Atwood hitch on a Rinker trailer for Captiva 192

rkinross

I just purchased a used Captiva 192 and it came with a matched JQTX Rinker trailer.  The problem I am having is the amount of noise I am getting from the hitch when I go over bumps or bad pavement at 50 mph.  It almost seems like the 2 inch ball is bouncing around inside the coupler.  Another issue I had with the hitch was when I parked in my driveway on a slight down hill spot the tab that unhitches the ball would not budge.  I found on youtube that if you block the trailer wheels and pull the car foward it will unloce the coupler tab.  I was wondering if this is normal operation?

Willhound

Are you sure it's not a 2 5/16" coupler?

halifax212

You probably have the same JQ trailer as mine. Start with greasing the fittings on the side of the coupler.  If backing you trailer on a slight incline, when you are in position, block the wheel and advance 6" . This will pull the coupler back out to tow position and easy to unlatch and uncouple. This is a normal operation. If it makes clunky noises all the time check to see if your brake lines need bleeding.  Could be too much free play before the actuator starts to engage.

rkinross

@Willhound Thanks for your reply.  I am not sure, the prior owner told me it takes a 2 inch ball. 

rkinross

@halifax212 Thanks for your reply.  Will there be actual greese fittings that could be plugged into?  I did not see any.  The trailer has electric brakes, not hydrolic. I purchased a blue tooth brake controller when the trailer hitch was installed on my Highlander but have not used it yet.  I wanted to take the rig to a trailer shop and have them check out the condition of the brakes.  The car seems fine pulling the trailer without using the trailer brakes but the noise from the hitch is nerve wracking.

rkinross

@Willhound @halifax212 I went out to take pictures of the hitch.  Stamped into it, it says to use a 2 inch ball which is currently installed on the car.  It also says disc brakes which I assume are electric since the wiring to the car uses either a 4 prong or 7 prong plug.  I have been using a 4 prong plug since I want to get the brakes checked out before using them.

halifax212

Those are surge brakes, not electric.  I swapped out my old Atwood for Tie Down braking system.  The plug in to your vehicle(blue wire?) releases pressure on the actuator  which allows the ball component to move up into the coupler body allowing push back without locking up the brakes. 

rkinross

@halifax212 Do you think this is causing all of the noise when going over bumps and rough roads?  So the ball is actually moving in the coupler.

halifax212

I would tabs the time to bleed the brakes to make sure there is no free play , grease the mechanism that houses the coupler. They can be a bit noisy at times but most importantly ensure when compressing the actuator that the brakes are working.  

rkinross

@halifax212 Thanks for your input.  I took the boat and trailer to Anderson Sales and Service today to have the trailer inspected.  They think not enough tongue weight is causing the coupler to bounce up and down on the ball.  I will have to move the stopper roller up foward on the trailer to increase the tongue weight.

rkinross

@halifax212 Could you tell me how to engage the reverse lock out on this hitch so that I can back up without engaging the brakes?

Cableguy Greg

@rkinross does it have disc brakes? If so, make sure the 5th wire is connected to your reverse lights. That will lock out the surge so you can back up. A 7 to 5 adapter will work on it. 

rkinross

@Cableguy Greg Thanks for your reply.  I am not sure they are disc brakes.  I know they are hydraulic brakes and I do have a 7 pin adapter on the car.  I thought the hitch should have a lever that could be engaged to back up.  I am going to go to Davidsons as you suggested in the spring and they should be able to tell me how this works.  I was just trying to get more informed about the hitch.

halifax212

rkinross said:

@Willhound @halifax212 I went out to take pictures of the hitch.  Stamped into it, it says to use a 2 inch ball which is currently installed on the car.  It also says disc brakes which I assume are electric since the wiring to the car uses either a 4 prong or 7 prong plug.  I have been using a 4 prong plug since I want to get the brakes checked out before using them.

@rkinross , the middle photo shows a rust colour pin on the side. that is the manual bypass which slides down and locks  so you can back up the trailer without brakes engaging. If you had to push back somewhere with a vehicle that did not have proper 7 pin connection , you would use the devise on the side. If you look close the instructions are stamped in the steel.  

rkinross

@halifax212 Thank you for pointing this out.  Some day I will learn how to read.  It looks like I need to clean the rust off before I try using it.  @Cableguy Greg alerted me to the fact that the wiring can also do the release of the back up lock.  Thank both of you for expaining  this to me.  I could not find anything about this on the web - no owners manual of youtube.

rkinross

The noise when towing was caused by not enough tongue weight.  Moving the winch up 4 inches on the trailer fixed the problem.  I also purchased a reverse brake lockout that works very nicely when backing the trailer up a hill.  It is called 'backup buddy' and is magnetic and is inserted in a curve in the hitch to prevent the brakes from being applied.  The little knob that came with the hitch did not work very well.

rasbury

Mine has no manual lock out which seems odd- mine are surge brakes also- keep in mind that will always make noise as it clunks back and forth engaging. I thought about going to electric but seems like something else to keep up with to me...as long as I don't lose fluid it's going to work. The calipers are another issue...you should be able to look through the wheel and see either a hub or a rotor to see if you have disks or pads- can't imagine any newer built trailers not being disk...