Coupler repair/replacement

[ls1mike]

I have a 2012 Passport and the coupler and latch are sticky and sloppy. It is an A frame Curt style. It does not look like I can change out the guts. Has anyone changed them or had a new tongue installed? If you had a tongue installed what was the cost? Thanks!

[ls1mike]

CharlesinGA wrote:

ls1mike wrote:
That is what I am going to get. I have a flatbed trailer that has this exact coupler. I love it.

Go and read thru this thread Escape trailer hitch conversion

As it has some pics in it. Lots of discussion on the Bulldog vs the RAM hitch (which Etrailer sells as their brand also) and the differences in the attachment of the tongue jack, etc.

Its a lot of jibber-jabber till post #15 and then it gets a little more informative, but read it all.

Charles

Thanks that was a good read. I have not done anything yet, but my first trip is the end of next month and I have the guy who welded the pearch pads on my axle set up to do the welding.

[CharlesinGA]

ls1mike wrote:
That is what I am going to get. I have a flatbed trailer that has this exact coupler. I love it.

Go and read thru this thread Escape trailer hitch conversion

As it has some pics in it. Lots of discussion on the Bulldog vs the RAM hitch (which Etrailer sells as their brand also) and the differences in the attachment of the tongue jack, etc.

Its a lot of jibber-jabber till post #15 and then it gets a little more informative, but read it all.

Charles

[ls1mike]

Vintage465 wrote:
Any welder can do this. It's two to three hours. Might think of getting a Bulldog brand coupling. Kind of Oakie looking but very good design and not much to go wrong and it's all visible from the outside. I put one of these on a couple years ago on my sister-in-law's trailer. She loves it.

https://www.etrailer.com/A-Frame-Trailer-Coupler/Bulldog/BD028463.html

That is what I am going to get. I have a flatbed trailer that has this exact coupler. I love it.

[Vintage465]

Any welder can do this. It's two to three hours. Might think of getting a Bulldog brand coupling. Kind of Oakie looking but very good design and not much to go wrong and it's all visible from the outside. I put one of these on a couple years ago on my sister-in-law's trailer. She loves it.

https://www.etrailer.com/A-Frame-Trailer-Coupler/Bulldog/BD028463.html

[ls1mike]

JRscooby wrote:

ls1mike wrote:

It does not look like I can remove the guts. I see no fastener. My complete life is based off submarine maintenance. So I am pretty good at keeping up with it. It is also parked inside. I think the spring is broke but I can't tell.

Gdetrailer wrote:


Sounds more like a typical cheap coupler choice from the frame manufacturer to me rather than accusing the owner of neglect and abuse..

Not ALL couplers are of good quality and/or construction.

Not ALL couplers can be torn apart and repaired or adjusted.

Not ALL couplers will live 50 yrs or more..

One must set expectations a lot lower now days as there is a lot of cheap couplers on the market compared to 20, 30, 50 yrs ago..

OP may have simply run into one of those cheap couplers and the fix most likely is to have the old one cut off and a new one of better quality welded in place.

Was it born in 1 piece? I would bet that somebody, somewhere has put it together. Now I can see it might be hard to take apart, because we don't want it to come apart in use. But if it was mine, and it did not work, I would put my back on the ground figure out why. Then I would try to fix it. After all, your working on a dead animal

As far as I can tell it is a Curt style 25200 and the assembly is inserted into the tongue then welded on.
According to Keystone and Curt their is no repair kit and the coupler must be removed and replaced. It is not the best design on the planet.
I found a Keystone forum, it would seem I am not only one who has had the problem, couple of folks with 2017's or better have the same issue.

I will mess with it some this weekend, but I cleaned it up and I can see the spring is broken. It still latches fine. It just does not have the spring action. They tell me that is not an issue, but lots of underways on submarines have given me a bit of the OCD and it will drive me crazy.

[JRscooby]

ls1mike wrote:

It does not look like I can remove the guts. I see no fastener. My complete life is based off submarine maintenance. So I am pretty good at keeping up with it. It is also parked inside. I think the spring is broke but I can't tell.

Gdetrailer wrote:


Sounds more like a typical cheap coupler choice from the frame manufacturer to me rather than accusing the owner of neglect and abuse..

