I’ve tried to drop my trailer for night n pin was hard to move eventually I got it free it felt weird. There’s still part of the slide bar (silver n shiny) covering the pin any ideas?
spray grease on the mechanism
When uve disconnected all the suzies and u try to pull the handle and it wont move, jump into the motor and reverse back, it will move enough to free the handle, put the handbrake back on and jump out and try the handle again, chances r it will b ok. Had the problem many times myself and doing this always solves it.
Is the trailer empty or loaded, and has it been dropped on level ground ?
JamieR85:
When uve disconnected all the suzies and u try to pull the handle and it wont move, jump into the motor and reverse back, it will move enough to free the handle, put the handbrake back on and jump out and try the handle again, chances r it will b ok. Had the problem many times myself and doing this always solves it.
no need to reverse it back, just let the handbrake off and it will release the pressure on the king pin
shuttlespanker:
JamieR85:
When uve disconnected all the suzies and u try to pull the handle and it wont move, jump into the motor and reverse back, it will move enough to free the handle, put the handbrake back on and jump out and try the handle again, chances r it will b ok. Had the problem many times myself and doing this always solves it.no need to reverse it back, just let the handbrake off and it will release the pressure on the king pin
Indeed. You can feel the whole thing ‘settle’ when you release the brake.
Couple of weeks ago I tried to help an agency driver in our place who couldn’t get the pin pulled by offering this advice. He wouldn’t do it because - “it sounds dangerous” - so I left him struggling. At one point there were 3 others trying to help him pull the handle and they were still at it 10 minutes later when we pulled out the yard.
I’ve found this happens more often when dropping the trailer on the slightest of inclines, loosing the unit brake off has always worked for me, sometimes pressing the level button on the air suspension will also take the weight off it.
shuttlespanker:
JamieR85:
When uve disconnected all the suzies and u try to pull the handle and it wont move, jump into the motor and reverse back, it will move enough to free the handle, put the handbrake back on and jump out and try the handle again, chances r it will b ok. Had the problem many times myself and doing this always solves it.no need to reverse it back, just let the handbrake off and it will release the pressure on the king pin
Ive also let the handbrake off but have found sometimes this does not always do the job which is why i suggested reversing back, this has always done the trick for me.
This might be more than just a case of a tight pin, if you say it ‘felt weird’ then something like a spring may have come off, especially as you can see something ‘shiny’. I presume when you say it felt weird you meant the way the handle felt after you got it pulled. I would get it checked out, you can’t just cross your fingers and hope for the best with a fifth wheel. Many moons ago my old man was told to use another motor when his was in for service to load 20 Ton of lead, he pulled the empty trailer a few mile to the works, loaded and weighed off then got about a mile away from the place before the trailer fell off, luckily it caused no real problems apart from bent trailer legs and only a couple of lead bars fell onto the road which were very quickly put back. The upshot was the motor he used had a dodgy fifth wheel and the fitters were due to work on it but nobody had told him that and he left the yard before they arrived.
Having stripped and repaired many a fifth wheel there are a few bits that can go wrong underneath what seems like a flat plate! Don’t want to scare you but I’d get it checked. Franky.
Call it a lack of experience or just numptyism. I did the whole Suzy off and rocking the unit thing and the lever moved but didn’t “feel normal” I looked under and in my inexperience I assumed the lever opened the jaws as well as the locking bar.
Luckily I was parked outside volvo birstall and a mechanic checked it was ok and educated me on the proper workings of the 5ft wheel.
There should be a compulsory training course to teach us this kind of thing.
End of the day I’d rather look a ■■■■ than drop a trailer cos I didn’t ask.
Mr B:
There should be a compulsory training course to teach us this kind of thing.
End of the day I’d rather look a [zb] than drop a trailer cos I didn’t ask.
I think there should be compulsory training to teach drivers how the indicators work or how to replace bulbs.
