it that will fit up on the metal plate behind, to hold it open. Sometimes it doesn't quite stay back there, so it may take another try to get it to stay.

When you go to hook up the trailer again, you will have to manually slide the latch piece back down into the hole/forward...it will NOT automatically latch itself when putting it on the ball.

Jon
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Old 03-13-2011, 06:38 AM   #10
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First off- - thanks to everyone who replied. I found out that I had to chock the wheel and remove the tension on the hitch for it to release easily. I "hitched and un-hitched" the trailer twice yesterday without a glitch. On a side note, I spent the entire day yesterday cleaning the outside of the trailer from roof to wheels. I now have first hand knowledge of black streaks and how difficult they can be to remove...lol. My arms feel like they are going to explode from all the scrubbing. If fact, I think I was scrubbing in my sleep last night. Today it's off to clean the inside with my wife. I truly enjoy owning the camper and can't wait for the maiden trip. The people on here are wonderful with their helpfulness and that helps make the experience that much more enjoyable. Again, thanks to all for their advice.
Larry
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Old 03-13-2011, 06:41 AM   #11
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I apologize if I should have started a new thread for this question and the mod can delete this post if it's inappropriate, but I was curious if anyone replace the awning fabric by themselves? Also, does anyone have any ball park price on having a delaer replace the fabric? I want to get the TT back into shape and the awning has seen it's better days.
Thanks!!
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