How to Stop L-Brackets of Fastway FA92-00-1000 W/D Hitch From Moving on Trailer Frame

Question:

No matter how much I tighten the L Brackets on the tongue of my camper, they, especially the right one, wants to slide out of place backward and let the spring bar . How should I fix this? I know its not meant to be drilled or welded to, I was wondering if I could just cut a small notch on the top and bottom of the channel to stop the movement. Just enough for the L Bracket Clamp bars to fit inside of.

asked by: Kelly E

Expert Reply:

I spoke with my contact at Fastway about the difficulty you're experiencing. The most common reason this happens is when the L-bracket bolts aren't tightened evenly. If the bolts aren't tightened so they're perfectly even, the link plates that the L-bracket attaches to won't place even pressure against the trailer frame and therefore won't stay in place.

Fastway recommends running the nuts down as tight as you can get them with your fingers then alternating back and forth tightening each by one turn until you reach the final torque of 65 foot/lbs on both nuts. This will ensure that the clamping force is equally distributed between the upper and lower bolt. Once this is done, the L-brackets of your # FA92-00-1000 Fastway e2 should stay where you've bolted them.

I wouldn't recommend notching your trailer frame, as that could potentially weaken it, but Fastway tells me that it is perfectly acceptable to tack or even fully weld the brackets into place if you wish to do so.

I hope that helps.

expert reply by: Mike L