Just where will it end?
when i worked at wordsworth holding they used to do the BIG D fifth wheel before jost bought it out,when we were short of work on the aveling barford dump truck work i had to go down and build/weld them up,they could be a right pig at the end when you had to fit springs/jaws into them and get them to work on jig[obviously hand welded everything distorts], after a while they bought a robot welder and with the more uniform welds they were alot easier to fit up than the hand welded ones.
you did get them comming back under warranty as not working correct also the jaws that were machined on a c.n.c miller would come back,normally it turned out they had been machined out of tolerance,
if i remember right jost had a cast plate,big d pressed plate,variations in jaws,pressed plate,welding distortion,peice work meant sometimes they wernt working 100 % when they left factory
Wheel Nut:
Mr B:
There should be a compulsory training course to teach us this kind of thing.
End of the day I’d rather look a [zb] than drop a trailer cos I didn’t ask.I think there should be compulsory training to teach drivers how the indicators work or how to replace bulbs.
It is a constant source of amazement to me that someone who can master driving a 44 tonne artic cannot master how to fit a headlight bulb the right way up 
Just about every time you see a truck approaching with one extra bright headlight shining straight into your eyes, it’s because the bulb isn’t fitted the right way up.
As to indicators, I am equally amazed as to how many vehicles of all sizes don’t have them fitted 
I believe it used to be mirror, signal, manoeuvre, apparently, now, it’s manoeuvre and ■■■■■■■■ to the rest.
Regards,
Nick
Mr B:
There should be a compulsory training course to teach us this kind of thing.
End of the day I’d rather look a [zb] than drop a trailer cos I didn’t ask.
Fair comment, to many fifth wheels get damaged due to not knowing how to operate.
And Mr B never assume that your question is a stupid one, there are no stupid questions, just stupid answers.
Not sure…just ask!!!
JamieR85:
shuttlespanker:
JamieR85:
When uve disconnected all the suzies and u try to pull the handle and it wont move, jump into the motor and reverse back, it will move enough to free the handle, put the handbrake back on and jump out and try the handle again, chances r it will b ok. Had the problem many times myself and doing this always solves it.no need to reverse it back, just let the handbrake off and it will release the pressure on the king pin
Ive also let the handbrake off but have found sometimes this does not always do the job which is why i suggested reversing back, this has always done the trick for me.
Was just about to say the same. In fact I had the exact problem discussed in this thread this morning when dropping a loaded trailer off with a Stralis. “Settling” the cab didn’t work and so I had to get in a reverse back against the jaws. I find that the Stralis is particularly bad for it, as are the DAFs.
Mr B you have PM.
…
about a month ago I went to pick up my trailer with a hired M.AN. I got under her, nice click, pulled on pin, got her on nicely, then couldn’t get dog-clip in. Pulled pin, out, then back under, nice click, pulled on pin and the bloody unit came out from trailer… Done it again, but no click. Pulled out handle, back in, clicked, pulled on pin, locked in, couldn’t get dog-clip in. So I thought ■■■■ this, and V.O.R.'d it. they told me in t/office the bugger had dropped a trailer in Crick a few weeks previously, after having been driven up from Kent. Seemingly it dropped it when he pulled off bay.nasty.
Ha Ha, ok I’m up for the Name and Shame:
Picked a tautliner up with one of the double drive units (never driven it before), thought there was a bit of play in the fifth wheel, clunked a bit. But it was coupled right
Was a few days later when the regular driver asked if I’d put his pin adapter back in the unit.
That was when I learnt it had a 3.5 inch fifth wheel, rather than the smaller standard size 
cieranc:
Ha Ha, ok I’m up for the Name and Shame:Picked a tautliner up with one of the double drive units (never driven it before), thought there was a bit of play in the fifth wheel, clunked a bit. But it was coupled right
Was a few days later when the regular driver asked if I’d put his pin adapter back in the unit.
That was when I learnt it had a 3.5 inch fifth wheel, rather than the smaller standard size
That sounds like a lucky day 
I think I ran down to Calais with the luckiest Frenchman, he had picked up a trailer in Hilton, we had to lock anything valuable, this lad had managed to couple up by simply smashing the pinlock and somehow getting the jaws to hold without realising, the mechanic in Calais had one hell of a job to release the fifth wheel when he realised what had happened