Corrosion-resistant, straight-tongue trailer coupler features a trigger-style latching mechanism that securely locks in place around your 2" hitch ball.
Features:
Specs:
Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Hey everybody, Ryan here at etrailer. Today we're gonna be checking out and showing you how to install the Dexter Leverlock Trailer Coupler. When it comes to trailer couplers, I almost feel like they're a maintenance item. It just seems like after years of use and they sit outside and everything, they just tend to get wore out and it kinda, you know, it becomes difficult to actually get this to engage on your ball to be able to hook up. And so with this one, you kind of freshen everything up. It's gonna make a great direct replacement in most cases, and it'll get you going again.
This particular coupler is going to work, or is designed to work with two inch balls, and it's going to work with trailer tongues that are three inches wide. So that's a super common size. This will work with a lot of different applications. It's gonna have a 5,000 pound maximum weight rating. And first impressions of this, it feels like it's well built, everything's super solid.
The latch mechanism feels pretty good. So these are a little bit different. The way they work, you'll have this pin here. When you pull that out, all right, and that's tethered to this. The way you would open this is this lever here.
And so now you would, you know, back your truck up, drop your trailer down, and that's how it's gonna lock in. And then you'd want to take your pin and put that back through. Some people like that style. Personally, I'm not too crazy about it. Not even really for a particular reason per se, it's just kind of, especially if it's cold, or you got big gloves or something on, sometimes that can be kind of hard to operate.
And I kind of just grew up using the classic ones like this. Which kind of brings us to my next point, to compare this to some of the other ones. So something like this, you know, like I said, it's kind of a classic setup. This is a great option as well. This is very similar in terms of ratings and everything else. Personally, again, this is kind of the one I prefer. A little bit easier to open, at least in my opinion. So that's an option. And then you have some that are kinda in between. So, like this Demco one. These are actually pretty cool. It's an eZ-Latch. And with these, you don't have to mess with the latch mechanism at all when you go to hook up. So it could be in this position, you drop your trailer on it and it kind of automatically latches itself into place. So, you know, a little bit different there. Again though, personally I kind of like this one, 'cause it makes you lock it down and kind of gives me a little bit more assurance knowing that I'm hooked up real good. So, you know, a lot of different options out there and you know, whatever style of mechanism you prefer, there should be one that you can find. Something that I do like about this one though is I like how the side of the coupler actually kind of covers up the whole side of the trailer tongue. You know, I think it looks good. And this is gonna be zinc coated, so it should hold up to corrosion and rust a little bit better than ones that are just painted or powder coated, you know, with this coating on this one here. And to help you figure out if this is gonna work with your application, the mounting holes, center to center, are gonna be three inches. And if you go from the top surface of this down to that mounting hole, the center of it, it's gonna be about a inch. That's really common. A lot of trailers will use that type of bolt pattern. And so in most cases if your coupler's bolted on already, it'll probably share that pattern. Or you know, if not, if you had a welded one on or something you could always just use that and drill the holes out. So not too much there, as far as that goes. This is a bolt-on design. I do wanna mention though, it's not gonna come with the hardware. You will have to grab that separately. The hardware that we use is a half inch bolts and these are 3 3/4" long. Definitely recommend nylon lock nuts on 'em like we have, and you want 'em to be rated properly as well. So generally speaking, a grade five or a grade eight is a pretty safe bet when you go to bolt this up. At the end of the day, you know, not really a whole lot to it. Feels like it's well built and it'll work in a lot of situations. So if you like this style of mechanism or want to try something new, definitely want to consider. In terms of insulation, most cases it's not gonna be very bad, right Being for the most part a direct replacement. We'll go ahead and and set this one up on this trailer and hopefully it'll get you going in the right direction. To begin your insulation you first need to remove the old coupler and everyone's set up is gonna be a little bit different but for the most part, all this information will hold true to get you going. So I removed ours since this is a direct replacement. I just had to pull out two bolts, get that old coupler off and outta the way and that was it. Some couplers will be welded on and if that's your case, you'll have to carefully kind of cut that weld off. You can use a Dremel tool, cut-off wheel, and what I found in the past, you kind of get it going, and then you can come in with a pry bar or chisel, especially if you have an air chisel, and work that off and pry that off there. But be careful not to damage the actual tongue of the trailer. So once that's out of the way, inspect it. You know, ours is in really good shape, but you can always sand it down, get a fresh coat of paint on there and then start with the fresh base there. So with that all done, we can get ready to get our coupler on. With all that done though, we can take our coupler and slide it into position, get those holes lined on up. We'll take our bolts, pass those through, get the nut started on each one. And whenever you go to secure this down, you know, make sure that this is sitting flat or flush on the tongue of your trailer, be ideal. And then I'm gonna come back with the socket and a wrench and tighten the hardware down to the manufacturers specifications. (tools clicking) And that'll finish up our look at of the Dexter Leverlock Trailer Coupler.
Average Customer Rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars (22 Customer Reviews)
Corrosion-resistant, straight-tongue trailer coupler features a trigger-style latching mechanism that securely locks in place around your 2" hitch ball.
Used this coupler to replace the aging and obsolete folding surge coupler on my dated and neglected Nautique Ramlin trailer. Deleted the surge system and this bolted up perfectly. Super easy and smooth operation for locking onto the tow ball.
Awesome coupler. Solid contact with the ball, super low profile, easy to use latch , this is exactly what I wanted as I run a bike rack above the coupler, plenty of clearance for unhitching the trailer without removing the rack.
PRO: Arrived well packaged and undamaged. Good tight fit on the 2" ball.
CON: I was replacing an older Titan coupler. The new coupler's bolt holes did not match the old coupler's hole pattern - off by 1/32" to 1/8", so the bolts will not fit thru the matching holes in the trailer. Rather than a 15 minute replacement, I now have to drill out the trailer bolt holes to make the new coupler fit, meaning that I will not have the close tolerance bolt-to-hole fit. This looser fit can ultimately cause wear on the bolts. I now plan to put in a bolt replacement maintenance exam/replacement reminder every year (to be safe).
I have two different vehicles with two different hitch ball diameters. I purchased this coupler to allow me hassle free use of either vehicle with the trailer equipped with the coupler.
The couple is a very clever design and should allow me the flexibility that I was looking for. I haven't had a chance to use it yet, but it looks great and I am considering putting them on all of my smaller trailers.
This coupler worked out great for my trailer tongue. I like the type of mechanism that is used to connect to the trailer ball. The old trailer coupler has been very problematic when I tried to make a connection.
Creates a locking challenge. Needs a special lock. The open slide is not smooth and sometimes hard to work. The coupling is a challenge on any slope. Sometimes we need to drag the trailer to a flatter spot to get it to engage.
Product is exactly what I ordered and it came within two days. Will definitely buy from etrailer again.
Exactly the part it says it is. Working well for me.
Product as advertised!
Works perfectly. Bolted on easily.
Only place I'll shop. Outstanding service and delivery.
What’s not to like.
Fast shipping
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