Not ALL couplers are of good quality and/or construction.

Not ALL couplers can be torn apart and repaired or adjusted.

Not ALL couplers will live 50 yrs or more..

One must set expectations a lot lower now days as there is a lot of cheap couplers on the market compared to 20, 30, 50 yrs ago..

OP may have simply run into one of those cheap couplers and the fix most likely is to have the old one cut off and a new one of better quality welded in place.

Was it born in 1 piece? I would bet that somebody, somewhere has put it together. Now I can see it might be hard to take apart, because we don't want it to come apart in use. But if it was mine, and it did not work, I would put my back on the ground figure out why. Then I would try to fix it. After all, your working on a dead animal

[Gdetrailer]

JRscooby wrote:
I have cut off and replaced some couplers, but a 10 year old trailer? Sounds like a lot of abuse, or more likely neglect. If it was mine, I would first spray it with WD-40, and see if it loosened. (Yes, there is better stuff, but most people have a can around) Most likely it will work better, and that will tell you to save some money. Remove the guts, clean up rust and caked lube. Re-lube, put back together, and adjust.
BTW, if it is abuse, instead of neglect, might look at replacing with a eye, instead of coupler.

Sounds more like a typical cheap coupler choice from the frame manufacturer to me rather than accusing the owner of neglect and abuse..

Not ALL couplers are of good quality and/or construction.

Not ALL couplers can be torn apart and repaired or adjusted.

Not ALL couplers will live 50 yrs or more..

One must set expectations a lot lower now days as there is a lot of cheap couplers on the market compared to 20, 30, 50 yrs ago..

OP may have simply run into one of those cheap couplers and the fix most likely is to have the old one cut off and a new one of better quality welded in place.

[ls1mike]

JRscooby wrote:
I have cut off and replaced some couplers, but a 10 year old trailer? Sounds like a lot of abuse, or more likely neglect. If it was mine, I would first spray it with WD-40, and see if it loosened. (Yes, there is better stuff, but most people have a can around) Most likely it will work better, and that will tell you to save some money. Remove the guts, clean up rust and caked lube. Re-lube, put back together, and adjust.
BTW, if it is abuse, instead of neglect, might look at replacing with a eye, instead of coupler.

I take good care of it. I keep a log it has been towed just over 50,000 miles. In fact it has been a really good trailer. I did have to replace one axle as the spindle was off a bit, but other then this it has been small things. No leaks, just normal maintenance. It does not look like I can remove the guts. I see no fastener. My complete life is based off submarine maintenance. So I am pretty good at keeping up with it. It is also parked inside. I think the spring is broke but I can't tell.

[JRscooby]

I have cut off and replaced some couplers, but a 10 year old trailer? Sounds like a lot of abuse, or more likely neglect. If it was mine, I would first spray it with WD-40, and see if it loosened. (Yes, there is better stuff, but most people have a can around) Most likely it will work better, and that will tell you to save some money. Remove the guts, clean up rust and caked lube. Re-lube, put back together, and adjust.
BTW, if it is abuse, instead of neglect, might look at replacing with a eye, instead of coupler.

[ls1mike]

jdc1 wrote:
A good welder should be able to replace the tongue in a couple of hours.

https://www.huskytow.com/husky-towing-87079-trailer-coupler?gclid=Cj0KCQiAubmPBhCyARIsAJWNpiPRMcW69kGSz6gHU3kP7XUshtwAAsTNs8fiqD8QhPhKxeoMF-BhIy4aAvtcEALw_wcB

Thanks! Guessing that is the route I have to go. I probably need a 10,000 lbs one. The trailer is 7800 scaled, I thought about one like this. I have another trailer with one and I like it.
Like this 12.5k.

[jdc1]

A good welder should be able to replace the tongue in a couple of hours.

https://www.huskytow.com/husky-towing-87079-trailer-coupler?gclid=Cj0KCQiAubmPBhCyARIsAJWNpiPRMcW69kGSz6gHU3kP7XUshtwAAsTNs8fiqD8QhPhKxeoMF-BhIy4aAvtcEALw_wcB